When I was a youth and caught an episode of the old Batman TV show I always hoped the villain was not The Penguin, who was frequently on the show. While Frank Gorshin's Riddler wowed me and Julie Newmar's Cartwoman dazzled me, somehow Burgess Meredith as The Penguin left me cold. But I grew up and I changed my mind. Now his performances as the always overdressed bad guy now are among my favorites and he owns lots of the best moments in the show. Somewhere between when I was ten and now I came to appreciate the talents of Burgess Meredith, and no small part of that was because of The Twilight Zone. Meredith appeared on The Twilight Zone no fewer than four times in four very different roles.
He of course first shows up in his most famous TZ role, the episode titled "Time Enough At Last" as Henry Bemis, a bookish man just looking for a little peace and quiet in which to read. But alas his boss and his wife don't like that and give him endless grief. Circumstance are such thought that he is spared as the world comes to end and after that he finds all the time he wants to read, but there's a catch.
It's in the second season that he returns as Luther Dingle a lowly vacuum cleaner salesman in "Mr. Dingle - The Strong" who becomes incredibly physically strong thanks to the intervention of a two-headed Venusian he cannot see. But his use of that gift is put to the test.
Later that same season he returns in "The Obsolete Man" as Romney Wordsworth a librarian in a culture which actively punishes reading. This is a much darker role than his first two and his solution to his dilemma of being forced to pick his own form of execution is severe, but he manages even then to turn the tables a bit.
And finally in the fifth season he shows up one more time in a very different role as a mysterious Mr. Smith in "Printer's Devil". Who he is becomes pretty obvious as he uses his uncanny skills as a reporter and all-around newspaperman to revive a failing local paper. But how he does it of course causes problems, since there's always a catch to these acts of providence.
He is of course on many another show here and there and about. I found him as a delightfully zany fellow in a story titled "Martian Eyes" on Lights Out. Meredith presents a warm often sympathetic character who it is easy to identify with and so care about when things go awry. But first and foremost in my imagination, he will be The Penguin! Waugh! Waugh! Waugh!
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Yes he was the Penguin and he played some good roles who can forget him as the trainer in Rocky! The Twilight Zone was so original and like The Outer Limits late night sneaky viewing!
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