I’m sure you all must know by now of the passing of Frank Gorshin, who played The Riddler on the 1960’s Batman TV show. Gorshin was one of my favorite actors, both on Batman and in movies and television appearances.

I met Frank twice, both times at comic conventions, and found him most approachable and appreciative to his fans. He never stopped smiling when folks came up for his autograph or just to shake his hand. He made it a point to speak to each one of them, and eagerly posed for pictures….not something you could say about most convention guests.

Although he is probably best-known for his portrayal of The Riddler, Gorshin had actually already established himself in Hollywood well-before his appearance on Batman. At the time of filming of the television version of Batman, Gorshin had appeared in 18 major movies, and on television on Star Trek, Hawaii 5-O and Combat.

Gorshin was Batman’s first villain, appearing on the TV show’s pilot episode, “Hi Diddle Riddle.” The episode, adapted from Gardner Fox’s “The Remarkable Ruse of the Riddler” in Batman #171 (May, 1965), featured The Riddler’s trademarked high-pitched giggle, inspired, Gorshin said, by the character Tommy Udo (played by Richard Widmark) in the 1947 crime drama Kiss of Death.

Gorshin received an Emmy nomination for his role in the Batman series, for best actor in a supporting role.

On his role of The Riddler, Gorshin said, "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, but only on a show to show basis. Now I am in love with the character. I developed the Riddlers 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 a sense of menace"

According to one biography:

In 1978, Gorshin, who achieved national recognition as The Riddler, re-enacted the role in an NBC-TV special, "Legends of The Superheroes". In 1978, too, Gorshin starred as Ocran in the NBC-TV miniseries, "Stories From The Bible". In 1979 he starred in the CBS-TV motion picture, "Death Car on The Freeway" and as the space villain in "Buck Rogers in The 25th Century". In 1980, he starred in "Goliath Awaits" for NBC and for BBC in "Treasure Island" and Princess Ida".

In 1978 and 1979, Gorshin was named one of the "Ten Best Dressed Men in America" by the Custom International Bachelor Women's Society. During 1980 Gorshin served as Honorary Chairman, Entertainment Division, for the American Heart association. Gorshin is still hailed for his thought provoking Emmy nominated performance in the Star Trek episode, "Let This Be Your Final Battle", a statement on modern day prejudice. He's guested on "Lois and Clark", and the Nickolodean series "Are You Afraid of The Dark?" Gorshins' recent movie roles include "Meteor Man", "12 Monkeys" with Bruce Willis and "Twilight of The Ice Nymphs with Shelly Duvall. Among his prized possessions is a review from Hollywood Reporter: "Frank Gorshin is so talented, he has to be one of the greatest entertainers today. He is an actor- a fine actor. He is a singer- a fine singer. He is a comic- a splendid comic"

And he was one fine person as well, and one who will truly be missed by anyone who ever met him.

In comic-book-related movie news:

Batman Begins writer David Goyer says the plot of the soon-to-be-released movie is one which allows us to see a previous-unexplored time in Batman’s past.

"The great thing about this story is that it's never been told before, even in the comic books,” Goyer said. “The closest that the comic books have come is a story called Batman Year One, which is set after Bruce Wayne's returned to Gotham City. But there's a gap of at least seven years after he disappears from Gotham, and they just never told that story. So this was a way of doing something new and different that had never been done before. And that excited me and Chris, and it obviously excited DC and Warner Bros. as well."

Variety has confirmed that Kelsey Grammer is going to play the role of Hank McCoy (Beast) in the third X-Men movie.

According to Variety Frasier star Kelsey Grammer is going to play everyone's favorite blue-furred mutant in X3.

“While Grammer might seem a surprise to play a 355-pound blue-colored brute, producer Avi Arad said, "Kelsey was born to play the role.

“This is a big role in the new movie, and when we met with him, you can see that Kelsey has that you'd-better-have-a-dictionary-handy intelligence," Arad added.

X-Men 3, scheduled to hit theaters in June, 2006, is said to revolve the Phoenix saga, and possibly will introduce the characters of Angel, Gambit, Psylocke, Emma Frost, Dazzler, Juggernaut and possibly the Sentinels, according to news sources.