Biographie

5 avril 1933 · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanie, États-Unis

17 mai 2005 · Burbank, Californie, États-Unis (cancer du poumon, emphysème et pneumonie)

Frank John Gorshin Jr.

1,73 m

Known as The Riddler on Batman (1966).

Celebrity impersonations

I do not do hundreds of impressions. My entire repertoire of impressions numbers less than 50. I never set out to do an impression of a person. However, when something a star does suddenly sparks my imagination, I find myself doing an impression of him--first for my amusement, later for my repertoire.

[on playing the Riddler on Batman (1966)] When I was first approached to play the Riddler, I thought it was a joke. Then I discovered the show had a good script and agreed to do the role. Now I am in love with the character. I developed the Riddler's fiendish laugh at Hollywood parties. I listened to myself laugh and discovered that the funniest jokes brought out the high-pitched giggle I use on the show. With further study, I came to realize that it wasn't so much how I laughed as what I laughed at that created the sense of menace.

[on working with Lynda Carter on Wonder Woman (1975)] I met Lynda years before she did "Wonder Woman", in Chicago. I forget the name of the club. At that time she was working as a singer. She was a good-looking lady and sang well. And I never saw her after that until I did that "Wonder Woman" episode. She remembered me. I played the Toymaker, but I can't remember anything else of any significance that happened during the shooting.

[1999, on his Star Trek episode 'Let That Be Your Last Battlefield']: That was a significant episode, in as much as it made a social comment at that time. We're talking 1966. It was a racial thing. I played a character who was black on the right side and white on the left side, and my adversary was the opposite. He was black on the left side and white on the right side.