One of the truly great and gifted performers of the century who often suffered lesser roles, Meredith was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1907 and educated in Amherst College in Massachusetts before joining Eva Le Gallienne's stage company in New York City in 1933. He bcame a favorite of dramatist Maxwell Anderson, premiering on film in the playwright's Winterset. Served in the Air Force in WWII. He continued in a variety of dramatic and comedic roles until being named an unfriendly witness by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the early 1950s, whereupon studio work disappeared. His career picked up again, especially with television roles, in the 1960s, although younger audiences know him best for either the Rocky or Grumpy Old Men films. Meredith also did a large amount of commercial work, serving as the voice for Skippy Peanut Butter and United Air Lines, among others. He was also an ardent environmentalist who believed pollution one of the greatest tragedies of the time, and an opponent of the Vietnam War.


Served in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, reaching the rank of Captain. Otto Preminger was instrumental in restoring his film career. Father of two (with fourth wife Kaja Sundsten): son Jonathon (musician) and daughter Tala (painter) Suffered from melanoma and other ailments, including Alzheimer's disease, at the time of his death. In 1960, received a special Tony Award, along with James Thurber, for A Thurber Carnival. He was also nominated for a 1974 Tony Award as best director (dramatic) for Ulysses in Nighttown. Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 406-407. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Was offered the part of The Penguin's father in Batman Returns (1992) (which eventually went to Paul Reubens), but couldn't film it because of his delicate health. Relied on cue cards during the filming of Grumpier Old Men (1995) , contributed from being in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Nephew of comedian and character actor, Jay "Handsome Danny Mann" Burgess (1856-1937).