The 1960’s Batman television series which starred Adam West and Burt Ward as the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder became a huge hit for ABC when it premiered and also turned into a pop culture phenomenon. And while some love it for its sense of camp fun and comic book approach, others revile it for associating a lightweight, cartoonish image with the Dark Knight Detective for years after the show aired. But that did not matter at the time, because in Batman‘s heyday well-known Hollywood actors were lining up to appear as villains in the series or to pop in for a quick cameo.
Anybody with even a passing familiarity with the show will recognize the usual lineup of bad guys such as Cesar Romero playing the Joker, Burgess Meredith playing the Penguin, Julie Newmar as Catwoman, and Frank Gorshin playing the Riddler. But a lot of other well-known names also leaped at the chance to ham their way into choice character roles during the show’s three-year run. The series became an instant pop-art hit and plenty of actors wanted to increase their exposure with a guest spot. This included such names as Roddy McDowell (The Bookworm), Art Carney (The Archer), Vincent Price (Egghead), Liberace (Chandell), Joan Collins (The Siren), and Milton Berle (Louie the Lilac) among others making one or two appearances on the show to supplement Batman’s rogue’s gallery.
Also, the scenes when someone would open a window and talk to Batman and Robin as they scaled a building–known as the “Batclimb Cameo”–was a sought-after gig. Such familiar faces as Sammie Davis Jr., Dick Clark, Don Ho, and Jerry Lewis finagled their way into bit parts bending the ears of the Dynamic Duo as they ascended the skyscrapers. So while some Batman fans today may want to forget that the 60’s show ever existed, in its day it was the place for actors to help bolster their visibility. (You can read more about the series at this link.)
This also later extended to the ’90s revival Batman: The Animated Series. While that went for a more series approach with a darker tone, it still attracted notable actors to voice the show’s villains. Most famously, Mark Hamill provided the vocals for the Joker throughout the show’s run as well as subsequent appearances of the character in other DC animated projects. (Interestingly, Tim Curry originally voiced the Joker but had to bow out because he had bronchitis and they redubbed Curry’s lines with Hamill’s performance.) Other notable villain roles for the series included John Glover as the Riddler, Adrienne Barbeau as Catwoman, Roddy McDowall as the Mad Hatter, David Warner as Ra’s al Ghul, Paul Williams as Penguin, and more (you and see more castings at this link, and you can read more about Batman: The Animated Series at this link.)
And back to the subject of the ’60s show, do you know how it came into existence as a pop-art, camp classic? According to the Wikipedia entry on series, the original concept would have brought the character to the small screen as a more standard adventure hero geared at a younger audience in the same vein as The Adventures of Superman and The Lone Ranger. But apparently the Batman movie serials from the 40’s had become quite a popular attraction at parties at the Playboy Club (yep, Hef’s house) where party-goers would hoot and holler along with the heroes. An ABC executive who attended some of these parties (purely for demographic research purposes I’m sure) took note of this and decided the camp angle would better fit this new property that ABC had acquired. So if it weren’t for Hugh Hefner, Playboy Bunnies, and all their guests, no telling how the show would have turned out and how our culture might have been different because of it! Holy Bunny Ears, Batman!!
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