3. Michael Gough - Alfred
It's hard to find a better personification of Alfred Pennyworth than the late actor Michael Gough - he had the look, the general demeanour, the sarcastic wit, the patriarchal passion and the posh-English accent; all these attributes made him the most accurate representation of a Batman character on screen. Unfortunately, the character of Alfred was often lost behind the action of the Burton/Schumacher films - after 'Batman' (1989), the films did not dwell on the personal aspects of Wayne's life, and rather focused primarily on the colourful cast of villains. Regardless of this, Michael Gough had his share of shining moments as Bruce's faithful butler - even in 'Batman and Robin', when the quality of the motion pictures began to decline, Gough worked with what little potential existed in the script, giving the singular performance worth mentioning in the film; the brief scenes with him and George Clooney being the film's only highlights. One of my favourite scenes in 'Batman' (1989) was when Bruce and Vicki are sat at the dinner table with Alfred - listening to him discuss embarrassing tales of Mr Wayne's childhood; here the importance of Alfred is clear - he is Batman's association with humanity or as Bruce Wayne himself puts it; "Alfred is my family." Michael Gough portrayed Alfred in four Batman motion pictures, and two BBC audio-plays; 'Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome' (1989) and a fantastic adaptation of the comic book series 'Batman: Knightfall' (1994). When Gough died in March 2011, aged 94, Michael Keaton wrote him this tribute; "To Mick my butler, my confidant, my friend, my Alfred. I love you. God bless. Michael (Mr Wayne) Keaton."