Carl Grissom

Boss Carl Grissom is a fictional character and an adversary of Batman. His first and only appearance in the Batman franchise is the 1989 Batman film, as well as the comic book based on the movie, and he was played by Jack Palance.

Fictional character biography
In the film, Grissom is the most powerful crime lord in Gotham City, with almost the entire Gotham City Police Department (except Commissioner Gordon) on his payroll, including Lieutenant Max Eckhardt. It is unknown how far his criminal activities spread, but when the recently-elected District Attorney Harvey Dent begins to make connections between Grissom and Axis Chemicals, Grissom panics, knowing that the evidence stored at the factory is enough to send him to the electric chair.

Around the same time, Grissom finds out that his mistress, Alicia, has been having an affair with his second-in-command, Jack Napier. In revenge, Grissom sends Napier and his crew to Axis to seize the evidence before Dent can, and at the same time, sets up an ambush at the factory, calling Eckhardt to lead a team of policemen to kill Napier.

That same night, after a shower, Grissom is visited in his office by noneother than Napier, who survived the attempt and now wants revenge. Grissom feigns relief, but Napier scoffs him, and reveals his new identity: The Joker, with green hair, white skin, and a widened, permanent grin. It transpires that the mysterious vigilante, Batman, had shown up at Axis Chemicals to foil Grissom's plan, and in the ensuing battle, Batman knocked Napier into a vat of chemicals just after the latter killed Eckhardt. Before Grissom can plead for his life, the Joker shoots him dead, and takes over Grissom's empire.

Behind the scenes
The screenwriters have confirmed that for the creation of Grissom, they drew inspiration from Batman's comic book gangster enemies Rupert Thorne and Sal Maroni. Interestingly enough, an earlier draft of the script included Rupert Thorne in Grissom's place, having sent Joe Chill to murder Thomas Wayne, whom had been running against Thorne for City Council.