We lost another pop culture icon yesterday as the original TV Batman, Adam West, lost a brief battle with leukemia. He was 88 years old, and lived a full and wonderful life. The man was beloved by millions and was the face that took super heroes into the mainstream.
West survived his post-Batman years with grace and humility and bounced back in a big way via voiceover work on animated TV shows, most notably Family Guy, where he provided the voice for mayor Adam West. His sense of the absurd as strong as it ever was.
West didn’t get enough credit for being the embodiment of Batman at the time, and he didn’t get enough credit for being a brilliant actor who had a much better grasp of his material than most acclaimed dramatic actors ever did.
Above you see some highlights from the Batman TV show. Below you see the pilot for Lookwell, an early-90s sitcom that never happened, starring West and written by Conan O’Brien and Robert Smigel. Below that you’ll see West hosting an episode of Hollywood Palace, plus some Batman fight scenes.
This is our meager way of saying thanks, Adam West, for sharing a life well lived with your fans.
Very sad about this. Batman was really my first introduction to super-heroes, before I even knew about comic books. I used to watch the show regularly, along with reruns of the George Reeves Superman, when I was a very young boy.