Held various jobs after leaving college

Stage debut with walk on role at Eva LeGallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre, NYC

Member of Civic Repertory Theater

Broadway debut in "Alice in Wonderland"

First lead role on stage in "Little Ol' Boy"

Made radio debut on the long-running serial "Red Davis"

Breakthrough stage performance as Mio in Maxwell Anderson's verse play "Winterset"; Anderson wrote the part expressly for Meredith

Film debut, recreating stage role of Mio in "Winterset"

Performed Hamlet on radio broadcast

Toured with Orson Welles in "Five Kings", playing Prince Hal to Welles' Falstaff

Won critical acclaim for performance as George in "Of Mice and Men"

Starred on Broadway in "Lilliom" opposite Ingrid Bergman

Served in the Army Air Corps during WWII

Had one of his best leading roles as Ernie Pyle in "The Story of G.I. Joe"

Produced and wrote "Diary of a Chambermaid" starring then-wife Paulette Goddard and directed by Jean Renoir; also acted

Feature directing debut "The Man on the Eiffel Tower"; co-directed with Charles Laughton; also starred;

Blacklisted during the 1950s

Stage directing debut "Happy as Larry"

First TV appearance as host of first two episodes of "Your Show of Shows" (NBC) in February

TV directorial debut "The Christmas Tie" episode of "Omnibus" (CBS)

Stage producing debut "Speaking of Murder"

Returned to features in the title role of "Joe Butterfly"

Appeared with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra as narrator and host

Made first of six films with Otto Preminger, "Advise and Consent"

TV series debut as regular in role of principal Martin Woodridge on "Mr Novack" (NBC)

Appeared as guest villain The Penguin on "Batman" (ABC)

Last feature collabortation with Preminger, "Such Good Friends"

Played Cameron on the NBC series "Search"

Recreated on Broadway his staging of the 1958 Off-Broadway play "Ulysses in Nighttown", adapted from the James Joyce novel; earned Tony nomination

Earned first Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for "The Day of the Locust"

Co-starred in "Rocky" as the boxing trainer Mickey; received second Oscar nomination; played role in three of the four sequels ("Rocky II" 1979; "Rocky III" 1982: and "Rocky V" 1990)

Was featured as Sally Struthers' boss on the short-lived CBS sitcom "Gloria", a spin-off of "All in the Family"

Had title role in Jean-Luc Godard's "King Lear"

Co-starred in "Grumpy Old Men" as Jack Lemmon's father

Published memoir, "So Far, So Good"

Reprised role in "Grumpier Old Men"

Final film appearnace in Danny Huston's "The Maddening"

Final TV appearance as host of the PBS special "Preminger--Anatomy of a Filmmaker"