During a fight in his secret laboratory some years ago, a Doctor Schimmel was covered in an experimental chemical he had been working with. Batman tried to save him, but the damage had already been done. The freezing chemical had somehow bonded with his body, and he could no longer survive in any temperature higher than fifty degrees below zero. From then on, he referred to himself only as Mister Freeze. His condition requires him to wear a cooling suit whenever he leaves his icy lair. Freeze's warped mind blamed Batman for all that had happened to him, and immediately vowed revenge.
Ever since he escaped from prison, Freeze has been trying to destroy Batman. He also often tries to freeze other people, or sometimes all of Gotham City. Though whether this is because he wants others to suffer as he suffers, or if he is only looking for companionship, is unknown. The mental damage has also caused him to go through extreme changes in his temperament. He almost seems like a different person each time he faces Batman and Robin, sometimes cruel, sometimes goofy, and sometimes almost kindhearted.
ABOUT THE MR. FREEZE'S
Three diffrent men played the role of Mr.Freeze. The charcter was actually called Mr. Zero in the comic, but for the show it was changed. The comic later adapted.
"I don't think I did a very good job with George Sanders," lamented Director Bob Butler, of the actor who played Mr. Freeze. "I don't know if I Didn’t direct him enough. He was certainly a lovely guy, kind of a gentle, Decent, professional guy. Why it didn't gel with him, I don't know." Sanders Was less bombastic than others who followed in the role, including Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach. Sanders is more serious and perhaps more understatedly deadly. Some of this stems from Sanders' calm on-screen indifference as a cultured cad. In keeping with his screen persona, Sanders' 1972 suicide note observed that he was "bored."
"When we ran over time, the director would decide what [to cut]," recalled dialog coach Milton Stark. "I told him [Preminger] we have to cut some of his speeches. 'You're taking out my best lines!' he said. I started to laugh. He asked 'What [are] you laughing about?' I said, 'How many times have actors said that to you?' He laughed and said, 'By God, it's true, you know.'"
"Otto Preminger: you can have him," noted makeup man Lee Harman. "They were smart. They hired a director [George Waggner] that was older than Otto, that had done a lot of things. Otto didn't like anybody being touched up and this guy just said, 'Hey, you're just acting in this. I'm directing it.' He told him who was the boss; we all loved that."
Otto Preminger was too-far-over-the-top in his portrayal of Mr. Freeze. For camp to work best, all roles had to be played perfectly straight, as Neil Hamilton did Commissioner Gordon so successfully throughout the series. Anything else and the show began to stall. He died in 1984.
Though the story is up to bat-par, Eli Wallach as Freeze (continuing the character's German accent) doesn't match George Sanders' substantially cooler characterization (#7/8). Wallach was influenced by (or directed to emulate) Otto Preminger's previous silliness (#53/54).
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