Were the most popular villains on the 1960s ‘Batman’ series always played by the same actors?

January.

Cold, gray, depressing … or, depending on where you’re reading this, nice, sunny and encouraging.

Did you ever notice how the weather affects our entire outlook on things?  I feel a lot more confident and encouraged on sunny warm days, and much more withdrawn and introspective on cold, dreary days.

And I will bet you do the same.

But one thing to bring everyone out of the winter funk is trivia, so what say we dive into this week’s assortment?  Enjoy!

Did you know …

… why an easily-caught fly ball in baseball is called a “can of corn”?  Nobody is sure, but the prevailing thought is that the term comes from early 20th century grocery stores.  Clerks would pull cans (usually of corn) from high shelves with a long stick, and catch the cans in their aprons.  (It makes as much sense as anything else, I suppose.)

… modern drinking fountains were invented in 1912?  In that year, Halsey W. Taylor (1877-1964) developed the modern form of water fountain after his father had succumbed to typhoid fever contracted from a contaminated public water supply in 1896.  (When they say it’s in the water, they mean it.)

… Google™ images was created because people wanted to see photos of a recording star?  After singer Jennifer Lopez (born 1969) wore an infamous green Versace dress to the Grammy Awards in 2000, people looked online for photos of her.  Thus, the Google image app was created.  (For Jennifer Lopez, I can believe it.)

… irony is pretty ironic?  Case in point:  actor Robert Downey, Jr. (born 1965), who has starred in numerous Iron Man superhero movies from the Marvel Comics Universe, served a one-day suspension from high school in 1981.  Downey had allegedly taken a comic book away from another student and ripped it to pieces, calling the other student a “nerd.”  The comic was The Invincible Iron Man.  (Nerd, indeed.)

… a Valentine’s Day movie was ruined by an unknown person?  On February 14, 2014, a theatre in Shanghai, China, planned a showing of Beijing Love Story.  For his own reasons, an unknown man booked every other seat in the theatre that day, thus preventing couples from sitting together to watch the film.  (Cupid, this guy wasn’t.)

… the most popular villains on the 1960s Batman TV series were not always played by the same actors?  During the run of the popular ABC series, the classic bad guys – the Joker, the Penguin, the Catwoman, and the Riddler – returned time and again to Gotham City to wreak havoc on the Dynamic Duo.  And through the run of the series, two of the villains – the Joker and the Penguin – were always played by the same actors, Cesar Romero (1907-1994) and Burgess Meredith (1907-1997), respectively.  The Riddler was usually played by Frank Gorshin (1933-2005), but for one double episode in the second season, the part was played by John Astin (born 1930).  The reason was a dispute between Gorshin and the producers over money.  And the Catwoman?  She was played by three actresses:  Julie Newmar (born 1933) during the first two seasons of the series; Lee Meriwether (born 1935) in the theatrical film based on the show; and Eartha Kitt (1927-2008) during the third season.  Kitt was cast in the role when Newmar was unavailable due to other commitments.  Additional trivia notes:  during the pay dispute with Gorshin, a Riddler episode was revamped to create a similar villain, the Puzzler, played by Maurice Evans (1901-1989).  One other villain, Mr. Freeze, was played by a different actor each time he appeared – by George Sanders (1906-1972), Otto Preminger (1905-1986), and Eli Wallach (1915-2014).  (Many thanks to John for the suggestion!)

… gorillas can be very gentle?  Observers have watched them picking up and gently petting frogs.  (But did they get warts?)

… seats on the first scheduled inter-city commuter airplane flight were not what you might have expected?  On that first flight, between Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida, on January 1, 1914, the seats were moveable wicker chairs.  There were eleven seats on that flight, conducted on a Model 14 Benoist airboat.  The plane flew 50 feet above the water between the two cities, and the pilot – Tony Jannus (1889-1916) – had to land on the water once, when an engine on the plane began to misfire.  He fixed the engine and took off again, completing the 23-minute flight.  The first paying passenger was the former mayor of St. Petersburg, Abram C. Pheil (1867-1922).  (And if you were wondering, there were no flight attendants.)

… eyeliner became a popular cosmetic because of an archaeological discovery?  When the tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun (1342 BC-1325 BC) was discovered in 1922 and opened, photographs of “King Tut’s” sarcophagus showed his face with heavy eyeliner.  This inspired people all over the world to begin using more of the cosmetic on their own faces.  (Maybelline, take note!)

… author Ernest Hemingway believed he was being watched by the FBI?  Many people thought Hemingway (1899-1961) was being silly and paranoid, and he was even treated with electroshock therapy for his “delusions.”  But after he died, secret FBI files showed that he was indeed under surveillance by the Bureau, a watch ordered by then-Director J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972).

… you could be an ambivert?  No, you’re not ill.  That’s just what people would call you if you are neither an extrovert nor an introvert.  Ambiverts are moderately comfortable in social situations, but also relish time alone.  (I’m ambivalent about being an ambivert.)

Now … you know!