{"id":1618,"date":"2013-07-08T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1618"},"modified":"2015-01-05T22:17:49","modified_gmt":"2015-01-05T22:17:49","slug":"frank-gorshin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/07\/08\/frank-gorshin\/","title":{"rendered":"Frank Gorshin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Different <\/a>
Different characters of Frank Gorshin <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Frank <\/a>
Frank Gorshin at age 17 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Riddle me this, Batman: Who was that giggly masked man in green tights, the one with a big question mark on his chest?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s no riddle to Pittsburghers of a certain age, who would recognize Frank Gorshin anywhere.<\/p>\n

The late actor who would become the Riddler on the \u201cBatman\u201d TV series paid his dues in Pittsburgh before his spot-on impersonations of Hollywood heavyweights such as Edward G. Robinson and Kirk Douglas were seen regularly on late night TV talkers. He appeared in movies and on Broadway, too, but it was as the Riddler that he is perhaps best remembered. You can see his likeness today in the new digital interactive comic book \u201cBatman \u201966: The Riddler\u2019s Ruse #1,\u201d available at\u00a0comixology.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Born in 1934, Gorshin attended Arsenal Elementary in Lawrenceville and Peabody High School before a short stint at Carnegie Mellon (then Tech). He appeared in local night clubs and plays before joining the Armed Forces in 1953 and, while entertaining the troops, he met a Universal Studios rep who found him a role in the film, \u201cThe Proud and the Profane.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the official Frank Gorshin website, the actor was visiting his parents in Pittsburgh in 1957 when his agent called and told him to rush back to Hollywood and screen test for the movie \u201cRun Silent, Run Deep.\u201d The website recounts, \u201cAfter driving 39 straight hours Frank fell asleep at the wheel and crashed the car. He suffered a fractured skull and did not wake up until four days later in a hospital.\u201d Don Rickles won the role, and Gorshin later discovered that Los Angeles newspapers had reported he died in the car accident.<\/p>\n

Other movie roles and TV appearances followed, including 12 guest appearances on \u201cThe Ed Sullivan Show.\u201d A new generation of fans discovered his talent for creating characters on Jan. 12, 1966, when he appeared in the pilot of \u201cBatman,\u201d which was titled \u201cHi Diddle Riddle.\u201d Gorshin earned an Emmy nomination for laughing it up as the Riddler, which included nine more appearances and a movie. Gorshin also received an Emmy nod for his guest-starring role on the \u201cStar Trek\u201d episode \u201cLet That Be Your Last Battlefield,\u201d in which he played an alien from a planet where people battled each other based on whether they were black on the right side of their bodies and white on the left, or the reverse \u2014 a commentary on race relations of the day.<\/p>\n

In 1970, Gorshin made his Broadway debut in play \u201cJimmy,\u201d based on the life of New York Mayor James J. Walker, and in 2002-03, he starred in Rupert Holmes\u2019 one-man show about George Burns, \u201cSay Goodnight Gracie.\u201d The latter earned Gorshin a Drama Desk nomination and he toured in the show, including a stop at the Byham Theater in 2004. Post-Gazette senior theater critic Christopher Rawson wrote<\/a>, \u201cHere, in Gorshin\u2019s hometown, it is impossible not to find in this story something of Gorshin\u2019s life, too, enjoying, like Burns at a later age, an Indian summer of revived stardom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Gorshin died on May 17, 2005, after battling lung cancer and emphysema. His grave site is in Hazelwood\u2019s Calvary Catholic Cemetery.<\/p>\n

Related post \u2014 <\/strong>“Riddle me this Batman: Where can we find the 1960\u00a0TV series transformed into a digital comic book?”<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No riddle to Pittsburghers of a certain age, who would recognize Frank Gorshin anywhere.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesFrank Gorshin<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066],"tags":[1035,1036,1044],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/tumblr_mpdprp1dMb1rr5swxo2_r1_1280.jpg?fit=1177%2C1560&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2202,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/17\/may-28-1974-steelers-coach-chuck-noll-and-his\/","url_meta":{"origin":1618,"position":0},"title":"Steelers coach Chuck Noll and his four quarterbacks","date":"December 17, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"This picture oozes a definite \u201970s vibe.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tumblr_mf141cqNVZ1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C681&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1526,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/08\/07\/shadyside-pittsburghs-greenwich-village\/","url_meta":{"origin":1618,"position":1},"title":"Shadyside: Pittsburgh\u2019s Greenwich Village","date":"August 7, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Groovy. That\u2019s the word Pittsburghers used to describe the spirit of Shadyside in 1970s.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/tumblr_mr4qddabtf1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C885&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2216,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/11\/pittsburgh-courier-correspondent-frank-e-bolden\/","url_meta":{"origin":1618,"position":2},"title":"Pittsburgh Courier correspondent Frank E. Bolden","date":"December 11, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"This photograph of Pittsburgh journalist Frank E. Bolden shows him during the prime of his career.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tumblr_meok8oT3Hq1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=768%2C618&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2173,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/31\/pittsburghers-party-on-new-years-eve\/","url_meta":{"origin":1618,"position":3},"title":"Pittsburghers party on New Year\u2019s Eve","date":"December 31, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Remember December of 1985?","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tumblr_mfcjqdSChO1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C791&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2040,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/02\/18\/shame-at-east-libertys-infamous-bachelors-club\/","url_meta":{"origin":1618,"position":4},"title":"Shame at East Liberty\u2019s infamous Bachelors\u2019 Club","date":"February 18, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"There was a time when Pittsburghers flocked to private clubs.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/tumblr_mia8g4skm51rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C844&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2164,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/01\/04\/travelers-flock-to-penn-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":1618,"position":5},"title":"Travelers flock to Penn Station","date":"January 4, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The station is known to Pittsburghers as Penn Station and was completed in 1903.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/tumblr_mg2fg10beL1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=864%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1618"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4279,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618\/revisions\/4279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}