LOS ANGELES — Adam West, the ardent actor who managed to keep his tongue in cheek while wearing the iconic cowl of the Caped Crusader on the classic 1960s series “Batman,” died at his home here June 9, following a short battle with leukemia. He was 88.
MSTies will recall that he played Captain Tom Churchman in the movie in episode 604- ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE, and hosted Comedy Central’s 1994 MST3K Turkey Day marathon.
The Hollywood Reporter has the story.
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Gotta be the Batman, Gotta be Adam West!
I remember when he hosted the Thanksgiving day show that introduced Zombie Nightmare, when he teased about his agent “Fred Pizazz,” a play on his real-life agent at the time, Fred Wostbrock (himself, sadly deceased).
It was always fun to see Adam when he showed up on Bill Maher’s shows.
Wish I had the chance to see him. He was at an autograph show here a while back in connection with Return of the Caped Crusaders, which turned out to be his last public appearance, but I wasn’t able to make it. Sigh. I do have his video intro to the Batman series: the closest thing we will ever get to a formal commentary for every episode of the series. He autographed it with “Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb!” I loved it.
Forever the Batman, but still a fine actor and a great sport. RIP, Adam. We will miss you.
I mentioned this in the new episode review thread, but I just watched episode 604 less than 24 hours ago. Kinda eerie.
Goodbye Old Chum. You’ll never be forgotten Mr. West.
I remember watching Batman when visiting my grandparents in Madison in the 80s. The station had a promo for the show that was footage of the show with “Help” by The Beatles playing over it. I assume it was put together by the station, since original Beatles songs aren’t often used in commercials. It seemed really well done to my kid brain. I’d love to see that again.
He was always willing to make fun of himself, and seemed to genuinely enjoy the humor. Playing himself as the Mayor of Quohog on Family Guy was a perfect example.
When the Batman tv show first came on, it was to me the greatest thing since sliced bread. Holy Eternity, Batman.
Even if you look at the 60’s Batman today, and start to hate it for realizing it was just supposed to be a 60’s-camp parody on American Comic-Book Icons and law-and-order of the Establishment (“Support your police, that’s our motto!”), “A good sport” is a great way to describe West’s perfect deadpan on the kitschy tongue-in-cheek.
You could almost see the Golden Age comic-book lettering when his Batman entered in the first episode with “Stop, you….CRIMINALS!”
Kali, you said it best. He was a good sport. And I’ve always believed that one of the greatest attributes anyone can have is to be able to laugh at themselves. RIP dear Adam. To us Msties, you will ALWAYS be the bestest Batman.
He’s still the main guy I think of when I think of Batman. Loved watching the reruns of the show when I was a kid. He also did some great guest appearances on The Big Valley and Mannix as bad guys and those were fun episodes. Surprisingly he made a convincing bad guy even though you can’t help but think of him as the good guy.
MST3K royalty
This is a sad loss. I loved his self-deprecating humor.
Born in 1966. One of my earliest heroes. I vividly remember being scared to death of the joker. And here comes West’s Batman to save the day! His moments in MST3K are moments to treasure.
Nothing endears an actor to me as much as his willingness to laugh at himself and to entertain the rest of us in the process. Mr. West, you will be missed. RIP
Just a sad occasion, watching Pop Goes the Joker/Plop Goes the Joker now in his honor. He was floated as a possible Bond and demurred such consideration. In my opinion he could have played Bond in much the same vein as the late great Roger Moore and with equal quality. But he rightfully realized no one would take an American Bond seriously.
A gent and a pleasure in everything I ever saw him in. Catman in “Fairly Odd Parents;” himself on the “Simpsons” and Batman/West on “Futurama.” The Grey Ghost on “Batman: the Animated Series.”
Good night, sweet West, good night.
Jay Sherman: Thank you for the years of laughter and tears!
Adam West: What tears would those be?
Jay Sherman: Why, tears of… laughter!
First Roger Moore, the fun James Bond. Now Adam West, the fun Batman. It’s 2016 all over again.
Adam West was a large part of millions of people’s childhoods.
He had a dry wit and had a great way of poking fun at himself, whether it was in his two appearances on “The Simpsons,” hosting one year of the “MST3K” Turkey Day on Comedy Central, or in the documentary “Starring Adam West.”
For those who don’t know, “Batman” is on DVD after years of rights issues and West’s final performance, in the animated film “Batman vs. Two Face,” is in postproduction.
By the way, I’m Lavendare. I’m trying to get the hang of DISQUS.
Add my heartfelt condolences here, as well.
“Batman” was a staple of my childhood, as it was on TV late afternoon in the early 70s; my brother and I rarely missed it after school. Wonderful fun, iconic stuff. Adam West’s ability to play the role so seriously in the midst of the camp is what made the show great – that and his amazing way of pacing the velvety delivery of his lines. I recently watched the Batman movie with my own four boys and they all just loved it.
From all accounts he truly was a class act. As some have mentioned, his willingness to laugh at himself – perhaps best illustrated by his hosting the Turkey Marathon — truly endeared him to many, myself included.
What’s this!?!? Is the final curtain call for the Caped Crusader?!?!
Indeed… and may angels sing thee to thy rest.
I heard an interview with Burt Ward who was close to Adam throughout his life. High praise from him and really he was just so glad they were friends and that Adam had no real regrets. Check out Burt’s book on his antics with Adam, “Boy Wonder: My Life in Tights”. The angels will be working overtime now with Adam around.
Prayers for him and his.
How very sad. A childhood hero and a good sport with a great sense of humor. I’ll miss him dearly.
He knew he wasn’t doing Shakespeare when he did Batman but he always put 110 percent into everything he did and always great to his fans. Just a class act you don’t see nowadays. Just a fantastic soul. :(
My favorite riff from Zombie Nightmare:
Churchman: Get into the car, witch!
Molly: Yes, Mr. Churchman.
Servo (as Molly): Oh, is your Batmobile in the shop?
Crow (as Churchman): Shut up!
RIP, old chum.
Both hands on the bat rope old chum.
Farewell Old Chum.
Just read that MeTV will be airing several shows featuring Adam West on Saturday. They include the premiere episodes of “Batman”, an “Outer Limits” and a bunch of Westerns, including his very unusual appearance on “Big Valley”.
However, they’re not showing his cameo in an episode of “NewsRadio”, when we found out one other thing he did post-“Batman”.
He said that? Oh man that’s just Adam and the writers for ya, I have to see that somewhere.
They possibly have him hired and have given him his own Bat phone in case his needed down here for something there not cut out for. :)
Hate to change it to Burt Ward for a moment and no disrespect to Adam but I’ll never tire of the story of a college age Conan O’Brien stealing a Robin costume and calling and teasing Burt and Burt responding in character as Robin.“Return it or you will feel my wrath!” Just another example of how fun it must have been around those two.
http://thefw.com/conan-obrien-steal-robins-costume-batman-facts/
Adam also played the other astronaut in “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” (1964), the one that didn’t survive. Had the movie been made four years later, I wonder if the roles would have been reversed….
personally, i’m agnostic-a-ish, but i keep picturing god, roger moore, and adam west now up there playing a long game of poker. roger keeps fixing god with his pokerface – that famous sly smirk, one raised eyebrow, steely yet smiling eyes (that expression always cracked me up), while adam keeps playing as if he’s the mayor of quohog – far too intense, holding his cards too close to his face and muttering a bit batty, often instead of saying “stay” or “fold,” exclaiming “checkmate!” and god’s losing, because s/he can’t stop laughing.
I recommend anyone listen to the commentary on the Batman: The Movie DVD. Adam and Burt are so genuinely funny and laugh so sincerely at themselves. It’s as (if not more) entertaining as the movie itself.
If you live in the LA area, and aren’t going to Rifftrax Live tonight, look skyward. You just may see the Bat Signal, shining in tribute.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/15/entertainment/adam-west-bat-signal/index.html
Whether it was all the Batman reruns I watched or anything else he did, West was always good. He was the voice of Simon Trent/Gray Ghost in Batman: The Animated Series, an actor playing a hero on a tv show who young Bruce Wayne watched and idolized. The way Bruce Wayne felt about him was the same way so many of us felt about Adam West. R.I.P. Caped Crusader.