King Tut - Victor Buono

King Tut -- an ancient Egyptian King turned bad. With a blow to the head, a seemingly innocent college professor turned back the hands of time to become a super villain. With crocodiles and potions made form dead scarabs, King Tut more than once tried to boil Batmans goose in oil.

Who are you anyway? Tut ! Master of Thebes,
King of the Nile,
thats just on momma's side of the family.

King Tut was played by a talented Actor Victor Buono. Aside from being talented he was also BIG !! His weight was estimated at 400+ pounds. Actress Lee Meriweather on Victor, " Victor was wonderful. Victor said to me one day on the set that he knew he would not live past thirty two. That was the one thing I remember about our conversation-- well that and Shakespeare. He was so talented; he was very gifted. But I don't think he ever really thought that anyone would ever believe the talent that he knew he had. He was having a lot of fun on the show" 

Victor was born in 1938, San Diego Ca. After college he started to perform smaller roles on television then in 1962 his big break came with a role in the movie What Ever Happened To Baby Jane. This earned him an Oscar nomination.

 He went on to perform in movies and had roles in TV in such shows as The Wild Wild West, I Spy, It Takes A Thief and The Odd Couple. He wrote a book called Heavy and recorded and album. I can remember as a child watching him on a talk show reading his own poetry. I still remember how moving his voice was.

Writer Stanley Ralph Ross remembered; " Most of all I loved writing for Victor Buono. Victor could take an ordinary line and impart three different kinds of meaning to it with his interpretation." Victor went on after Batman appearing in TV and movie roles The picture to the right is from The Planet of the Apes in 1969 . He was a favorite talk show guest. His last film appearance was The Man With Bogarts Face in 1980. 

Victor on Batman: " Batman allowed me to do what actors are taught never to do, overact."
Victor started having problems with his health , mainly from his weight and passed away January 1, 1982.

FROM:  The New York Times  January 3rd 1982
By Dorothy J. Gaiter

Victor Buono the character actor whose portrayal of a momma's boy in ''Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?'' won an Oscar nomination in 1962, was found dead Friday morning at his home in Apple Valley, Calif. He
was 43 years old.

Earlier in the day Mr Buono celebrated the new year at the home of his brother, David, in Los Angeles. His body was discovered by acaretaker.

The authorities at the San Bernadino coroner's office said that thesix-foot, four-inch-tall actor, who weighed nearly 400 pounds, apparently died of natural causes. They said yesterday that there had been no decision on whether to perform an autopsy.

Constantine Karos, Mr Buono's lawyer and friend for nine years, said yesterday from Los Angeles: ''I think his heart gave out. He was very overweight and had put on some weight over the holidays as well. That's almost certainly the case.''

Poems on the Joy of Eating

Mr. Buono, who wrote whimsical poems about the joys of eating and his gains and losses in weight, was perhaps best known for the villainous roles  he played on stage, screen and on television. He appeared in more than 25 films and in more than 20 plays at San Diego's Old Globe Theater, where he got his start playing the title character, ''Volpone,'' in the Ben Jonson play, after his graduation from high school.

Mr Buono was born in San Diego on Feb. 3, 1938. His girth made him appear much older than his years, and also helped make him a natural for starring roles in the Globe's Shakespearian festivals. Although he regularly appeared on television and in movies, he continued to perform in summer stock and in productions in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.

According to Mr. Karos, death cheated Mr. Buono of his lifelong ambition: ''I'm sorry he didn't get a chance to do what he wanted to do so much, to be on Broadway.''

The actor was scheduled to appear on Broadway this spring, Mr. Karos said, in a play titled ''Who Done It,'' written by Anthony Shaffer, the author of ''Sleuth.''

His last film appearance was in 1980 as an evil shipping tycoon in ''Sam Marlowe, Private Eye.'' Among Mr Buono's other films were ''The Strangler,'' ''Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte,'' ''The Greatest Story Ever Told,'' ''Beneath the Planet of the Apes,'' ''The Wrath of God,'' ''Robin and the Seven Hoods'' and ''Arnold.''

Commanding Stage Presence

On television, he played an evil King Tut in the ''Batman'' series in the 1960's and as the mean Mr. Schubert in ''Man From Atlantis,'' in the 1970's. He also appeared in ''The Wild, Wild West,'' ''The Untouchables,'' ''77 Sunset Strip,'' and more recently as President William Howard Taft in the television series, ''Best Years at the
White House.''

In thrillers, he often commanded the stage and screen with an unforgettable presence, eyes alert and winking, hand thumping his massive, vested chest as he slowly circled his prey.

Mr. Karos said that Mr Buono was ''probably one of the most intelligent people I ever met. ''He read incessantly and had a great memory and could hold his own with anybody as a racontour and a humorist. That would be his most prominent characteristic.

''He loved people and he was a very sensitive man,'' Mr. Karos added. ''I think everybody who met him felt that about him and liked him.''

Private services were being arranged for the actor, who was not married. In addition to his brother, David, he is survived by a half brother, Louis Errica of San Diego.

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