Adam West

Adam West (born William West Anderson on September 19, 1928 in Walla Walla, Washington) is best known as the actor who played the role of Batman on the original television program that ran from 1966 to 1968.

Contents

1 Biography 2 Filmography 3 References 4 Quotes 5 External links

Biography

West grew up reading the Batman comics. He graduated from nearby Whitman College where he majored in literature and psychology and was married. He served two years in the United States Army. He worked as a disc jockey, truck driver, and cowboy, then travelled with his wife around Europe, where he sometimes worked as a milkman. Eventually he settled in Hawaii where he got a role on a light entertainment show called The Kini Popo Show. In Hawaii he divorced his first wife and married a Hawaiian.

In the 1960s, various roles in films and television brought him to the attention of William Dozier, who cast him as Batman in the 1960s hit television series. West has said he was also invited to play James Bond after Sean Connery decided to give up the role, and that he was almost part of the three big B's of the 1960s: Bond, Batman, and The Beatles. The Batman show was internationally successful as light camp entertainment, running from 1966 to 1968 and even producing a feature film.

After the show ended, West was typecast as Batman and had trouble playing other roles; audiences identified him as Batman and no one else. Even his convincing lead performance as cynical tough guy Johnny Cain in the 1969 film The Girl Who Knew Too Much did not erode his Batman image. He never stopped working after Batman and during the 1970s and 1980s appeared in a range of B-grade films and non-aired TV pilots, including The Happy Hooker goes to Hollywood about famed prostitute Xaviera Hollander. During the 1990s he achieved partial cult status, appearing as himself in such films as The Size of Watermelons and Drop Dead Gorgeous; has has also lent his voice to several animated television series, including The Simpsons and the animated Batman television series.

West makes semi-regular appearances on the Fox animated series Family Guy, on which he plays Adam West, mayor of Quahog, Rhode Island. This character is somewhat quirky, reflecting and reinforcing the television audience's perceptions of West since his role as Batman. (Mayor Adam West was not originally intended to be voiced by the real Adam West.)

Adam West also appears on Nickelodeon's animated series The Fairly OddParents, with the same personality as Family Guy portrayed. A few episodes make fun of his role as Batman by casting him as the superhero 'CatMan'. He also voiced similar cartoon roles on Kim Possible and Johnny Bravo.

Filmography

• Voodoo Island (1957)
• The Young Philadelphians (1959)
• The FBI Story (1959) (voice only)
• Geronimo (1962)
• Tammy and the Doctor (1963)
• Soldier in the Rain (1963)
• Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)
• The Relentless Four (1965)
• The Outlaws Is Coming (1965)
• Mara of the Wilderness (1965)
• Batman (1966)
• The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969)
• Hollywood Blue (1970) (documentary)
• The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971)
• Curse of the Moon Child (1972)
• Tactical Guerilla (1974)
• The Specialist (1975)
• Fiona (1977)
• Hooper (1978) (Cameo)
• The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (1980)
• One Dark Night (1983)
• Hellriders (1984)
• Young Lady Chatterly II (1985)
• Zombie Nightmare (1986)
• Night of the Kickfighters (1988)
• Doin' Time on Planet Earth (1988)
• Going Undercover (1988)
• Omega Cop (1990)
• Mad About You (1990)
• Return Fire (1991)
• Maxim Xul (1991)
• The Best Movie Ever Made (1994) (Cameo)
• The New Age (1994)
• Not This Part of the World (1994)
• Ride for Your Life (1995) (short subject)
• The Clinic (1995)
• The Size of Watermelons (1996) (Cameo)
• Joyride (1996)
• Redux Riding Hood (1997) (short subject) (voice)
• An American Vampire Story (1997)
• Behind the Sting (1999) (documentary)
• Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) (Cameo)
• Seance (2001)
• From Heaven to Hell (2002)
• Baadasssss! (2003)
• Tales from Beyond (2004)
• Angels with Angles (2005)
• Chicken Little (2005) (voice)

References

• Template:Book reference
• Press kit notes for The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Quotes

• "It was inescapable. I'd just about land something substantial, something I like or a good career move. Then some dinosaur would rear up and say, 'But the audience will think of him as Batman.' It was formidable. It was there like a brick wall." on being typecast as Batman

Quotes from Adam West in Family Guy:

• "How do you know my language?"
• "Somebody is stealing my water!"
• "You can't interview a dead man!" (then proceeds to jump out of the window)
• (pushes Lois' pregnant sister out of the way in a hospital line)"Hey, I was here first!" (quietly) "My foot is asleep."
• "Lucky for me she was just a figment of my imagination"

External links

• Template:Imdb name
• AdamWest.com - official site (http://www.adamwest.com/)
• 1966 Batman TV Heroes - Adam West (http://www.geocities.com/~1966/admwest.htm)
• '60s "Batman" Adam West, 76, gives thumbs up to "Batman Begins" (http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20050622/d_flashback22_batman.art.htm)