Best Supporting Actor 1976: Burgess Meredith in Rocky

Burgess Meredith received his second and final Oscar nomination for playing Mickey Goldmill the crusty old manager in Rocky.

Meredith plays what became probably his best known role as Mickey in Rocky. His line delivery being continually parodied in various shows, other movies and commercials. An interesting thing though is that the meat of his performance is not really related to this. Yes Meredith is good in the trainer parts telling Rocky to do this and do that. Meredith does put the right amount of energy into theses scenes and his presence does make the final fight better. Telling Rock to get him all that really is made effective because of Meredith.

The greater part of Meredith's performance is when he actually is not even Rocky's manager. He has one good scene and one great scene before he becomes Rocky's manager. The good one is where he chews Rocky out for being a collector for a loan shark. Here Meredith puts in the right amount of anger and intensity in the scene to give it the right strength, and passion.

The great scene of his performance though involves his visit to Rocky where he tries to persuade Rocky to allow him to be his manager. Meredith is pitch perfect in this scene, showing both Mickey want to help Rocky's future and his own laments about his own troubled boxing path. Meredith really strikes the right emotional chord here. When he is talking about how he had nails punched through his own mouth as a boxer, and how he never achieved what he thought he could. Then the best part is when Rocky closes the door on him, and he pleads with Rocky. Meredith is great in this scene putting all the emotional power into the scene making it probably the best scene in the film. Meredith gives overall a memorable performance, and a great one in this scene which alone makes his nomination deserving.