{"id":274,"date":"2017-06-12T14:59:10","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T14:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/?p=274"},"modified":"2017-06-12T15:00:25","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T15:00:25","slug":"adam-west-star-tvs-batman-dead-88","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2017\/06\/adam-west-star-tvs-batman-dead-88.html","title":{"rendered":"Adam West, Star of TV\u2019s \u2018Batman,\u2019 Dead at 88"},"content":{"rendered":"<iframe title=\"Remembering &#039;Batman&#039; TV icon Adam West\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NdaV8gYvgKE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>Adam West, star of the cult-classic 1960s <em>Batman<\/em> TV show, has died in Los Angeles after a battle with leukemia. He is survived by his wife, Marcelle, and his six children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n<p>West\u2019s role on the ABC-TV series lasted only three seasons, but made an indelible mark on the heart of pop-culture. The series\u2014as well as Neal Hefti\u2019s catchy earworm of a theme song\u2014is now required reading for anyone wishing to pass the threshold into superhero geekdom.<\/p>\n<p>Born William West Anderson in Walla Walla Washington on September of 1928, West\u2019s father was a farmer, and his mother, a pianist and opera singer who once held dreams of Hollywood stardom. Even from a young age, West expressed his desire to follow in her footsteps.<\/p>\n<p>After graduating with a bachelor\u2019s degree in literature, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, developing his memorably dramatic voice as an announcer on American Forces Network television. After an honorable discharge, West moved on to Hawaii to pursue his television career.<\/p>\n<p>West\u2019s earliest work included a sidekick role in the <em>El Kini Popo Show<\/em>, a children\u2019s show, wherein he eventually went on to take over the starring role. In 1959, he took the stage name of \u201cAdam West,\u201d choosing \u201cAdam\u201d because he simply liked the way it sounded when paired with his last name.<\/p>\n<p>He went on to have guest roles in several television Westerns and crime dramas, portraying classic characters such as Doc Holliday and Wild Bill Hickok, and later making appearances in crime shows <em>Johnny Midnight <\/em>and <em>The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t until the 1960s, however, that Adam West became a household name. After seeing West perform as Captain Q in a commercial for Nestl\u00e9 Quik, producer William Dozier cast him as Bruce Wayne in the <em>Batman<\/em> television series. The show, beginning in 1966, was full of bright colors, wacky villains, and witty one-liners delivered in West\u2019s signature deadpan style. It wasn\u2019t just \u201860s kitsch\u2014it defined \u201860s kitsch.<\/p>\n<p>As opposed to today\u2019s dark night, West saw his incarnation of Batman as \u201cThe Bright Knight,\u201d according to a statement made by his family, and he \u201caspired to make a positive impact on his fans\u2019 lives.\u201d West\u2019s Batman was a more lighthearted take on a Caped Crusader who embraced the value of human life, donated to libraries, and fought for the underprivileged\u2014including those he imprisoned.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed\u2014one of the things that made West\u2019s <em>Batman<\/em> so unique was the moral character he displayed. In the 1966 <em>Batman<\/em> movie, released not long after the first season of the show aired, Batman has to get rid of a bomb that has been placed above a bar full of drunks. He carries the bomb away, but each time he tries to dispose of it, he\u2019s humorously thwarted by the presence of increasingly innocent bystanders, including a group of nuns and some innocent ducklings.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, Batman manages to toss the bomb into the ocean, after which Robin remarks, \u201cYou risked your life to safe that riff-raff in the bar?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Batman responds only with \u201cThey may be drinkers, Robin, but they\u2019re also human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite how different West\u2019s candy-colored Batman is from the decidedly more gothic Dark Knight we know today, his role had a massive impact on the direction the character would take for the next few decades. <em>Batman<\/em> broke through into public consciousness at a time when the Batman character had yet to truly make his mark on pop culture. The show\u2019s popularity\u2014particularly in the years after its cancellation\u2014firmly cemented the idea of the Batman into the world\u2019s psyche.<\/p>\n<p>Without West\u2019s contribution, we might not have Nolan\u2019s The Dark Knight. We might not even have <em>The Avengers<\/em>, and its slew of related superhero cinematic universe films.<\/p>\n<p>After West\u2019s reign as Batman burned out in 1968\u2014the result of a steep drop in ratings\u2014the actor found it difficult to find other work. Permanently typecasted, he was unable to return to the more serious westerns and crime dramas that began his career. As a result, he moved away from Hollywood for a time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When you wear a mask and funny tights, it gets a little frustrating from time to time,&#8221; West once said. &#8220;I was turned down for a number of parts over the years, I feel, because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite this, West never became bitter, and embraced his place in pop-culture\u2019s hall of fame. Ever charming and affable, West was always open to interacting with <em>Batman<\/em> fans for the entirety of his life, attending conventions well into his eighth decade.<\/p>\n<p>On the abrupt ending of <em>Batman<\/em>, West told the audience at Comic-Con in 2014 that, \u201cThe only thing I thought is that it would be the end of me, and it was for a bit. But then I realized that what we created in the show\u2014we created this zany, lovable world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>West did eventually get to enjoy his iconic status\u2014his popularity brought him roles in voice-acting and documentaries, even playing himself in an episode of <em>Big Bang Theory<\/em> and voicing the lunatic mayor of Quahog, Mayor West, in the animated series <em>Family Guy<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Seth MacFarlane, the creator of <em>Family Guy, <\/em>eulogized West on Twitter, writing that &#8220;I am beyond fortunate to have had the privilege of working with him, and he will be profoundly missed by all of us. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have given, Mr. Mayor. You&#8217;re irreplaceable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the end, Adam West, our original Batman succumbed to the oldest villain of them all\u2014time. His contributions to geek culture, ability to laugh even at himself, and sincere openness ensure that his legacy will live on forever, even as others take up the cape and cowl.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI look around and I see the adults,\u201d West said at the 2014 Comic-Con. \u201cI see you grew up with me, and you believe in the adventure. I never believed this would happen, that I would be up here with illustrious people like yourselves. I\u2019m so grateful! I\u2019m the luckiest actor in the world, folks, to have you still hanging around.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adam West, star of the cult-classic 1960s Batman TV show, has died in Los Angeles after a battle with leukemia. He is survived by his wife, Marcelle, and his six children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. West\u2019s role on the ABC-TV series lasted only three seasons, but made an indelible mark on the heart of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":605,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[96,95,94,97],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-1960s","tag-adam-west","tag-batman","tag-superheroes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Adam West, Star of TV\u2019s \u2018Batman,\u2019 Dead at 88<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2017\/06\/adam-west-star-tvs-batman-dead-88.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Adam West, Star of TV\u2019s \u2018Batman,\u2019 Dead at 88\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Adam West, star of the cult-classic 1960s Batman TV show, has died in Los Angeles after a battle with leukemia. 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West\u2019s role on the ABC-TV series lasted only three seasons, but made an indelible mark on the heart of&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2017\/06\/adam-west-star-tvs-batman-dead-88.html","og_site_name":"Where Hope Lives","article_published_time":"2017-06-12T14:59:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-12T15:00:25+00:00","author":"Wesley Baines","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2017\/06\/adam-west-star-tvs-batman-dead-88.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2017\/06\/adam-west-star-tvs-batman-dead-88.html","name":"Adam West, Star of TV\u2019s \u2018Batman,\u2019 Dead at 88","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-06-12T14:59:10+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-12T15:00:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/#\/schema\/person\/a73d65fbed41cccc5f85a830c49fe296"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2017\/06\/adam-west-star-tvs-batman-dead-88.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2017\/06\/adam-west-star-tvs-batman-dead-88.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/2017\/06\/adam-west-star-tvs-batman-dead-88.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Adam West, Star of TV\u2019s \u2018Batman,\u2019 Dead at 88"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/","name":"Where Hope Lives","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Tributes","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/#\/schema\/person\/a73d65fbed41cccc5f85a830c49fe296","name":"Wesley Baines","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/authors\/w\/wesley-baines.aspx"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/author\/wbaines"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/605"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions\/277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/foreverinourhearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}