The Riddler is the quaternary antagonist in the 1960s Batman TV series and the tertiary antagonist of the 1966 film.
He was portrayed by the late Frank Gorshin.
The Riddler (1960s Batman TV Show)
The popular television series was inspired by the first Silver Age appearance of the Riddler, with the premiere episode being an adaptation of Batman #171. Gorshin's portrayal of the character was loosely inspired by Richard Hidmark's portrayal of gangster Tommy Udo from the film Kiss of Death.
Known Riddles
The Riddler constantly makes riddles that revealed his next crime in an attempt to baffle Batman, but they always lead to his multiple downfalls:
- Riddle: Why is an orange like a bell?
- Answer: Because both need to be peeled
- Riddle: When is the time of a clock like the whistle of a train?
- Answer: When its two to two
- Riddle: Why is a quarrel like a bargain?
- Answer: It takes two to make one
- Riddle: What kind of pins are used in soup?
- Answer: Terrapins
- Riddle: What was Joan of Arc made of?
- Answer: She was maid of Orleans
- Riddle: How many sides has a circle?
- Answer: Two, inside and outside
- Riddle: Which President of the United States wore the biggest hat?
- Answer: The one with the biggest head
- Riddle: What has neither nails or bones but has four fingers and a thumb?
- Answer: A glove!
- Riddle: There are three men on a boat with a pack of cigarettes and no matches. How did they manage to smoke?
- Answer: They threw one cigarette overboard and the boat became a cigarette lighter.
- Riddle: When is a person like a piece of wood?
- Answer: When it's a ruler
- Riddle: Question, what is it that no man wants, but no man wants to lose?
- Answer: A law suit!
- Riddle: What is black and white and red all over?
- Answer: A newspaper
- Riddle: What has branches and leaves but no bark?
- Answer: A library
- Riddle: What has yellow skin and writes?
- Answer: A ball point banana!
- Riddle: What people are always in a hurry?
- Answer: Rushing people......Russians!
- Robin: I've got it! Someone Russian is going to slip on a banana peel and break their neck!
- Batman: Exactly Robin! It's the only possible answer!
- Riddle: What is always on its way here but never arrives?
- Answer: Tomorrow
- Riddle: The more you take away from it the larger it grows, what is it?
- Answer: A hole
- Riddle: Why is silk like grass?
- Answer: They are both sold by the yard.
- Riddle: Why is a bear like a fallen tree?
- Answer: Because they both lumber.
- Riddle: What room can no-one enter?
- Answer: A mushroom
- Riddle: What won’t run long without winding?
- Answer: A river
- Riddle: When is a person like a stupid relative?
- Answer: When it's a man-a-kin.
- Riddle: How much dirt is in a hole 3 acres square and 200 feed deep?
- Answer: None because its a hole
- Riddle: What is the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end and the end of every race?
- Answer: The letter "E".
- Riddle: When is a bonnet not a bonnet?
- Answer: When it becomes a young woman!
- Riddle: Why is a welder like a woman in love?
- Answer: Because they both carry a torch!!
- Riddle: Said one baker to another, how do you make a dishonest shortcake?
- Answer: Lie-berry (Library)
- Riddle: Why is a musician’s band stand like an oven?
- Answer: It is where he makes his bread
- Riddle: Why is a woman in love like a welder?
- Answer: Because they both carry a torch
- Riddle: What kind of men are always above board?
- Answer: Chessmen
- Riddle: What kind of a machines have ears?
- Answer: A train has engin(ears)
- Riddle: When does a Boy Wonder rhyme with bubble?
- Answer: "When he's in trouble"
- Riddler: WRONG!!! When he's DOUBLE - SPLIT in two halves - right down the MIDDLE!!!!!!!
Trivia
- Frank Gorshin was a fan of the Batman comic books since childhood and he said he liked the Riddler as a character.