Born in 1928 as William West Anderson in Walla Walla, Washington, West decided to pursue stardom from an early age. His mother, Audrey Speer, was an opera singer and concert pianist, but abandoned her Hollywood dreams to care for her children. After he graduated from Whitman College with a literature degree, he was drafted into the Army, where he worked as an announcer on American Forces Network television. After his discharge, West worked for a stint on the Hawaii children’s program El Kini Popo Show, then moved to Hollywood in 1959 and changed his name. He liked the way Adam looked and sounded with his middle name, he wrote in his autobiography, so he combined the two to become Adam West.
In the ’60s, West appeared in films such as Geronimo, The Outlaws Is Coming and Robinson Crusoe on Mars. He rocketed to stardom with a lead role in ABC’s Batman and will be remembered for his campy, slapstick portrayal of the Caped Crusader on a show that frequently edged into satire. “He was bright, witty and fun to work with,” Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman to West’s Batman, said in a statement Saturday. “I will miss him in the physical world and savour him always in the world of imagination and creativity.” Though the network cancelled it after three seasons, NBC was set to pick up the rights for a fourth, but before they could begin production, someone destroyed the sets. The cost to rebuild them was too great, and the deal fell through.
October 1966: American actor Adam West with the actress Jill St John at the premiere of director John Huston's film, The Bible.
West was increasingly typecast and struggled to find work for a stretch after Batman, appearing in low-budget movies like Curse of the Moon Child through the 1970s. “You get terribly typecast playing a character like that,” he told The Associated Press in a 2014 interview. “But in the overall, I’m delighted because my character became iconic and has opened a lot of doors in other ways, too.” He was offered the role of James Bond in 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, but turned it down because he believed the role should be played by a British actor.
He remained a pop culture icon, and reignited his career by lending his silky smooth voice to animated shows like The Fairly OddParents, The Simpsons and Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, and through appearances as himself on shows like The Big Bang Theory, The Drew Carey Show and 30 Rock. Most recently, he voiced the mayor of Quahog — named Adam West — in Family Guy. “Our dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans’ lives. He was and always will be our hero,” his family said in a statement. West was married three times, and had six children. He had homes in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, but he and his wife, Marcelle, spent most of their time at their ranch near Sun Valley, Idaho.
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Originally Posted by Hal Jordan
