Egghead (Batman)

Superherobox


caption = Vincent Price as Egghead
character_name = Egghead
publisher = DC Comics
debut =
creators =
alter_ego = *
full_name =
species =
homeworld =
alliances =
partners =
aliases =
supports=
powers =

Character Profile

Egghead was a villain created for the 1960s "Batman" television series. Played by horror film mainstay Vincent Price, the character was identifiable by his pale bald head and white and yellow suit. He believed himself to be "the world's smartest criminal," and his crimes would usually have an egg-motif to them as well as including egg puns in his speech where appropriate such as "egg-zactly" and "egg-cellent." Additionally, he would use a wide assortment of egg-shaped weapons, such as laughing gas eggs and tear gas eggs (laid by chickens on a diet of onions).

Egghead was introduced in the second season two-parter, "An Egg Grows in Gotham" and "The Yegg Foes in Gotham," where he schemed with Chief Screaming Chicken (played by Edward Everett Horton) of the Mohican Indian tribe to revert control of Gotham City to the Chief's people. In return, Egghead would also govern the city and enable the criminal underground to run amok. Their scheme was foiled by Batman and Robin. Egghead would return twice in the third season with his new partner and love interest, Olga, Queen of the Cossacks, and in exile from Bessarovia. (The two third-season appearances were actually filmed as one multi-part story, but split into two separate stories prior to airing.) Egghead was also one of six arch-criminals freed from prison by Dr. Cassandra, but this brief appearance was by a stand-in.

Egghead has rarely appeared in other Batman media outside of the 1960s series. It is somewhat doubtful if he is part of the comic book continuity (although he can be seen in "Shadow of the Bat" #2-3 as an inmate of Arkham Asylum). Along with fellow villain King Tut, he is considered a goofier element of Batman's past that would not fit well with the darker portrayal of the character that has been in effect since the 1970s.

Egghead was one of only two Batman 1960s series villains to deduce the real identity of Batman/Bruce Wayne. Reasoning that the enormous "egg-spense" involved would point to only one of three Gotham City millionaires who would be of the right age as Batman and deducing that two could not be the Caped Crusader (one has a French accent, which Batman does not have, and the other is a southpaw, whereas Batman is right-handed), the last, Bruce Wayne, must be Batman. Before he can confirm this, Bruce Wayne's ward Dick Grayson shorts out Egghead's "memory egg-straction" machine.

The idea being that a large brain must sit in a large skull, the term "egghead" is slang for someone with a great deal of intelligence. During the 1960s Price was as well-known for his sophistication and intelligence as for the horror films. Along with being a gourmet, he was an art connoisseur, and his books on both topics were best-sellers. He was on "The $64,000 Question" where his topic was art history.