Frank Gorshin, was Batman's "The Riddler," dies at 72

Posted:
May 18, 2005

Frank Gorshin, whose role as the Riddler made him the only member of the Batman TV series to be nominated for an Emmy, died Tuesday at 71.

Known as the impressionist with 100 faces, he died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California. Christina, his wife of 48 years, was at his side, agent and longtime friend Fred Wostbrock said Wednesday.

"He put up a valiant fight with lung cancer, emphysema and pneumonia," Christina Gorshin said in a statement.

Born on April 5, 1934 in Pittsburgh, he appeared in over 70 movies and made over 40 guest shots on TV series. However, he's best known as the bowler-hatted Riddler, villain to Adam "Batman" West in the campy 1966-69 TV show. As the Riddler, he wore a green suit bedecked with question marks.

Gorshin provided the voice of a different Batvillain -- Hugo Strange -- in Strange Minds. An episode of Warner Bros. Television Animation's The Batman, it marked the character's debut on the series, and was to be aired this month.

He voiced several characters in late-1990s Looney Tunes: Daffy Duck in Superior Duck(1996), Yosemite Sam in From Hare To Eternity(1997) and Foghorn Leghorn in Pullet Surprise(1997).

As well, Gorshin provided the voices of Quarter Past Five and Sir Tentworthree in the 1976 Rankin-Bass Productions special Rudolph's Shiny New Year, which aired on CBS. He was a member of the voice cast in the two-minute The Big Story (Screwball Films/Splitting Image,1994), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film (Animated) the following year.

In 1999, he had the lead role (as King Crab) in Cartoon Network Studios' King Crab: Space Crustacean. Directed and produced by Bill Wray, this was a pilot for a series that never got going.

Gorshin was Holler, Carlo, Omar and the Prince in the animated The Gnomes' Great Adventure (1987), distributed by Miramax Films. Heguested in the title role in Reverend Jack Cheese, a 1996 episode of Ren and Stimpy.

Gorshin entered show biz in New York. His over 40 impressions included impersonations of James Cagney, Bobby Darin, Kirk Douglas, Al Jolson and Dean Martin.

He brought his impersonation act to The Ed Sullivan Show on the same evening that the Beatles were the headline act. Later, he did impressions in Las Vegas showrooms, opening for Darin.

Sammy Davis Jr. credited Gorshin for teaching him to do impersonations, said Wostbrock: "He said you had to look like them and walk like them. Once you get that down, the voice comes easy."

Gorshin was in such movies as 1960's Bells are Ringing, which also featured Judy Holliday, Dean Martin and Jean Stapleton (in an early screen appearance). He also appeared in tongue-in-cheek B-movies, including Hot Rod Girl (1956) and Dragstrip Girl and Invasion of the Saucer Men (both 1957).

But the Riddler was Gorshin's signature role.

"It really was a catalyst for me. I was nobody," he said in a 2002 Associated Press interview. "I had done some guest shots here and there. But after I did that, I became a headliner in Vegas, so I can't put it down."

Adam "Batman" West called the death of his longtime friend a major loss. "Frank will be missed. He was a friend and fascinating character," West said in a statement.

Gorshin was nominated for a second Emmy for a guest apparance in Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, a 1969 episode of Star Trek.

Using just a bit of makeup and no prosthetics, Gorshin became George Burns in Say Goodnight Gracie, a one-man Broadway show in 2002.

"I don't know how to explain it. It just comes," Gorshin recounted.

"I wish I could say, 'This is step A, B and C.' But I can't do that. I do it, you know. The ironic thing is I've done impressions all my life -- I never did George Burns."

Gorshin's other TV appearances included roles on General Hospital, The Edge of Night and The Munsters. He also guested on Donny & Marie, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Murder, She Wrote, The Fall Guy, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels and Police Woman.

"He was fun, fascinating, wild and always a class act," Wostbrock remembered. "Here's a guy who always wore great clothes, stood up when a woman walked into the room -- he was a gentleman.

"We did all our deals with a handshake. There was never a signed contract."

Gorshin's last TV role will be aired Thursday on the CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

He was to voice Deano the Rat in the in-production Firedog, an animated comedy feature directed and produced by Scott Duthie.

Besides wife Christina, Gorshin is survived by son Mitchell Gorshin of Orlando, Florida and sister Dottie Roland of Pittsburgh.

The funeral will be private, said Wostbrock. Gorshin will be buried in the family plot in Pittsburgh.