Given
these hypersensitive times, I’m not sure if “larger than life” is acceptable
praise for Victor Buono. But if you’ve seen him in just about any of his
classic TV roles, I think you’ll agree the description is apt.
At
6’3” and 300+ pounds, it would be hard for Buono not to bring an imposing
presence to his characters. But his physical features were accentuated by a
voice that could read every line like it was Shakespeare in the Park without
microphones, even when the actual dialog was several tiers below that standard.
His
imdb bio states that too much of his TV work “was squandered on hokey
villainy.” Well, “squandered” is in the eye of the beholder. Hokey villainy is
not that easy to pull off, as anyone who watched Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma
Thurman in Batman and Robin could attest.
For
me, whether the character was hokey or not, Buono was always worth watching.
Bronco (1959)
He’s
hard to miss, so you’ll likely spot Victor Buono as a passenger in his TV debut
in the episode “Night Train to Denver.” Just don’t look for his name in the
credits – he was still an unbilled extra at the time.
Harrigan and Son (1960)
One
day I’d love to see some full episodes of this courtroom drama about a son
joining his father’s law practice. From what I’ve read it sounds like The
Defenders with a lighter touch.
It didn’t last long but it gave Buono his
first steady work as Dr. Blaine, who consults with the Harrigans on their
cases.
The Untouchables (1961)
Victor
Buono looked like he was in his 40s when he was in his 20s, which gave an
authority to his characters that belied his age. Watch in “Mr. Moon” how he
commands a room full of older, hard-bitten gangsters, playing an antiques
dealer with a supply of government currency paper to sell.
Batman (1966)
It’s
a toss-up between King Tut and Egghead for the title of best Batman villain
created for the series. Tut had a couple more cracks at taking down the Dynamic
Duo, and Buono seemed to add more grandiose flourishes to his portrayal with
each return. “King Tut’s Coup/Batman’s Waterloo” is my favorite – that’s the
one where Tut sets his sights on making guest star Lee Meriwether his
Cleopatra. “I can’t stand violence,” he says before preparing to boil Robin in
oil. “But I like torture. It’s good clean fun.”
The Wild, Wild West (1966)
Next
to Michael Dunn as Dr. Miguelito Loveless, the most memorable repeat adversary
for James West would have to be…well, we’ll let him handle the introduction:
“Allow me to present myself. I am the Count Mario Vincenzo Robespierre
Manzeppi; adventurer, poet, and lover of all that is corrupt, forbidden, and
blasphemous.”
Buono
first appears as the crafty Count in season two’s “Night of the Eccentrics,” and
made a second and final appearance later that same season. If Manzeppi sometimes
seems like King Tut with a (slightly) less outrageous wardrobe, you’re not
wrong. And yet, the oddest thing about “Night of the Eccentrics” is not Buono’s
grandstanding, but the appearance of Richard Pryor as one of Manzeppi’s
henchmen.
Night Gallery (1972)
Several
Night Gallery episodes end with short
comedic vignettes. Almost all of them are forgettable. “Satisfaction
Guaranteed” is perhaps the best of the lot, even if there’s just one joke that
most viewers will have guessed before its five minutes are up. Victor Buono
plays a refined but demanding customer seeking to hire someone at a top
secretarial agency. He rejects several seemingly ideal candidates, but takes an
instant liking to the clumsy, pudgy girl who empties the office wastebaskets.
“She is exactly what I want!” he says. But what does he have in mind?
Man From Atlantis (1977)
One day I'll probably cover this series in more detail in my "Terrible Shows I Like" recurring feature. But for now, let's imagine the producers trying to cast the role of series villain Dr. Schubert. "We need someone who can play a mad scientist who uses mind-control bracelets to force other scientists to destroy the most powerful nations of the world with their own nuclear weapons." Was Victor Buono their first call? If not, he should have been.
Backstairs At the
White House (1979)
Here
is yet another prestige miniseries from the golden age of the genre, that
deserves to be seen again by a much wider audience. Over four episodes covering
eight presidential administrations, the series revolved around the largely anonymous and forgotten lives of those who served on the
White House staff. Victor Buono appears early on as President William Howard
Taft. Ironically, here he plays the powerful leader of the free world, and for
once he’s not so outspoken. To be faithful to how Taft was (and was portrayed
in the book on which this series was based) he allows himself to be dominated
by an ambitious and eccentric wife (played by Julie Harris).
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)
By
this time Buono was accustomed to being the most flamboyant member of every
cast, but in “A Haunting We Will Go” he gets some scenery-chewing competition
from Dina Merrill, Carl Betz and Bob Crane, all hamming it up as actors that
share a dark secret, reuniting for a benefit performance.
Taxi (1980)
In
“Going Home” Victor Buono, then age 42, played the father of Christopher Lloyd,
who was also 42. The story has Jim Ignatowski going home to reunite with his
wealthy father. Buono couldn’t out-eccentric Jim but he plays the straight man
well, especially when Jim can’t stop commenting about his baldness, and his
weight.
Just
one year after his Taxi appearance, Victor Buono died. Such a short life for
someone so talented - but at least he seemed to enjoy himself while he
was here. He even topped anyone who tried to make a weight joke by releasing Heavy,
an album of comedic recitations including “A Word To the Wide,” “You Don’t Have
to Be Fat to Hate Rome,” and the wonderful “Fat Man’s Prayer”.