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#1223621 2017-06-10 3:32 PM
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Adam West, television's Batman, dies at 88

  • Adam West, who became famous for his poker-faced portrayal of Batman in the campy 1960s TV series, has died after a battle with leukemia, The Hollywood Reporter reports. He was 88.


    West, possessed of a deep, rumbling voice and a finely chiseled face, was a perfect choice to portray the Caped Crusader in the 1966-68 TV series. (A feature film version of the show was released in 1966 as well.) He was equally comfortable as Batman’s alter ego in the series, the ascot-wearing, slightly smug millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne.

    Before his Batman fame, West had a limited feature-film career and appeared primarily in episodic television roles, on such shows as The Outer Limits and Overland Trail. He was thus something of a fresh face behind the cowl of Batman. The series, conceived by producer William Dozier, was intended to be a swinging-’60s version of super-heroism, a winking parody in contrast to the stalwart straightforwardness of the George Reeves-Superman series. West and his costar Burt Ward, who played Robin, went along with the jokes, rarely cracking smiles, which increased the effectiveness of the show’s put-on quality.


    After Batman left the air, West turned down the role of James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever, saying he thought the role should go to a British actor. As his attempts to elude Bat-typecasting diminished, West continued to appear as Batman in public appearances and wrote a 1994 autobiography titled Back to the Batcave. He also provided the voice of Batman in numerous cartoons.

    In 1991, West starred in the TV pilot Lookwell, a highly regarded script by Conan O’Brien and Robert Smigel that was never picked up by a network, but which enabled West to star as a fantasy version of himself — a former TV action star who tries to solve crimes in real life. Indeed, West became an expert in playing variations on himself, in cartoons ranging from Family Guy (as “Mayor Adam West”) to The Fairly OddParents (as Catman).


Goodbye, Batman. \:\(

the G-man #1223624 2017-06-10 5:28 PM
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Man, that one hurts. And I didn't see it coming. Although he's probably been quietly battling Leukemia for several years, undisclosed to the public.


I attended the opening of a nightclub Adam West co-owned here in Ft Lauderdale, The Cartoon Saloon, in 1996, which was open about 3 years (a cartoon-themed night club, I recall much of the place decorated with a wallpaper/mural background of the desert you see in Road Runner cartoons. West co-owned the place with Julie Newmar and Lou Ferrigno)
My impression was he remained bitter about being typecast and being denied more serious roles, and he spent most of those three decades doing signings at car-shows, before his career finally re-ignited about 20 years ago.


One of my favorites with him is a 1988 oddball teenage comedy that was one of the few acting jobs he did in that period, titled Doin' Time On Planet Earth. About a nerdy widely disliked kid who doesn't belong, who fills out an online questionnaire on his computer, and the source of the questionnaire, two leaders of this cult of UFO enthusiasts (led by Adam West's character) are convinced he is their leader who will lead them all to leave earth and return to their home planet.

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As I recall, Dick Giordano also died of Leukemia.

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I got his autograph at a comic book convention about 15-20 years ago. If he was still bitter then he didn't show it. It came up that I was an attorney and he mentioned that he was very proud of the fact that grown men were always telling him they became police officers or lawyers because Batman inspired them to battle for justice and fight crime.

And, yeah, this one stings.

the G-man #1223627 2017-06-11 3:19 AM
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Good. Glad he's dead. Hated that guy. \:\(


"My friends have always been the best of me." -Doctor Who

"Well,whenever I'm confused,I just check my underwear. It holds most answers to life's questions." Abe Simpson

I can tell by the position of the sun in the sky, that is time for us to go. Until next time, I am Lothar of the Hill People!
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Sad news. I enjoyed his series as a kid and even caught it here and there as an adult when it airs.


Fair play!
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I suspect for a lot guys our age Adam West's Batman was the "gateway drug" into comics.

Back when the series originally aired, my mom liked it (yeah, I've said it before: my mom was/is cool). So I'd end up watching it with her.

Then, when we'd be in the local grocery store, I'd see Batman comics in the spinner rack and ask her to get me one. Being they were only twelve cents (or, as she said, "cheaper than a little golden book") she would buy and read it to me as a bedtime story.

As a result, I was a Batman fan from, basically, the age of two. I had the cheap Halloween costume, the Captain Action figure, the corgi Batmobile. It was always Batman.

I love the TDKR. I love O'Neil/Adams. I love Englehart/Rogers. I love TKJ. I love the first two Nolan movies.

But to me, as campy as he was, Adam West will always be the real Batman.

the G-man #1223631 2017-06-12 1:06 PM
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 Originally Posted By: the G-man
I got his autograph at a comic book convention about 15-20 years ago. If he was still bitter then he didn't show it. It came up that I was an attorney and he mentioned that he was very proud of the fact that grown men were always telling him they became police officers or lawyers because Batman inspired them to battle for justice and fight crime.



Beyond everything else Adam West did, that alone would be a great legacy.


I discovered O'Neil/Adams and O'Neil/Novick before I saw Adam West and Burt Ward in the TV series. But I love both.

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Aw, man!


http://www.rkmbs.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/773881/fpart/88#Post1223471

I completely forgot I posted this in the comic images topic. Jay Leno in the movie batmobile, vs. Adam West in the series batmobile!

How fun is that! And apparently Adam West was still in good health a year ago when the photo was taken.

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the G-man #1223829 2017-07-21 12:56 PM
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Late ‘Batman’ actor Adam West honored at Comic-Con
  • Filmmaker Kevin Smith, producer James Tucker, actors Ralph Garman and Lee Meriwether and about a thousand fans paid tribute to the late Adam West at the pop-culture convention Thursday night.

    West played Batman in the 1960s TV series and later voiced the character of Mayor West on “Family Guy.” He died last month at age 88.

    Smith said he was about 4 years old when he first saw West in “Batman” on a black-and-white TV.

    “He defined my youth,” Smith said. “He gave me my morality. Everything I learned about being good, I learned from watching Adam West play the Bright Knight.”

    Smith said that when he shared those thoughts with West during his appearance on the “Fatman on Batman” podcast, West said: “That doesn’t speak well of your parents.”

    Meriwether said that when she played Catwoman and Kitka opposite West in “Batman: The Movie” movie, she could hardly maintain her character’s accent because she was so dazzled by West.

    “I had a little crush, just a little one,” the 82-year-old actress said, blushing at the memory. One of the first scenes they filmed together was a ballroom scene where the two danced.

    “All I could think of was, ‘I’m dancing with Adam West,’” she said. “I probably blew one take and then I snapped out of it.”

    Tucker said the whole reason he became a producer is so that one day he might be able to hire, and therefore meet, West. The first time Tucker hired him, though, West literally phoned it in. It was a voice-acting role, and the actor was able to do it by phone.

    “I didn’t get to meet him, so I had to cast him again,” Tucker said.

    “Whatever I’m doing in this industry is because of that show,” he said of seeing West on “Batman.”

    “That show changed my life. It made me want to do this. It made me want to be an artist,” Tucker continued. “Meeting him and having him be exactly who you want him to be as a person… and be genuinely friendly and genuinely there for you is amazing. I can’t say enough about him.”

    Garman, who does a perfect impression of West’s voice, said he idolized the actor growing up. He started collecting Batman memorabilia as a kid and has been building on the collection ever since (“an enormous collection that my wife forces me to keep in one room”). He eventually worked with and befriended West and his family.

    “I have a little piece of magic in my life because I got to become friends with my hero,” Garman said. “I mean, when does that happen in most people’s lives? I’m truly blessed.”

    The presentation included highlight reels of West’s work on “Batman” and “Family Guy,” along with outtakes from the 2013 documentary “Starring Adam West,” which was directed by his son-in-law.

    In those clips, West talks about meeting with fans and what he thinks his legacy might be.

    “You know, I hear the word ‘legacy’ quite often. And other words like ‘icon.’ You can just call me icon, if you will,” West says. “I don’t know what the legacy would be, except the legacy of making people happy, and adding some kind of instructional influence in young lives. Maybe that’s kind of a legacy.”

the G-man #1224284 2017-09-19 2:53 PM
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Today Marks Adam West Day In His Hometown Of Walla Walla, Washington: Events for the celebration include a presentation by Ruben Procopio, the Batman comic book artist and sculptor who created West’s favorite bust of his character; the Batmobile and Batman on location; a screening of the 2013 documentary Starring Adam West, which was directed by the actor’s son-in-law, James Tooley; and finally at night, the Bat Signal being shown upon the Marcus Whitman Hotel.

the G-man #1228103 2019-01-17 4:13 PM
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Legend of the Bright Knight: History of the Adam West Batman TV Show




I liked how this documentary not only covered Adam West's entry into the series, but also covered in the context of the Golden Age superheroes, the decline in pupularity in the pre-code era, Wertham's homo-interpretation of Batman and Robin in Seduction Of The Innocent, and Batman's declining comics sales leading up to the network's purchase and conceptualizing of the series. And that it bombed in the pre-screening! But that the network had invested so much into the series already that they rolled the dice and broadcast it anyway, to unexpected success.

And that the lightness of the Adam West series resulted in a reactionary return to the character's darker creature-of-the-night roots after the TV series ended.

There are so many things that have become cultural icons that we thought were inevitable successes, that were actually repeated failures, until the right actor by some whim fell into place, or a book or comic or song or series that hadn't sold for years finally emerged at the right time.
Batman obviously emerged at the right time with the right actors.

The part about Superman being their first choice, but being unavailaable for licensing as aa series at the time because of the Superman broadway play was a detail I'd never heard of before either.


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An obscure Adam West movie that I mentioned above, that I really enjoyed:



Doin' Time On Planet Earth (1988)







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The Complete 14 Batman Window Cameos




A fun little slice of the series' humor, and the many famous cameo appearances on the show.

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Adam West and Yvonne Craig, out of costume, enjoying the Infantino-era new Batgirl's first appearance in DETECTIVE COMICS 359, Jan 1967, "The Million-Dollar Debut of Batgirl".

What a cool photo!
Rarely is there any connection seen between the comics and the TV shows based on them. I wonder if this was just publicity, or if they really read the comics on a regular basis.

To some extent, the producers and actors on the show would want to study and understand the stories and appeal of the comics, to bring that out in the series.

That manhandled copy would be $400.00 in Good now.
And much higher than that in higher grade.



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