Posted: 8/4/16 at 11:21pm
Both Gig Young and Jose Ferrer turned down playing this iconic character in an equally iconic series. Name the role
Posted: 8/4/16 at 11:46pm
javero said: "Batdude
Right series, wrong character. It was actually the Joker. Ferrer was actually cast but dropped out at the last minute. Interesting fact about Gig Young (other than he killed his wife before killing himself) was that he was originally cast to play the Gene Wilder role in Blazing Saddles but was fired early on cause he couldn't stay sober. Speaking of Blazing Saddles, RIP to David Huddleston, a great character actor, whose "authentic frontier gibberish" scene in the church in Blazing Saddles is a classic.
Posted: 8/5/16 at 12:46am
Too quick to the draw and wasn't wearing my glasses...excuses, I know; )
Posted: 8/5/16 at 7:41am
Uncle Charlie, you are right . I misread it. The one who was up for the Penguin was Mickey Rooney. There was also interesting casting choices for King Tut . Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner wanted it. As interesting as all these choices might have been, you cannot imagine anyone else playing the major villains but those who actually did it. All the casting choices were superb.
Updated On: 8/5/16 at 07:41 AM
Posted: 8/5/16 at 10:20am
Mr Roxy said: "As interesting as all these choices might have been, you cannot imagine anyone else playing the major villains but those who actually did it. All the casting choices were superb."
I see what you're saying, but I think of all the TV/movie incarnations of Batman, that is the one product that could have gotten away with (and benefited from) more examples of swapping actors into and out of roles. That show focused less on "canon" and more on "camp", and was very 2-dimentional, so when casting changes were made, it gave viewers more to talk about.
Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, and The Riddler were all recast for one reason or another. Catwoman's recasting is probably the most successful example of those three. I think most people toss Lee Meriwether out of the mix immediately, but the contest for 'favorite' is a pretty tight competition between Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt. Similarly (although not as famously), I preferred Frank Gorshin over John Astin as The Riddler. ...and how interesting would it have been to deliberately make the choice to cast The Riddler as a guest-star role - so that every time the character appeared, the suit was the same but the actor was different.
I would have loved to have seen Yul Brynner swapped in as Tut. His physical type and sex appeal are so completely different from Victor Buono's. I think Cesar Romero would probably end up being my favorite Joker, but swapping in another actor, even for that role, would only have boosted the camp factor. Same for Penguin.
Because the show was intentionally campy, I think the show could have been even better by mixing it up a bit.
Updated On: 8/5/16 at 10:20 AM
