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Adam West (born September 19, 1928) is an American actor best known for his lead role in the 1960s TV series Batman and the film of the same name. He is currently known for portraying eccentric versions of himself, as well as his voice work on animated series such as Fairly Oddparents and Family Guy.
Early lifeWest was born William West Anderson in Seattle, Washington to Otto West Anderson and Audrey V. Speer. He has a younger brother named John. He attended Walla Walla High School during his freshman and sophomore years, and later enrolled in Lakeside School in Seattle. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and a minor in Psychology from Whitman College[Interview, Whitman Magazine, December 2006] in Walla Walla where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and participated on the speech and debate team.
Early rolesIn Hawaii, West landed a role as the sidekick on a children's show called El Kini Popo Show, which featured a chimp. West later took over as star of the show.[ name=Adam West]
In 1959, the actor moved to Hollywood and took the stage name "Adam West." He appeared in the film The Young Philadelphians with Paul Newman, and guest-starred in a number of television Westerns. He guest starred on Edmond O'Brien's syndicated crime drama Johnny Midnight and soon snagged a supporting role as police Sergeant Steve Nelson in the crime drama, The Detectives starring Robert Taylor
. He portrayed Wild Bill Hickok in the episode "Westbound Stage" of the 1960 NBC western series Overland Trail, with William Bendix and Doug McClure. He starred in an episode of the original television series The Outer Limits titled "The Invisible Enemy." He made a brief appearance in the film Soldier in the Rain starring Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen and in the 1964 film Robinson Crusoe on Mars. In 1965, he starred in the comedy western The Outlaws Is Coming, the last feature film starring The Three Stooges. He also was in an episode of Bonanza that was aired during reruns.
BatmanBatman (1966 film)
Producer William Dozier cast West as Batman and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne (in part, after seeing West perform as the James Bond-like spy Captain Q in a Nestlé Quik television ad), in Batman, the hit television series. West beat out Lyle Waggoner for the Batman role.
The popular, campy show ran on ABC from 1966 to 1968; a film version was released in 1966.
In 1970, West was offered the role of James Bond by Cubby Broccoli for the film Diamonds Are Forever. West declined, later stating in his autobiography that he believed the role should always be played by someone British.
Post-Batman careerAfter his high-profile role, West, along with Burt Ward and Yvonne Craig (who played crimefighting sidekicks Robin and Batgirl) was badly typecast. West's first post-Caped Crusader role was in the 1969 release The Girl Who Knew Too Much. He played against type as a tough, hard-boiled assassin. The movie was a failure and has almost become a lost film.
For a time, West made a living doing personal appearances as Batman. In 1972 however, when Ward and Craig reprised their Batman roles for a TV public-service announcement about equal pay for women, West was absent. Instead, Dick Gautier filled in as Batman.
West subsequently appeared in the theatrical films The Marriage of a Young Stockbrocker (1971), The Curse of the Moon Child (1972), Partizani/Hell River (1974), The Specialist (1975), Hardcore (1977), Hooper (as himself; 1978), The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (1980) and One Dark Night (1983). West also appeared in such television films as The Eyes of Charles Sand (1972), Poor Devil (1973), Nevada Smith (1975), For the Love of It (1980) and I Take These Men (1983).
He did guest shots on the TV shows Love, American Style, The Big Valley, Night Gallery, Alias Smith and Jones, Mannix, Emergency!, Alice, Police Woman, Operation Petticoat, The American Girls, Vegas, Big Shamus Little Shamus, Laverne & Shirley, Bewitched, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, Zorro, King of Queens, and George Lopez.
His typecasting kept him from landing more substantial roles. In recent years, West has exploited his fate to poke fun at his status as a pop-culture icon.
Return to BatmanWest often reprised his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne, first in the short-lived animated series, The New Adventures of Batman, and in other shows such as Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians. In 1979, West once again put on the Batsuit for the live-action TV special Legends of the Superheroes.
West made a cameo appearance in a 1992 episode of Batman: The Animated Series on FOX, but not as Batman (as the role of Batman was already being played by Kevin Conroy). Instead, he portrayed Simon Trent, a washed-up actor who used to play a superhero in a TV series called "The Gray Ghost" and who now has difficulty finding work. West later had a recurring role as the voice of Mayor Grange in the WB animated series The Batman.
The actor vocally reprised his role as Batman for the CGI animated short film Batman: New Times. He co-starred with Mark Hamill, who vocally portrayed The Joker and had originally played the role on Batman: The Animated Series.
1990s - 2000sDuring the 1990s, West's status as a pop culture icon led to appearances as himself in the film Drop Dead Gorgeous and in several television series, including NewsRadio, Murphy Brown, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, The Ben Stiller Show and The Drew Carey Show. In 1991, he starred in the pilot episode of Lookwell, in which he portrayed a has-been TV action hero who falsely believes he can solve crimes in real life. The pilot, written by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel, aired on NBC that summer but was not picked up as a series. It was later broadcast on the Trio channel, under the "Brilliant But Cancelled" imprint.
Noticeably, he played a washed up superhero in the Goosebumps television series episode "Attack of the Mutant." The boy hero is a comic book geek whose favorite superhero, Galloping Gazelle (West's character), is portrayed as fading and on the verge of retirement. Towards the end, the boy is shocked to learn that the Gazelle is real, though he must save the day by himself.
In 1994, West, with Jeff Rovin, wrote his autobiography, Back to the Batcave published by Berkeley Books (ISBN 0-425-14370-8). He also appeared as a guest in the animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast in an episode titled "Batmantis," where he displayed his book.
In 2005, West appeared in the CBS show The King of Queens. In the episode, Spence first asks Lou Ferrigno to go to a sci-fi convention. But when Spence meets West (playing himself), he leaves Ferrigno and asks West to come with him.
West appears prominently in the 2006 video for California band STEFY's song "Chelsea" as "Judge Adam West", presiding over the courtroom scene.
In 2007, Adam West portrayed a defense attorney for Benny on the show George Lopez, and starred as "The Boss" in the movie comedy Sexina: Popstar PI.
Following the release of a Batman game, a host of the show X-Play visited Adam West on the show.
In 2009, West played himself in the episode "Apollo, Apollo" of 30 Rock.
Voice-over workWest's character on Family Guy.
West built a career doing voice-over work on a number of animated series (often as himself), including appearances on The Simpsons, The Critic, The Boondocks, Histeria!, Kim Possible, and Johnny Bravo. He also appeared in five episodes of Nickelodeon's cartoon, The Fairly OddParents, as a cat-obsessed version of himself who is famous for playing a superhero called Catman, and who actually believes he is Catman. Catman is a parody of his earlier character as Batman. A later appearance of Adam West in The Fairly OddParents world was a parody of himself, hired to play the role of the Crimson Chin in the movie of the same name. West also voiced many characters related to his famous Batman character, as mentioned above in the typecasting section.
Since 2000, West has made regular appearances on the animated series Family Guy, on which he plays Mayor Adam West, a parody of West himself, the lunatic mayor of Quahog, Rhode Island. His role has given him a new wave of popularity since Batman. His latest voice-over performance was playing the role of Uncle Art in the Disney film Meet the Robinsons.
West also played the voice of General Carrington in the video game XIII, and has voiced other video games like ''Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, Chicken Little: Ace in Action, Scooby Doo! Unmasked and Goosebumps: Attack of the Mutant.
West has also done voice-over work for the investment firm LendingTree.
Filmographycol-break
- Voodoo Island (1957)
- Ghost of the China Sea (1958)
- The Young Philadelphians (1959)
- The FBI Story (1959)
- Geronimo (1962)
- Tammy and the Doctor (1963)
- Soldier in the Rain (1963)
- Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)
- The Outlaws Is Coming (1965)
- Mara of the Wilderness (1965)
- The Relentless Four (1965)
- Batman (1966)
- The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969)
- Hollywood Blue (documentary, 1970)
- The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971)
- Curse of the Moon Child (1972)
- Partizani (1974)
- The Specialist (1975)
- Hardcore (1977)
- Hooper (1978)
- The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (1980)
- One Dark Night (1983)
- Hell Riders (1984)
- Young Lady Chatterley II (1985)
- Zombie Nightmare (1986)
- Night of the Kickfighters (1988)
- Doing Time on Planet Earth (1988)
- Yellow Pages (1988)
- Return Fire (1988)
- Omega Cop (1990)
col-break
- Mad About You (1990)
- Maxim Xul (1991)
- The Best Movie Ever Made (1994)
- The New Age (1994)
- Not This Part of the World (1994)
- Run for Cover (1995)
- Race For Your Life: An Interactive Movie (1995)
- The Clinic (1995)
- The Size of Watermelons (1996)
- Joyride (1996)
- An American Vampire Story (1997)
- Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
- Séance (2001)
- Nuclear Rescue 911 (2001)
- From Heaven to Hell (2002)
- BAADASSSSS! (2003)
- Tales from Beyond (2004)
- Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005, direct-to-DVD, voice)
- Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005, direct-to-DVD, voice)
- Buckaroo: The Movie (2005)
- Chicken Little (2005, voice)
- Angels with Angles (2005)
- Sexina: Popstar P.I. (2006)
- Meet the Robinsons (2007, voice)
- ''Ratko: The Dictator's Son (2007, voice)
- Super Capers (2009)
- Short Subjects
- Ride for Your Life (1995)
- Redux Riding Hood (1997) (voice)
- Batman: New Times (2005) (voice)
Televisioncol-break
- The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor (1961-1962)
- Bewitched (1964) Darrin's friend Kermit
- Batman (1966-1968)
- Alexander the Great (1968, unsold pilot)
- How I Got You (1969)
- The Eyes of Charles Sand (1972)
- Poor Devil (1973)
- Shazam! (1974-1975, voice)
- Nevada Smith (1975)
- The New Adventures of Batman (1977-1978, voice)
- Tarzan and the Super 7 (1978-1980, voice)
- Legends of the Superheroes (1979)
- For the Love of It (1980)
- Warp Speed (1981)
- Time Warp (1981)
- I Take These Men (1983)
- Ace Diamond Private Eye (1983, unsold pilot)
- Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984-1985, voice)
- The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985-1986, voice)
- The Last Precinct (1986, canceled after 7 episodes)
- Zorro (1990, episode "The Wizard")
col-break
- Lookwell (1991, unsold pilot)
- 1775 (1992, unsold pilot)
- Batman: The Animated Series (1992, cameo in Episode 18, voice)
- The Ben Stiller Show (1992, guest star)
- Danger Theatre (1993)
- Space Ghost Coast to Coast (1994, himself)
- The Simpsons (1994, 2002, voice)
- The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1993-1996)
- Johnny Bravo (1997)
- The Wayans Bros (1997, himself)
- The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs (1998-1999, voice)
- Histeria! (1999, voice)
- The Fairly OddParents (recurring cast member, voice)
- Family Guy (2000 - present, voice)
- The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2001, voices)
- Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003)
- Kim Possible (2003, episode The Fearless Ferret, voice)
- Monster Island (2004)
- Celebrity Deathmatch (1998-2001, 2005-2006, himself)
- George Lopez (TV series) (2007)
- The Boondocks (2006)
- 30 Rock (2009, himself)
Copyright Citations
This article is licensed under the GNU License
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