Children used to ask Burgess Meredith to quack for them

Children loved The Penguin.

Most shows shy away from comedy because of an unfounded fear that comedy is a lesser medium. However, the precise reason that Batman is so good is that it leans into silliness and theatricality, giving each character and episode its own merit. 

Burgess Meredith, who portrayed The Penguin, understood that the overdramatic flair of his character was where his power lay as an actor. In an interview with the Associated Press, he revealed, "Now, when someone asks for my autograph, I write 'The Penguin' and rather apologetically, I add 'Burgess Meredith.'"

Some of the fans who were most appreciative of Meredith's silliness were children, who often approached him in public. Although he portrays a villain, kids weren't at all shy about approaching Meredith. In fact, he revealed that often when children see him, they approach waddling and quacking, just like The Penguin.

Meredith stated, "When they ask me to quack and strut for them, I say, 'Not at these prices.'" He also commented on the show's resonance with the use, and said that sometimes, his contemporaries don't actually understand episodes, while, "the young children have no trouble following the plot."

So Meredith's portrayal of the villain didn't cause him to lose any fans. In fact, Meredith preferred portraying an antagonist. He explained, "I love the villains in Batman. The villains are villains because they like to be... There is no motive, they just want to be bad."


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18 Comments

forthekids 13 months ago
The real reason that he stopped doing "The Penguin"quack for his fans..he was trying to quit smoking..prior to testing for the role.When he got the role..he was told that he would have smoke cigarettes in a holder..just like the character. He hated doing it..but..he had to do it. When the show ended..it took a long time for him to quit smoking. The smoking is what created that quacking sound that he made.
forthekids 13 months ago
I was lucky enough to meet Mr.Meredith in NYC..years ago..unlike his portrayal of "The Penguin"on "Batman"..he was a sweet and kindly gentleman.
Runeshaper 13 months ago
Burgess Meredith was a FANTASTIC penguin 🐧 !
Snickers Runeshaper 13 months ago
Burgess Meredith is the only true Penquin.
Cartoondave 13 months ago
The title of this story says Meredith Burgess which should've been Burgess Meredith
Bapa1 13 months ago
......and after he was done quacking for them, the children would break his eyeglasses.
Andybandit 13 months ago
BM was very good as the penguin on Batman, and on Rocky with Sylvester Stallone.
cperrynaples Andybandit 13 months ago
Yes, and let's not forget the Grumpy Old Men movies where he stole laughs from Lemmon & Matthau!
justjeff 13 months ago
"Children used to ask Meredith Burgess to quack for them"... ANOTHER in the LONG and seemingly never-ending gaffes by a MeTV writing team that's too lazy to proofread! I'm surprised that they didn't call Burgess Meredith "Meredith Burgess-Birney"!
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justjeff cperrynaples 13 months ago
...and I'm just a fonting fool... here's my December designs as I show off once again!
Snickers justjeff 13 months ago
Looks like they corrected their error in the spelling. Great job MeTV, only took the commenters to catch your mistake.
justjeff Snickers 13 months ago
"There are none so blind as those who proofread for MeTV"...
Snickers justjeff 13 months ago
So true. LOL!
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