Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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HerryGrail
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Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by HerryGrail »

I've been playing a little game in my head lately, the kind that an entertainment buff and semi-old-timer like me likes to play.

We know there were a lot of stars who guested as villains on "Batman," but I've been wondering: who was the biggest star to appear at the time of his or her appearance? For all the talk of Frank Sinatra wanting appear on the show, what we have are a lot of big names who were past their superstar "prime," which doesn't diminish their worth...it's just not what I'm assessing.

Actors like Anne Baxter and Van Johnson were A-list film stars in their day, and others like Cliff Robertson and Joan Collins would actually become bigger names after they appeared. But at the time, who was the biggest star? The one most likely to arouse a "Wow!" in audiences at the time.

There were three who had been big stars and had maintained an aura of "bigness" throughout the 60's, appearing in many mediums and always getting special billing. Those included Ethel Merman, Milton Berle, and Liberace. I might also include Vincent Price in that group; think, "personalities most likely to turn up on Hollywood Squares." But they were famous for being famous by 1966, and weren't headlining any A-list movies or Broadway shows at the time. (To be fair, Merman did a brief revival of "Annie Get Your Gun" at the Lincoln Center in 1966, but it was a nostalgia affair, as she had originated the role 20 years earlier.) In other words, you might have expected them to turn up on "Batman."

Which actors weren't doing television series, appearing only in major films at the time? There aren't very many, actually.

My vote would go to Shelley Winters. She was still appearing in major roles in A-list films at the time, including "Alfie" and "A Patch of Blue." While she would later become a Hollywood Squares-style celebrity in the 1970's, at that time she was getting choice roles and co-star billing with actors like Sidney Poitier. She had done a "Wagon Train," but apart from that was very much a movie star in 1966, even though her biggest starring roles were behind her.

Two others would be Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach. Wallach was a supporting player, but still in the upper echelon in 1966. He had done more TV than Winters, so I'm sticking with Winters. Again, there's no shame in being on TV, but in 1966 stardom was very much measured by the size of your billing in an A-list motion picture.

Preminger really may have been the biggest name at the time he was on "Batman," still directing big films like "In Harm's Way" in the mid-1960's. In one's own field, he was probably the biggest star.

So I'll go with Shelley Winters as the biggest "star" at the time of a villain appearance, with Preminger as the biggest "name."

I'd love some arguments.
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clavierankh
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by clavierankh »

I think Liberace as Chandell. The Chandell episodes were the highest rated in the series history.
Gleeps, it's Batman
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by Gleeps, it's Batman »

I would guess Liberace too, since I read somewhere that people who didn't watch Batman tuned in just to see Liberace, but didn't stick with the show after his episodes.
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Phil B
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by Phil B »

I'm not sure how Cesar Romero's star was shining at the time but of all the high profile actors to appear on the show, his appearance surprised me the most.
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BatDavidEvanSmith
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by BatDavidEvanSmith »

I wasn't alive at the time of the series, but retroactively, I've always considered Burgess Meredith such a big "get" and crowning jewel at Batman, for his classic work including The Twilight Zone.

I always thought Meredith was a favorite, considering his stats of how many times they used him on the show, and how it sounded like he was the most accommodating of the recurring villains, and a true champion of the work and the series itself.
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Progress Pigment
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by Progress Pigment »

Tallulah Bankhead and Otto Preminger second. They had both been HUGE at one time. I'd say Cliff Robertson had the biggest ongoing career at the time of Batman.
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High C
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by High C »

Great idea for a thread!

I can't disagree with Shelley Winters, but I would say Cliff Robertson was right up there. In 1967, in between his two Shame appearances, he was third-billed behind Rex Harrison and Susan Hayward in The Honey Pot.

And in Sept. 1968, only seven months after his final Batman appearance, the film Charly opened. Robertson starred and won the Oscar for Best Actor. I would assume that was in the works when he appeared on Batman in Season 3.
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HerryGrail
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by HerryGrail »

Yes, I thought seriously about Robertson. I knew "Charly" came after "Batman," but you're right...not by much!
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High C
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by High C »

HerryGrail wrote:Yes, I thought seriously about Robertson. I knew "Charly" came after "Batman," but you're right...not by much!
Yeah, I would say that in that relative time frame, he was an A-lister. But as you say, Winters had numerous high-profile movie roles in that era.

As for Joan Collins, her casting is interesting. She was a starlet (coincidentally at Fox) in the late 1950s but her career had stalled and then she herself put it on hold when she had two children with Anthony Newley, in 1963 and 1965. So she was in kind of a career lull when she played The Siren. And of course, she had a career rebirth many years later on Dynasty.
'I thought Siren was perfect for Joan.'--Stanley Ralph Ross, writer of 'The Wail of the Siren'

My hobbies include gazing at the Siren and doing her bidding, evil or otherwise.

'She had a devastating, hypnotic effect on all the men.'--A schoolmate describing Joan Collins at age 17
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Riddler Fan
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by Riddler Fan »

I think Van Johnson was considered a big, albeit fading star at the time. Funny thing is all the top Bat-Villains (Riddler, Joker, Penguin & Catwoman) were played by hard working actors better know for their fame on the small screen rather than the silver screen. None of them had ever won an Emmy, Oscar, Tony or Grammy. I think once the show became a hit, it did draw more famous actors to appear on the show.

And if you measure a star's fame by winning a major award, then Shelley Winters was the biggest star to appear on the show.
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epaddon
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by epaddon »

I would have to agree on Winters because of her recent Oscar win, and also Robertson who was doing a lot of "A" level films including playing JFK in "PT-109" and was not a TV guest per se at the time. I might also add Jill St. John who at the time she did the pilot was noted for more film work even though she could still effortlessly move back and forth between films and TV guest shots without thinking the latter was demeaning to her career (her first job right after doing the "Batman" pilot was a terrific "Big Valley" guest shot).
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by catwoman-henchman »

"Funny thing is all the top Bat-Villains (Riddler, Joker, Penguin & Catwoman) were played by hard working actors better know for their fame on the small screen rather than the silver screen. None of them had ever won an Emmy, Oscar, Tony or Grammy."

Julie Newmar won a Tony Award for Marriage-go-Round, which was her first speaking role on Broadway. Pretty impressive. Before that, she was the show-stopping Stupefyin' Jones in "Li'l Abner."

Burgess Meredith was certainly well known for stage and screen (he was also a director). Check out his credits, including "Of Mice and Men."

Gorshin had acted in films ("Studs Lonigan" among them) but was best known for his nightclub work as an impressionist, not particularly for TV (although he guested on an "Ed Sullivan Show" that featured The Beatles...which is available on DVD).

Romero...a movie veteran.
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Dr. Shimel
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by Dr. Shimel »

When Shelley Winters was cast, she had just won her second Oscar.

Burgess went on to twice be nominated for an Oscar, for Day of the Locust and Rocky
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by catwoman-henchman »

Dr. Shimel wrote:

Burgess went on to twice be nominated for an Oscar, for Day of the Locust and Rocky
Along with Julie, Burgess was also a Tony Award winner -- 1960, for "A Thurber Carnival." Meredith and Thurber both won awards (director, writer).

I don't know that any villain was particularly famous, or at the height of fame, while doing "Batman." Were any of them Top 10 box office attractions at the time? On the order of the hot stars of the day such as Richard Burton, Lee Marvin, Laurence Olivier, Julie Andrews, Julie Christie or Rod Steiger? (To name some Oscar winners and nominees from 1966).

The great thing was that the hysteria over "Batman" led some stars who didn't normally appear on TV much to make their fans happy and maybe get new fans, too. I'm thinking of Liberace and Bankhead. Most of the others were, to use a phrase from a previous poster, "hardworking actors," who were glad to get another interesting role...and that would include Carney, Vinnie Price, John Astin and even Otto Preminger.
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High C
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Re: Biggest "Star" When Playing A Villain

Post by High C »

epaddon wrote:I would have to agree on Winters because of her recent Oscar win, and also Robertson who was doing a lot of "A" level films including playing JFK in "PT-109" and was not a TV guest per se at the time. I might also add Jill St. John who at the time she did the pilot was noted for more film work even though she could still effortlessly move back and forth between films and TV guest shots without thinking the latter was demeaning to her career (her first job right after doing the "Batman" pilot was a terrific "Big Valley" guest shot).
Wanted to bump this thread because it's a good one, and agree with some posts. Excellent call on JSJ. Her star status at the time was reflected in the fact she was billed ahead of Gorshin, the only moll to be billed ahead of a villain.
catwoman-henchman wrote:
I don't know that any villain was particularly famous, or at the height of fame, while doing "Batman." Were any of them Top 10 box office attractions at the time? On the order of the hot stars of the day such as Richard Burton, Lee Marvin, Laurence Olivier, Julie Andrews, Julie Christie or Rod Steiger? (To name some Oscar winners and nominees from 1966).
Good point, but interestingly, according to Dozier's files, Steiger had expressed an interest in playing a villain. Too bad it didn't happen.

And Kirk Douglas had signed to play a villain, but had to back out because of a movie commitment. Those two probably would have gone to the head of this list had they appeared.
'I thought Siren was perfect for Joan.'--Stanley Ralph Ross, writer of 'The Wail of the Siren'

My hobbies include gazing at the Siren and doing her bidding, evil or otherwise.

'She had a devastating, hypnotic effect on all the men.'--A schoolmate describing Joan Collins at age 17
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