Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2024)

May 19 2005 PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2005 A-5 Frank Gorshin portrays the Riddler in the Batman ABC television series in 1966. At right is actress Susan Silo. Tuesday in Burbank, where he died at the Providence St. Joseph Medical Center of lung cancer, emphysema and pneumonia. He was 71.

never knew we were poor until we Mr. Gorshin joked on last tour of family sites with his sister, Dorothy Roland, and his companion of several years, the actress Haji. sad memories he said. tough to smile. I like looking Those memories included a younger brother, Herman, killed by a drunk driver a few days before Mr.

Gorshin got his big break at 17, opening for comedian Alan King at Jackie Carousel Club, Downtown. His family urged him to perform anyway, and he did, to acclaim but at an emotional cost. There were also sad thoughts of his deceased parents Frank who died in 1998, and Frances, who died in 2003. And there were happier memories to share of neighbors, newspaper routes and hangouts when Mr. Gorshin was at Peabody High School.

Roland confirmed yesterday that while Mr. Gorshin was performing here in and visiting those family memories, he was already fighting cancer, for which she was quietly taking him for treatments. Nonetheless, the lifelong workaholic kept working, ending his tour only this spring, before he was hospitalized in late April. was the last of my Roland lamented. made me laugh a set out to be an Mr.

Gorshin once told the Post-Gazette. just That was in East Liberty, where he saw Jolson and came out imitating the star. A talent contest at the Enright Theater when he was 17 won him that Carousel Club booking. After Peabody, he studied acting for two years at Carnegie Tech before he was drafted. figured come back to school after the he recalled, then I was in Special Services and did plays and my nightclub act.

When I got out of the Army, already met an agent, so I started The Riddler was his big break. really was a catalyst for Mr. Gorshin told The Associated Press in 2002. was nobody. I had done some guest shots here and there.

But after I did that, I became a headliner in Vegas, so I put it In his 54-year career, Mr. Gorshin did more than 80 theatrical and TV movies and nearly as many TV guest appearances. Coincidentally, his final TV performance will be broadcast on CBS series Crime Scene He was nominated for Emmys for the Riddler and for Commissioner Bele in a 1969 episode. His dozen appearances on Ed Sullivan included Feb. 9, 1964, when the Beatles made their U.S.

debut. were millions of kids out he remembered years later. looked out the window and saw them and thought, did they know I was going to be on the But I followed the Beatles, which was good for me they were still screaming when I went His impressions in Las Vegas, often opening for stars like Bobby Darin, paved the way for other impressionists such as Rich Little. According to Mr. longtime agent, Fred Wostbrock, Sammy Davis Jr.

said it was Mr. Gorshin who taught him to do impressions. mimic celebrity wrote critic Chris Jones yesterday, change their appearances through elaborate prosthetics and makeup. Mr. Gorshin, an impressionist, needed none of those tricks to sustain someone identity.

could inhabit another soul with an eerie level of it took for Frank to become George said Rupert Holmes, writer of Goodnight, a little powder and a couple of lines on his forehead. His greatest gift was that he was an actor first and an impersonator Mr. movie roles included are (1960) with his idol Dean Martin and a batch of fun B-movies such as Rod (1956) and of the Saucer (1957). Most recently, he and Shirley Jones appeared as a charming con artist couple in from a feature film which played here in 2003 and is due out on DVD in July. On stage, Mr.

Gorshin played Jimmy Walker in the 1970 Broadway musical, He did a lot of tours, including and and When Goodbye, played at Byham Theater last year 16 of Mr. Peabody classmates showed up to his considerable surprise, since he was not nostalgic by nature. In 1996 he appeared here in Thee I for the Pittsburgh Symphony. a guy who always wore great clothes, stood up when a woman walked into the room he was a Wostbrock told The Associated Press. did all our deals with a His wife of 44 years, Christina, was at his bedside when he died.

By her account, he was too weak to speak for several days, then said, I love you, and breathed his last. Besides his wife and sister, Mr. Gorshin leaves his son, Mitchell Gorshin, of Orlando, Fla. His funeral will be private and he will be buried in the family plot in Pittsburgh. Roland confirms that specific plans are not yet set.

For pictures from the Gorshin family album and audio clips of reminiscence, find the link at www.post-gazette.com/ae Staff writer Johnna Pro and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Post-Gazette drama editor Christopher Rawson can be reached at gazette.com or 412-263-1666. Actor, impressionist Frank Gorshin dies GORSHIN, FROM PAGE A-1.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2024)
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