Hammiest Bat-Villain(ess)?

[Pengy]

Victor Buono. He was the hammiest of the ham.

[Edward Nigma]

I would split the hammiest villains into two groups:

Group 1 -- Those actors whose hamminess actually advanced the character and, therefore, the show: In this group, I would put Victor Buono as King Tut, Shelley Winters as Ma Parker, Liberace as Harry (but not Chandell), Otto Preminger as Mr. Freeze, (at times) Carolyn Jones as Marsha, and (at times) Milton Berle as Louie the Lilac.

Group 2 -- Those actors whose hamminess was an end in itself: In this group, I would put Liberace as Chandell (but not Harry), (at times) Carolyn Jones as Marsha, Roger C. Carmel as Colonel Gumm, Tallulah Bankhead as Black Widow, Ethel Merman as Lola Lasagne, (at times) Milton Berle as Louie the Lilac, Vincent Price as Egghead (Season 3 only), Anne Baxter as Olga, and Zsa Zsa Gabor as Minerva.

(I can't comment on Barbara Rush as Nora Clavicle and Ida Lupino as Dr. Cassandra because the horribleness of the episodes renders the hamminess inconsequential.)

[noman]

Riddler accomplice who falls into the atomic Pile
Olga
Nora Clavivle
Ethel Merman
Maurice Evans
George Sanders and Eli wallich
John Austin--I always thought he should have been a manic villian in his own right
The Third season just was below par of the first two seasons

[Riddler 66]

How can anyone forget David Wayne's Mad Hatter? He's a big ham and cheese sandwich!

[Progress Pigment]

The show was practically a delicatessen! The worst was Terry Moore. You want to smear spicy mustard on her!Deplorable. Then Olga, Nora Clavicle, Baby Jane and Ma Parker. I'd leave out Maurice Evans because he didn't change his acting style in the least for Batman. He was always hammy except in Rosemary's Baby! All of the big four villains were pretty hammy. Gorshin much less so. The hammiest super-villain, which I guess was your question -- was by a mile, Tut. Hammy, but good hammy.

[Golddragon71]

Riddler accomplice who falls into the atomic Pile

Molly Played by future (at that time) Bond Girl* Jill Saint John



*Tiffany Case in Diamonds are Forever

[Bill S.C.]

I'll vote for Tut as played by the late great Victor Buono; who was also quoted with the following:

"Being on Batman (1966) allowed me to do something we actors are taught never to do: overact."

[Jim Akin]

Great question. Interesting range of responses.

My $.02 is that Tut, Mad Hatter, and even Olga were what I call hammy in a good way -- played over the top intentionally, in controlled, stylized performances. (All of the "Big Four" started out that way to one degree or another, as well; Egghead falls into this group, too.)

Archer, Black Widow and, for me at least, the Astin Riddler (in order of descending hamminess) fell into the "hammy in a bad way" camp -- overplaying in performances that seemed to get away from them, and that felt unintentional. I find Milton Berle excruciatingly hammy in everything, so even though it's probably one of his subtler performances, I'd put Louie on this list somewhere, too; my bias makes me distrust my ability to rank him accurately.

Cheers,

QQ

[dell]

I find Milton Berle excruciatingly hammy in everything, so even though it's probably one of his subtler performances, I'd put Louie on this list somewhere, too; my bias makes me distrust my ability to rank him accurately.

Cheers,

QQ

Well said QQ. I also found his performance rather excruciatingly hammy. And I didn't think he was funny or particularly menacing. He is one of my least favorite villains.

[AndyFish]

There is hammy good-- i.e. King Tut, Otto, Egghead and there is hammy bad i.e. Llord Ffogg, Louie the Lilac.

[Dr. Shimel]

Barbara Rush was pretty hammy as Nora Clavicle, but I suppose she had to be, since it might have distracted some people from realizing just how bad the episode was.

[BatmanFan102]

Quillpen, you read my thoughts. In the most affectionate and respectful of ways, Victor Buono was the hammiest. In the unkind sense of the word, John Astin as Riddler, although I personally loved it!

Am I not the KING?? KING KING KING!!!!!!!!

This is nothing but a dime store flashlight....Flashlight....FLASHLIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Honorable mention to Roddy McDowell's Bookworm tantrum for hamminess.

[dell]

There is hammy good-- i.e. King Tut, Otto, Egghead and there is hammy bad i.e. Llord Ffogg, Louie the Lilac.

And I think it was tough for the actors to know if it was good or bad when they were doing it. If you really watch Rudy Vallee he tried to be over the top like Victor Buono, but he was to restrained. Buono just threw everything into it and it worked well. My guess is the over the top approach was not something Rudy Vallee (or the majority of actors) could really do. The whole idea had to be pretty foreign to most actors.

The men just had to do the over the top thing for their characters. The women could either do that or be the tough woman. Shelly Winters took it over the top and it worked pretty well for her. Ether Merman tried it, but she was just so-so. Julie Newmar and Joan Collins took the more restrained approach and that worked pretty well for them. Back in the sixties women weren't supposed to be cool, calculating thieves. They were still hammy, but nothing like Tut, the Riddler or the Joker.