A pop-culture giant has shuffled off this four-color coil. Adam West, who played the title role in the 1966 Batman, and later reprised the role in voice and physical form more than once, has died of leukemia at the age of 88.
Having just spent a year and a half revisiting West’s most famous role for this very site, I now present the five best Bat-moments West had in his run on television wearing the cape and cowl:
1. The Bat-usi
Actually, the entire scene in the bar that leads up to Batman doing that magnificent dance in “Hi Diddle Riddle,” the first episode of Batman to air, is pretty much vintage West Batman. We start with him entering the discotheque and refusing the offer of a table, instead going to the bar because he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself. Reportedly, that scene was the one West read for his audition, and one of the reasons why he got the part was that he played that line 100% straight rather than wink at the camera or be a goof about it. Perhaps the best thing about West’s portrayal was that he took it completely seriously. He refused to stoop to the joke, which is why little kids (like me!) could watch the show unironically and view Batman as a hero who did good. We took him seriously as a hero because he took himself seriously as one.
Even when it was totally ridiculous. Like trying to be inconspicuous while walking into a discotheque while wearing a brightly colored skintight outfit and a big blue cape. And dancing a silly dance, though the latter was after they put a mickey in his fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Oh yeah! He goes into a discotheque alone, because Robin is underage, and then orders fresh-squeezed orange juice. Bliss.
2. Batman and Robin strike a blow for art
Gotham City was regularly a substitute for New York City, with establishing shots of NYC subbing for Gotham, and place names riffs on locations in the Big Apple: Spiffany’s, Short Island, the United World Building, and so on, not to mention the mayor and governor (Linseed and Stonefellow) being riffs on the contemporary officeholders in New York (Lindsay and Rockefeller). In “When the Rat’s Away the Mice Will Play,” the climactic fisticuffs with the Riddler are held in the torch of the Queen of Freedom monument, which has an art gallery that includes a simply hideous painting of Batman and Robin.
In order to make a dramatic entrance, Batman and Robin burst through the painting in the spots corresponding to where their images are. This has the dual effect of looking cool and utterly destroying that bloody awful painting. So win-win.
3. Batman unmasks a criminal via his parking habits
False Face was a frustrating villain for the Dynamic Duo to deal with because he was a master of disguise and so could appear as anyone. At various points, he poses as both Commissioner Gordon and Chief O’Hara, thus providing Neil Hamilton and especially Stafford Repp with a chance to act outside of their characters’ usual range of “fawning over Batman.” At one point, Batman and Robin see an armored car, and Batman quickly deduces that one of the armored car drivers must be False Face because he notices that the armored car parked in front of a fire hydrant!
Only a criminal would callously park in front of a hydrant like that, Batman announces, and False Face is exposed! You gotta love the bat-logic. (For the record, I can’t remember the last time I didn’t see an armored car parked illegally while it was making a pickup……)
4. Bruce Wayne exposes himself to art
In “Pop Goes the Joker,” the titular villain opens an art school for millionaires as a cover for a kidnapping scheme. At this point, Joker has already become the darling of the art world with his abstract work. As Bruce Wayne, Batman decides to take the class to see what the Joker is up to. Most of the time, West only got to be Bruce long enough for Alfred to tell him the bat-phone was ringing, and he took advantage of this particular opportunity to engage in a delightful battle of wits with the clown prince of crime:
JOKER: That’s terrible—terrible, Wayne! Why even a three-year-old could do better than that. Here, let me show you.
[Joker mushes the sculpture to make it more abstract.]
JOKER: There! That’s more like it!
BRUCE: Yes, I see what you mean, that’s about the level of a three-year-old.
JOKER: I do the jokes around here, Wayne.
BRUCE: I’d say that’s one of your better ones.
5. Milk and cookies
In the comics, Bruce Wayne has always been portrayed as a womanizer and playboy. It’s part of the “disguise” of Bruce to keep people from even considering the notion that he’s really Batman. Because Batman was designed to appeal to all audiences, this particular aspect was downplayed heavily (though hints of it came out in Bruce’s interactions with Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl, in the third season). Amusingly, though, it did get used as a plot point twice, and both times it was when West was acting opposite Lee Meriwether. The first was in the 1966 Batman movie, where Julie Newmar’s lack of availability forced them to re-cast Catwoman with Meriwether. In the film, Catwoman pretends to be a Russian journalist who flirts outrageously with Bruce, and Bruce responds. They even smooch!
But that’s nowhere near as much fun as when Meriwether returns in “King Tut’s Coup”/”Batman’s Waterloo” as Lisa Carson, the daughter of a multimillionaire, who is taken hostage by King Tut and whom the villain believes is the reincarnation of Cleopatra. At the end of the episode, Bruce walks her home and she invites him in for “milk and cookies.” Bruce accepts, as man cannot live by crimefighting alone and milk and cookies is the best-ever euphemism for getting laid you guys!
Honorable mention: Beware the Gray Ghost
Andrea Romano has been responsible for the casting of much of Warner Bros.’ animated releases over the decades, and she’s the best in the business. On the 1990s Batman: The Animated Series, she pulled off many a casting coup (particularly Kevin Conroy in the title role, who remains the definitive Batman voice), and for the episode “Beware the Gray Ghost,” she pulled off her best. For the role of Simon Trent, an actor who played the hero the Gray Ghost in an old TV series that Bruce Wayne watched as a boy, and who was now old and broke due to being typecast, she cast Adam West. He nailed the role, a wonderful love letter to West’s Batman that acknowledges his inspirational role as a hero, and also was a good commentary on how typecasting can ruin an actor’s career, but you can make it work if you embrace it instead of rejecting it.
Kinda like what Adam West did.
Rest in peace, old chum.
(Please feel free to provide your favorite West moments in the comments. I could easily come up with another five as it is…….)
Keith R.A. DeCandido reviewed the entirety of Batman 66 in the “Holy Rewatch, Batman!” feature on this site from September 2015 to May 2017. He’s also written about Star Trek, Doctor Who, Stargate, Marvel’s Netflix series, and Wonder Woman here. His 53rd novel, Marvel’s Warriors Three: Godhood’s End (Book 3 of the “Tales of Asgard” trilogy) was released last month, with two more due out this year: Mermaid Precinct, the next book in his fantasy police procedural series, and A Furnace Sealed, the first in his new urban fantasy series.
Yes, I know I didn’t include the bomb bit from the movie. Everyone always picks that………………..
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
I’m not sure I can pick just one, because all his moments were the best Bat-moments.
Adam West was perhaps the greatest straight man in television comedy. No matter how zany the situation, no matter how ridiculous the lines, he handled his scenes with a gravitas worthy of <I>Hamlet</I>.
Adam West was too classy and cultured to ever have described himself as “the goddamn Batman”.
Oh, for a favorite moment… In the 1966 movie, the villains sneak some dehydrated thugs into the Batcave and reconstitute them with heavy water so that a single punch can transform them into antimatter (SCIENCE!!!) In the ensuing fisticuffs, the thugs disintegrate.
When Robin asks if they will ever come back, Batman dolefully intones, “Not in this universe.”
Thank you, krad. My favorite Bat-moment by West is definitely when he runs against Penguin for Mayor. Seeing him wearing the cowl along with a jacket and tie was exquisite, even if I didn’t quite get it was supposed to be a parody. It’s also the episode that’s freshest in my memory, given that I remember watching it while eating a pile of pancakes my mom had made.
Keith what about the time when Commissioner Gordon got Batman and Bruce Wayne to talk to each other
on the phone
When some bad guy is shooting at them with a machine gun, and they’re taking cover behind the Bat-shield.
(suddenly the shooting stops)
Batman: He’s out of bullets Robin, let’s go get him.
Robin: But how do you know he’s out of bullets Batman?
Batman: I counted them Robin.
:D
bludemos: Actually, it was funnier than that, and it just missed the cut for my top five. It was in “It’s How You Play the Game” as they’re facing Shame. Shame and eight of his henchfolk are firing their six-shooters at them as they take cover. After the firing stops, Batman cries out, “Robin! What’s nine times six?” Robin replies, “Fifty-four!” Batman then says he only counted fifty-three.”
Yup, he can count 53 bullets being fired at him at once, but he can’t do simple multiplication….
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
He wasn’t asking Robin because he couldn’t do the math himself, it was all part of his ongoing concern regarding Robin’s education.
@8/krad: Of course Batman can do multiplication, but as always, he kept his youthful ward’s education in mind and turned their life-and-death battle into an opportunity to test Robin’s math skills.
I rewatched the movie to commemorate West’s passing, and there are a wealth of his finest Bat-moments there, as well as some of his finest Bruce-moments. West really committed to playing it all with utter conviction no matter how absurd things got, and that made it so much funnier than if he’d smirked and winked at the audience.
I always felt that was the tragedy of Adam West — he was a fine actor who did a brilliant job of overacting exactly as he was asked to do, and because of that, he got typecast as a bad actor. It’s good to see he’s gotten more appreciation in recent years.
Adam West might have picked this one:
Human Knot
I’ve always been partial to “They may be drinkers, Robin, but they’re also human beings…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXvJnr97xLg
Milk in a brandy snifter if I can’t have the bomb bit.
The best thing about the bomb bit, aside from the humor, is that it establishes Batman’s moral character. Here’s someone who risks his life to avoid blowing up ducks.
Contrast that with the Burton movie Batman (Burtonman), who grinningly affixes a bomb to a mook he can’t punch out.
I’ll take “won’t blow up duckies” Batman over that grinning sociopath any day.
We have Batman Shampoo, why is there no Conditioner Gordon?
What about all those great ‘walking up the side a building scenes’? My favorite is the man who sticks his head out, sees the caped crusaders and goes ‘Oh it’s you.’ then shouts over his shoulder ‘it’s okay, Honey, it’s just Batman and Robin.
Pop Goes the Joker is in general a very clever spoof of the 60s art scene and of Warhol’s place on the scene. It holds up really well.
I think perhaps one of his final performances as Batman could be a top-five contender. In the 2016 “Return of the Caped Crusaders” (from WB Animation), West, Ward and Newmar (now *there’s* an attorney brand if there ever was one) reprise their live-action roles in what is most certainly a love-letter to the original series. Without spoiling it for those who haven’t seen it, Batman’s behavior changes at one point in the story, giving the viewer a moment to savor West-Batman’s delivery of an iconic Michael Keaton-Batman line.
“Black Widow Strikes Again.” Batman sings “I’m Called Little Buttercup” by Gilbert and Sullivan. Should be completely ludicrous, but West makes it seem like just another thing he knows.
I hope the episode of Powerless with Adam West will be broadcast soon (and that it will be a fine tribute to such a great actor)
@Athreeren They have a few episodes on the NBC website. Which one was it?
He did get to play a serious Batman on the last incarnation of Super Friends now called Super Powers Team. They toned down the use of gadgets. West even got to do Batman’s origin story in the show. The first time the origin story was ever dramatized. He did a good a great job in the series.
I checked his Wikipedia bio, and Adam West has a rather impressive filmography. He was never the kind of star he deserved to be, but he was a very successful working actor.
Of surprising note, he was in the last Three Stooges movie.
@20 – Athreeren: Oh, that’s right! I need to see that episode.
@21 – RainbowWarrior: It’s one of the three episodes as if yet unaired. It seems a New Zealand on demand TV service has them, but not NBC.com.
@18, that animated movie is my new favorite West Batman appearance. Every moment is a joy, from the Bat-Brass-Knuckles to the not jay-walking.
As sad as I am about his passing, I’m glad to know he recorded a sequel with William Shatner as Two-Face.
Was the animated film ever reviewed as part of the rewatch?
Charles: Why, yes. Yes, it was….
http://www.tor.com/2016/11/01/holy-rewatch-batman-extra-the-return-of-the-caped-crusaders/
And I fully intend to review Batman vs. Two-Face when it’s released.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
Oh, Awesome, thanks!
<off to read now>
West’s cameos in LEGO Batman 3 are wonderful as well. (He’s the person in peril in each level, along with playing ’60s-era Batman for the bonus level at the end of the game — my personal favorite level.)
The Gray Ghost was one of my favorite episodes! I had no idea he was voiced by Adam West. What a neat homage.
Would throw Adam West’s read of the electoral process in Hizzoner the Penguin in the top 5. Whether it was done to be satirical or not is questionable, but I saw West’s read as portraying the heroic “bright knight” belief in a meritocracy rather than showing ignorance of the political process.
My favorite is when Jill St. John falls into the nuclear reactor in the Batcave, and Batman says, ” What a way to go-go.”
I have too many favorites to list, but one of the best things about all the 1960s Batman productions was the ridiculously bad production standard. (Also one reason I love Tom Baker era Dr Who so much more than anything since.) So maybe it’s no surprise that the first thing I thought of was the deliciously hilarious scene from the Batman movie where West is clinging to a rope ladder, dangling from a helicopter, while the WORST rubber shark in history is trying to chew him. PRICELESS.
No one every mentions his turn as the Fearless Ferret! on Kim Possible! Fun in that the actor has gone and rebuilt all the sets and gadgets of his character, and that even the Villains have done the same!
@31/John: I have to disagree about the production values of the show. The third season was quite bare-bones, but the first two were actually quite impressively produced for a 1960s sitcom. The fight scenes alone were a massive logistical challenge that took days of work to pull off; I think they took up more than half the shooting schedule. And it featured all sorts of elaborate sets, costumes, and props that had to be specially made. The Batcave in particular was a huge, amazing set.
And of course, they made the movie in large part so that they could take advantage of its feature budget to create things too elaborate for a TV budget, like the Batcopter and Batboat. The original plan was to make the movie first for just that reason, but ABC moved up the delivery date for the show, so they had to make the first season before the movie instead.
@32/CharlieE: My favorite meta in-joke about the Fearless Ferrett is that he takes on Ron as his apprentice and superhero successor. Ron, who was voiced by Will Friedle, who also played Batman Beyond‘s Terry McGinnis, a teenager who becomes the apprentice and successor to the elderly Bruce Wayne. That… just… has… so many levels.
Great review, Keith.
Mr. West was under appreciated. Never would have made a CW superhero (although it’s fun thinking of him alongside Supergirl and the Flash)
“A” best moment? Uh, wow. The anti-shark bit was hilarious. Not sure its a best moment tho. Love the show growing up. Bam, Biff, Pow!
@33: Chris,
Didn’t know about Mr. Squirrels voicing Batman Beyond! Haven’t seen it in years, but you are right, very very meta!
Boris Karloff is often credited with the observation “Being typecast meant I worked regularly”
Loved the scene with Batman and Catwoman when they discuss being a couple, and she wants to get rid of Robin.
@1 – actually, that probably IS my favorite part; both the deep concern for life, and then the way he delivers ‘sometimes you just can’t get rid of a bomb’ line in full seriousness.
I’ll freely admit I could never get into the Adam West renditon of Batman, since I basically grew up in the area of Burton/Shumacher Batman and the animated series, so my conception of Batman was always a bit darker (although the Schumacher movies are definitely campy) and the humor kind of falls flat to me as a matter of personal preference. But, my son loves that movie and for awhile he would watch it every single day, to the point where the DVD was worn out. Honestly, the bomb part was the only part that got a chuckle out of me.
All that said I still tremendously appreciate his contributions to the Batman mythos at large even if it isn’t exactly my cup of tea, and find it quite interesting that this character can span the gamut in the way it does. We finally got a chance to rent the Lego Batman Movie and it made me smile (and also feel a little bittersweet) to see how much love the 60s version of Batman got (I heard Adam West did have a cameo in it as one of the townspeople).
I think my favorite cameo from him is as the pizza delivering superhero in Meet the Robinson’s, which is probably my favorite ‘obscure’ Disney movie. (He also has a pretty funny cameo at the end of Chicken Little, but that’s an otherwise mediocre movie so the less said the better..).
Although my first exposure to Adam West was actually his cameo on Drop Dead Gorgeous as the beauty pageant host (as himself), which I was a fan of well before I really had any idea (or cared) who Adam West was.
@37 – Wilson: Yes, but there’s still a sadness in an actor who wished to do more than a single type ofr ole getting typecasted. And in West’s case, he kept being casted into parodies of Batman and parodies of himself. He even portrayed himself in Fairly Oddparents and was then replaced by another voice actor… still playing Adam West!
@39 – Lisamarie: West wasn’t in the Lego Batman movie, though he did voices for the Lego Batman 3 videogame.
Ah, I might have mis-read (I know I did read about him having a cameo in something LEGO Batman related) but at any rate, they did have a few clips of him in the movie as well :)
Yes, that was awesome.