Career
When Gorshin left the Army, he returned to public performance, and in 1956, he became a prolific film actor. He also appeared as an actor and a guest on television shows, including parts in 1959's The Untouchables and twelve guest spots on The Ed Sullivan Show (his first being February 9, 1964, the same night The Beatles and Davy Jones debuted). He was a popular act at nightclubs, notably those of Las Vegas, where he was the first impressionist to headline the main showrooms. He was also the first impressionist headliner at the Empire Room of New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Gorshin's slender athletic build, wide mouth, and pale eyes under strong brows were ideal characteristics for screen henchmen. In 1957, he fell asleep at the wheel of his car after driving from Pittsburgh for 39 hours without sleep. He was on his way to a Hollywood screen test for the part of Officer Ruby in Run Silent, Run Deep. He sustained a fractured skull and spent four days in a coma; a Los Angeles newspaper incorrectly reported that he had been killed. The role went to Don Rickles.
Gorshin's first film role was Between Heaven and Hell. In the late 1950s Gorshin had roles in B-movies such as Hot Rod Girl (1956), Dragstrip Girl (1957) and Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957). In 1960 he was featured in Bells are Ringing, playing the Method Actor while doing a Marlon Brando impression. As a dramatic actor, he often played "tough guys" like those played by one of his favorite targets of impressions, James Cagney, whom he was said to resemble. He did take a comic turn, though, as the hipster jazz bassist Basil (paired with singer Connie Francis) in Where The Boys Are (1960), and played a boss-behind-bars for laughs in Otto Preminger's comedy Skidoo (1968).
He was nominated for an Emmy (Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Comedy) for his best remembered role as The Riddler in the 1960s Batman live action television series. Gorshin's portrayal of the character included a high deranged cackle, inspired by that of Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark) in Kiss of Death (1947). He reprised this role in the 1978 TV movie "Legends of the Super-Heroes". He also had a memorable role in the 1969 Star Trek episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" as the bigoted half-whiteface, half-blackface alien Bele. Contrary to popular rumor and articles Gorshin was not Emmy nominated for this role.
In the 1970s Gorshin appeared on Broadway, in Jimmy (1970) and Guys and Dolls (1971). He made numerous guest-starring appearances on popular TV series such as Ironside (1974), Hawaii Five-O (1974), Get Christie Love! (1975), and Charlie's Angels (1977). In 1979 he played interplanetary assassin Seton Kellogg in the television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century two-part episode "Plot to Kill a City".
During the 1980s, he appeared as the villainous Mr. Wesker in the miniseries Goliath Awaits (1981), as the cantankerous King Gama in the opera Princess Ida (1982) as part of the PBS series The Compleat Gilbert and Sullivan. He played the role of Smiley Wilson on the ABC soap opera The Edge of Night (1981–82), where he used his impersonation talents to mimic other performers on the show. During this decade he also guest starred in episodes of shows like The Fall Guy (1984), Murder, She Wrote (1988), and Monsters (1989).
During the 1990s he featured as a mobster kingpin in The Meteor Man (1993), played the evil sorcerer Brother Septimus in The Tale of the Carved Stone episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1993), voiced the character of Reverend Jack Cheese in an episode of The Ren and Stimpy Show (1995). Notably, he appeared in Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys (1995) as the gruff superior to Madeleine Stowe's psychiatrist.
In his final years Goshin portrayed comedian George Burns on Broadway in the one-man show Say Goodnight, Gracie (2002), which was nominated for a 2003 Tony Award for best play and was reunited with several of his Batman colleagues in the TV movie Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt, in which he appeared as himself. Gorshin died on the day of the telefilm's DVD release. He played the strict legendary Harvard Law School Professor, John H. Keynes, in the Korean drama Love Story in Harvard (2004), voiced villain Hugo Strange in three 2005 episodes of The Batman animated series. He also voiced the characters Marius and Lysander in the computer role playing game Diablo II.
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Famous quotes containing the word career:
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