Adam West...

[MNruss]

Lunch with Casey (Jones) was a local (MSP) kids show.
Casey would always ask a couple of kids their names.
I remember one who said "I'm Batman"
Casey wasn't having that, so asked again.
The kid replied "I'm Bruce Wayne"
Casey asked again & got the reply "Adam West"
I was never sure if Casey just gave up or didn't realize.

 

[TomkinsSP]

RIP Adam, give Ertha a kiss for us, maybe a dance.

 

[retiredbadge8091]

What fun memories... mom used to let me eat in the front room with my dinner plate on the ottoman and me kneeling behind it, transfixed on our black and white tv, watching Batman.

Thank you mom and you too Batman, er, I mean Adam West, for such a fun childhood.

 

[forindooruseonly]

It's a sad day. And just a couple days ago I watched the Batman movie from 1966, while laying on the couch sick as a dog with a summer cold. I chose it because I had exhausted other possibilities on Netflix and I remembered how much I enjoyed the TV show as a kid.

The movie is pretty brilliant. It's very self-aware and plays to that. It distracted me from how miserable I was feeling, no small feat, and completely cheered me up.

RIP Adam West.

 

[Farmer17]

My brother-in-law who passed away, was a Manager with TG&Y stores and was responsible for going to under performing stores and getting their sales up. He was sent to a small town store in Illinois and tried every kind of sale and promotion and merchandising method to get their sales up and nothing worked. Then he decided to hire Burt Ward as "Robin" to come and make an appearance, and he said nearly everyone in the county showed up and it was about the biggest event to hit the town in a long time. After that a lot more customers started coming to the store and sales went up. Burt Ward stayed at my BIL and sisters house and my brother-in-law said he was an obnoxious little guy.

 

[DWalt]

In the beginning, there was a 1943 Batman 15-part movie serial. It was later stitched together into a feature film which was released in 1965. It was also somewhat campy, and modestly successful, inspiring the TV series. I remember taking my wife-to-be to see the series when it was released in 1965. She didn't like it. It wasted a lot of time because the introduction and conclusion of each episode was included in the theatrical release. The 1943 Batman serial was one of Hugh Hefner's favorites, and he would show it at the Playboy mansion. TCM still occasionally runs the original 1943 serial segments.

 

[SPEEDGUNNER]

TV's Adam West RIP!

In my mind, there is only one real Batmobile!

 

[rwsmith]

Get this cast of villains....

The Joker (Cesar Romero)
The Penguin (Burgess Meredith)
The Riddler (Frank Gorshin) / The Riddler (John Astin)
Catwoman (Julie Newmar) / Catwoman (Lee Meriwether) / Catwoman (Eartha Kitt)
Mr. Freeze (George Sanders) / Mr. Freeze (Otto Preminger) / Mr. Freeze (Eli Wallach)
The Puzzler (Maurice Evans)
Clock King (Walter Slezak)
Mad Hatter (David Wayne)
False Face (Malachi Throne)
The Archer (Art Carney)
Killer Moth (Tim Herbert)

Villains Created for The Show

King Tut (Victor Buono)
Egghead (Vincent Price)
The Bookworm (Roddy McDowall)
Shame (Cliff Robertson)
Ma Parker (Shelley Winters)
Marsha, Queen of Diamonds (Carolyn Jones)
The Sandman (Michael Rennie)
Black Widow (Tallulah Bankhead)
Siren (Joan Collins)
Colonel Gumm (Roger C. Carmel)
Chandell (Liberace) & Harry (Liberace)
Zelda the Great (Anne Baxter)
Minerva (Zsa Zsa Gabor)
The Minstrel (Van Johnson)
Lord Marmaduke Ffogg (Rudy Vallee)
Louie the Lilac (Milton Berle)
Dr.Cassandra Spellcraft (Ida Lupino)
Nora Clavicle (Barbara Rush)
Olga, Queen of Cossacks (Anne Baxter)
Freddy the Fence
Lola Lasagne (Ethel Merman)
Lady Penelope Peasoup (Glynis Johns)
Calamity Jan (Dina Merrill)
Cabala (Howard Duff)

 

[rwsmith]

Who leaned out the windows.......

When Batman and Robin would climb up a building, somebody would lean out the window to see what was going on.



1. Jerry Lewis

2. Dick Clark

3. Green Hornet and Kato (Van Williams and Bruce Lee)

4. Sammy Davis Jr.

5. Jose Jimenez (Bill Dana – comedian whose Jimenez character appeared on many shows Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen etc.)

6. Sergeant Sam Stone “Felony Squad” TV Show (Howard Duff)

7. Colonel Klink “Hogan’s Heroes” TV Show (Werner Klemperer)

8. Lurch “The Addams Family” TV Show (Ted Cassidy)

9. Don Ho (Hawaiin singer)

10. Santa Claus (Andy Devine)

11. Art Linkletter (TV host and author)

12. Edward G. Robinson (the legendary actor was a well known and avid art collector who was on the 20th Century Fox lot to do makeup tests for the movie Planet of the Apes as Dr. Zaius, a role he eventually turned down, and decided it would be fun to appear on Batman)

13. Suzy Knickerbocker (pen name of Aileen Mehle, society columnist and writer)

14. Carpet King (Cyril Lord carpet merchant who was known for his TV ads. He traded some carpets to Batman producer William Dozier for the cameo spot on Batman.)

My favorite was Lurch:

(Harpsichord music plays, window opens)

"O-O-O-O-OH, It's you Batman.'

"Return to your Harpsichord citizen!"


With all of these people vying to be on the show, you know it had to be a riot, and we should take it that way.

Since some people didn't appreciate the camp, I wonder what a 'serious' weekly Batman series would be like?

 

[Welshman]

Gotham ( Bruce Wayne, the formative years ).

 

[Chief Wiggums]

Being a child of the 60's , I have fond memories of sitting in front of the B&W , watching the show and my mother would read aloud on screen graphics of the show : "POW" , ect....
RIP

 

[JSR III]

Adam West's final words from his bed in a deep gravely voice, "I'm Batman"

 

[Double-O-Dave]

Gee, I cannot believe no one has mentioned the theme song yet..."nana nana nana nana nana nana BATMAN!"

I remember one hot summer night some drunk guy was outside singing the Bat Man theme song. Someone called the police, and they soon responded. The guy was doing a pretty good job of singing the song, and the cops were nice enough to let him finish before cuffing and stuffing him into the back of the police car.

RIP Adam West.

Regards,

Dave

 

[Farmer17]

I heard that one problem the show had before first going on the air was that Burt Ward was a bit well-endowed and the sensors didn't think he looked appropriate in his tight costume. The producers had a Doctor give him pills that would give him a more presentable appearance and I heard Burt really disliked taking those pills.

 

[Grumpy11]

I met Adam West in line at a grocery store in a swanky Long Island town. He was in front of me. He turned around and struck up a conversation with me. I was impressed at how nice a guy he was. He was on his way to a cocktail party and we talked about what would be the right things such as appetizers and mixers we thought would be appropriate for a ritzy event. I was also impressed by the classy clothing he was wearing.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Gee, I cannot believe no one has mentioned the theme song yet...
Dave

 

[the ringo kid]

Mr. West held his own amongst the likes Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin and Burgess Meredith... those guys could shred the scenery. My brother and I had a blast watching that show esp. the wall climbing scenes.
Like another said, it just wasn't the same watching it years later although I could appreciate the jokes along with the Misses Craig and Newmar better than I could at 7 years old.
Think I last saw Adam West on an episode of Big Bang Theory.

I remember a couple of those wall-climbing scenes--he ran into Col Klink, the Lone Ranger & ?-and others.

 

[the ringo kid]

Gee, I cannot believe no one has mentioned the theme song yet..."nana nana nana nana nana nana BATMAN!"

I remember one hot summer night some drunk guy was outside singing the Bat Man theme song. Someone called the police, and they soon responded. The guy was doing a pretty good job of singing the song, and the cops were nice enough to let him finish before cuffing and stuffing him into the back of the police car.

RIP Adam West.

Regards,

Dave

The theme was done by Nelson Riddle-who also did the them for The Untouchables-and music in a great John Wayne western that I bet nobody can tell the name to? without cheating and looking on the internet.