If not Astin, then who?

[Riddler Fan]

There has been a fair amount of talk about how John Astin did not do a good job playing Riddler. I and a couple of others on this site have defended his portrayal saying that he gave the role his own spin and didn't try to imitate Frank Gorshin. So now comes the question................

Who would you have liked to see play Riddler given that Frank Gorshin was unavailable (for whatever reason)?

[philigan]

I'm thinking maybe, Don Knotts, Dick Van Dyke, Fred Gwynee would've been ironic, and Jerry Lewis!

[60sLover]

Johnny Carlson or... Jonathan Harris!

[elmrgraham]

I thought that John Astin did a good job playing The Riddler.

[epaddon]

Van Dyke and Robert Morse are the only names I can realistically envision as alternates closer to the Gorshin mode. Morse more so because of his more manic quality whereas Van Dyke was too much the "nice guy" at the time (even though he would later play killers on Columbo and other shows).

[mattman]

Jerry Lewis would have been a good call and no doubt with his laugh especially he would be a brilliant choice with the public
I think people's perception wasnt just that Astin wasnt Gorshin but that he basically looked like and played Gomez Addams
The anniversary story was actually quite good, fans seem to like it and the 'underwater' fight is a neat touch

My choice at the time would have beenJerry Lewis (or if Michael Landon wanted to leave Bonanza, my second choice)

[Riddlersgurl]

If Michael Landon had done it, people would have been wondering what Little Joe was doing in a leotard and tights.

Don Knotts, while he was a good comedian, really didn't have the kind of manic edge that Gorshin brought to it. He'd be more of a Nervous Nelly type.

Dick Van Dyke? A little too tall, and at that point, was stereotyped as a 'nice guy'.

Although.....let me see.....hmmmmm....

It MIGHT have worked, if he had stayed away from the leotard, and simply wore the tailored suit and bowler hat, and carried the question mark cane as a weapon/accessory. With the head properly weighted, that thing could easily have knocked Batman and Robin for a loop.

Dick had the physicality to carry off some of the stunts, and I'm beginning to think the sheer chutzpah to challenge Batman as an equal. Both Dick and Adam are roughly the same height, with Adam being stockier, and Dick being more lanky. A Batfight between just the two of them would have been very interesting to see.

Okay, I am officially reversing my opinion; Dick Van Dyke is definitely a contender in my book.

[Riddler Fan]

I think the main reason for casting Astin was to see a good guy play a villain. All actors love playing villains because it lets them run free with emotions. Dick Van Dyke I must admit is an interesting choice. In 1967 he was only known for playing good guys in his TV show and in Mary Poppins of course. He didn't begin to play darker roles until 1970's "Cold Turkey" in which he is not a villain, but a very pompous jerk.

How about Peter Falk? He was virtually unknown at the time. Bob Denver? Richard Dawson? Al Lewis? Jerry Van Dyke? Sammy Davis Jr? Bill Cosby? Robert Vaughn? The choices are endless.

[mattman]

Falk was too small and possibly too rigid. William Shatner? But would he jump networks?

I would have had David McCallum over his co star Robert Vaughan

[Riddlersgurl]

David McCallum with that humongous sized head of his as the Riddler?

Not seeing it, myself.

To be fair, I don't see Robert Vaughn doing it either.

And Peter Falk was too short and stocky for the part, plus the false eye was distracting.

Now Jack Cassidy is a possibility. He could play very smooth villains; him as the Riddler would have been fascinating.

He might not have had the physicality for the role, but for sheer menace, I think he could have done it.

[mattman]

Jack Cassidy too smooth. He could be Louie or be a better Clock King.

Astin was clearly the right choice but it was difficult to fill Frankie's bowler

[Riddler Fan]

Frank Gorshin was only 5' 6" tall, so actors like Falk would be the right height. But I agree about his appearance and mannerisms. Jack Cassidy was too smooth to be the twisted Riddler. He'd have made a great Chandel though.

Maybe we shouldn't condiser big stars. After all, who the heck had even heard of Frank Gorshin before he was cast as Riddler, aside from a few appearances on the Ed Sullivan show? Actors like Burgess Meredith and Cesar Romero were older and more established in both movies and TV roles.

I'm having ahard time thinking of just who could have played Riddler beside Astin.

[High C]

I think people's perception wasnt just that Astin wasnt Gorshin but that he basically looked like and played Gomez Addams
The anniversary story was actually quite good, fans seem to like it and the 'underwater' fight is a neat touch

I kind of liked Astin's take on Riddler, but that's a fair point. I know it seemed more like Gomez to some. But that's also why I never really liked Carolyn Jones' portrayal of Marsha. Seemed more like Morticia Lite to me.

I would cast my vote for Dick Van Dyke, even though he was starting to do films in 1966-67 after The Dick Van Dyke Show went off the air. He did a film called Divorce, American Style with Debbie Reynolds in 1967 about, as you can guess, a marriage that was falling apart. There definitely were some dark, moody scenes in that film, including some that allowed him to use his ability to make physical gestures, getting his point across with no dialogue. That kind of an attribute would have made him a pretty good Riddler, more in the Gorshin mold but with a somewhat different take.

[epaddon]

Peter Falk was not an "unknown" at the time. He already had a substantial movie career behind him including an Oscar nomination for Frank Capra's last movie in 1962, plus in 1965-66 he starred in the series "Trials Of O'Brien" which was a forerunner to his "Columbo" role in that he played a slovenly attorney who still always managed to come out on top despite his rumpled habits. But it's precisely that "working class" element that was so essential to Falk's persona even before he became Lieutenant Columbo that would make him totally inappropriate for any kind of Bat villain where a level of elegance is required, and that, Falk never had.

I still have to echo my choice for Robert Morse. Watch him in "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" (where his nemesis is Bat villain Rudy Vallee) and you see the necessary eccentric quality that Riddler calls for.

[mattman]

All great choices. I would personally go for Jerry Lewis as the Riddler and Van Dyke possibly as the Joker