Colin Farrell, Danny DeVito and 12 More Actors Who Have Played The Penguin

Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell underwent a physical transformation to play Oz Cobb in the HBO series The Penguin. He told PEOPLE that he stepped into a bodysuit that covered every part of his body but his hands and feet. The costume took the makeup department three hours every day before production.

“If it wasn’t for Mike’s design, I’m telling you now, if it was just me with a f—ing cigarette and a top hat and a bit of a limp and an umbrella that was a machine gun, we wouldn’t have had the HBO show,” Farrell joked.

Danny DeVito

Danny DeVito’s Penguin costume from 1992’s Batman Returns is still haunting. Opposite Michael Keaton’s Batman and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman, DeVito claimed the character as his own with an iconic performance in the Tim Burton-directed film.

Robin Lord Taylor

Robin Lord Taylor offered a deeper insight into The Penguin’s lore in the Fox series Gotham, which told the story of a young Batman after the murder of his parents. Throughout the series, viewers see Taylor’s Penguin develop an unhealthy relationship to food and his descent into villainy.

“His end game is to not be powerless anymore. He’s spent his whole life being picked on. His ambition is so much greater than anybody knows,” Taylor explained to Esquire after the series premiere in 2014. “Through his mistakes in the pilot he learns how he’s going to play the game and learns his true lust for power. And he really will stop at nothing to achieve that.”

Burgess Meredith

The first man to play The Penguin on-screen was Emmy winner and two-time Oscar nominee Burgess Meredith. In the campy ABC series Batman, Meredith battled Adam West’s Batman in the character’s signature top hat and bow tie.

Minnie Driver

Yes, there was a female version of The Penguin — and Minnie Driver nailed the role.

The actress guest-starred as mob boss Oswalda Cobblepot in Batman: Caped Crusader, which reimagined Batman tales.

“This was such a beautiful retelling of that villain. It was joyful. And, I mean, she’s dreadful,” Driver said during a panel after the San Diego Comic-Con screening, per Variety.

Paul Williams

Singer-songwriter Paul Williams — famous for composing “The Rainbow Connection” from The Muppet Movie and writing the lyrics for A Star Is Born‘s “Evergreen” with Barbra Streisand — was also an actor. In addition to appearances on shows like Community and The Bold and the Beautiful, Williams provided the voice for The Penguin in Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures.

Wayne Knight

Seinfeld and Jurassic Park star Wayne Knight also took on voice acting gigs throughout his 47 years in the industry — one of which was The Penguin in 2019’s Harley Quinn featuring Kaley Cuoco in the title role.

Steven Blum

Steven Blum, a voice actor known for his work in the anime Cowboy Bebop, Nickelodeon series The Legend of Korra and Cartoon Network’s Ben 10, played Batman villains Bane and The Penguin in 2013’s Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite.

Stephen Root

Emmy-nominated actor Stephen Root voiced the Batman antagonist in four episodes of the Cartoon Network series Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Dana Snyder

Actor and comedian Dana Snyder voiced The Penguin across three different works between 2014 and 2016: DC Super Friends, Justice League Action and Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts.

Tom Kenny

SpongeBob SquarePants’ voice actor Tom Kenny has range. The voice actor has played The Penguin in eight animated takes on the character: 2004’s The Batman, 2005’s Batman vs. Dracula, 2018’s Batman Ninja, 2019’s Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, two Lego DC movies, a Justice League film and a Scooby-Doo! movie.

Ted Knight

In the first animated Batman series, The Adventures of Batman, comedic actor Ted Knight voiced the staple character.

Lennie Weinrib

The late Lennie Weinrib, who was the original voice of Scrappy-Doo in the Scooby-Doo series, lent his voice to several villains in The New Adventures of Batman, including The Penguin.

William Salyers

Regular Show voice actor William Salyers played the supervillain in the 2016 animated movie Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, 2017’s Batman vs. Two-Face and 2023’s Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham.