Oliver Burgess Meredith – also known as Buzz – was born on the 16th November 1907, in Cleveland, Ohio USA of British decent, and was an actor, probably best recognized for starring in the “Rocky” film series in the role of boxing trainer Mickey Goldmill. He also appeared in many other TV and film titles, such as “The Twilight Zone” (1959), Batman” (1966-1968), etc. His career was active from 1929 to 1996; he passed away in 1997.
So, have you ever wondered how rich Burgess Meredith was? It was estimated by authoritative sources that Burgess counted his net worth at the amount of $3 million, which was accumulated through his successful career as a professional actor. Another source was coming from his writing career, including from his autobiographical book “So Far, So Good” (1994).
Burgess Meredith Net Worth $3 Million
Burgess Meredith was born to Dr. William George Meredith, who worked as a physician, and Ida Beth, who was a Methodist revivalist. He spent his childhood in his hometown, Cleveland, but went to Hoosac School in Hoosick, New York. Upon matriculation in 1926, he enrolled at Amherst College, a private liberal arts college; however, he dropped out and took work in a variety of jobs. During World War II, he served in the US Army Air Force, reaching the rank of Captain before being discharged to take a role in the propaganda film “The Story of GI Joe”, both of which added to his net worth.
His acting career had begun in 1929, when he started an unpaid apprenticeship with Eva Le Gallienne’s Civic Repertory Theatre company in New York City. The following year, he made his debut appearance on Broadway in “Romeo And Juliet”, after which his popularity and success started expanding, as did his et worth. In 1935 he became a star of “Winterset”, and “The Barretts Of Wimpole Street”, starring alongside Katharine Cornell. Two years later, Burgess founded the New Stage Society and served as vice-president of Actors’ Equity. Parallel with that, he appeared in other productions, such as “High Tor” (1937), “Liliom” (1940), and later “The Playboy Of The Western World” (1946).
At that time, he also started his career as a director – a theatrical adaptation of the “Nighttown” section of James Joyce’s “Ulysses”, winning a Tony Award nomination, also helping his net worth.
Speaking about his career on the screen, he debuted in a screen adaptation of “Winterset” (1936), which was followed by other appearances in such film titles as “Of Mice And Men” (1939), “The Diary Of A Chambermaid” (1946), and “Mine Own Executioner” (1947). During the next decade he featured in several TV series, including “Studio One In Hollywood” (1950), “Lights Out” (1950-1951), and “General Electric Theater” (1954-1958). In 1959, he was selected to be featured in the TV series “The Twilight Zone”, which lasted until 1963, when he earned another role, that of Vincent Marion in “77 Sunset Strip”, increasing his net worth. Furthermore, the famous director Otto Preminger liked his talent and performance, so he cast Burgess in many of his films such as “The Cardinal” (1963), “In Harm’s Way” (1965), and “Hurry Sundown” (1967). One of his most memorable roles was as trainer Mickey Goldmill in the “Rocky” film series in 1976, 1979, and 1982, and as Grandpa Gustafson in the film “Grumpy Old Men” (1993), and its sequel “Grumpier Old Men” (1995).
Additional to these, he was a director of several films and theater plays, such as “The Man On The Eiffel Tower”, “The Yin And The Yang Of Mr. Go”, among others, which also increased his net worth.
As a stage, film and television acto, and director, he was active more than six decades and had a very rich and successful career. Therefore, he was nominated for and won a number of awards such as an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1976 for “Rocky”, and in 1975 for “The Day Of The Locust”, for which he also received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. In addition to this, he won several Emmys and was the first male actor to win the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor twice.
Regarding his personal life, Burgess Meredith was married four times, firstly to Helen Derby Merrien Burgess (1932-1935), then to Margaret Perry (1936-1938), and thirdly to Paulette Goddard (1944-1949), all being actresses. In 1951 he married Kaja Sunsten, with whom he had two children and with whom he lived until passing away from melanoma and Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 89, on the 9th September 1997 in Malibu, California, USA.
