To the Bat-Poles, Adam!

By: SCOTT COLLURA
Date: Friday, September 21, 2001

Adam West is a hero to a lot of people. The same crowd who marveled at that Star Destroyer as it thundered overhead for the first time in STAR WARS also grew up on reruns of what was then in the mid-'70s a relatively recent show: BATMAN. Much like that first experience of seeing George Lucas' space opus, those of us who claim to be of the STAR WARS generation were also nurtured by West's singular performance as the Caped Crusader.

Now, thanks to the recent release to DVD of the 1966 theatrical version of BATMAN, we have been afforded the chance to look back at the camp classic television series that preceded the dark Tim Burton films of 1989 and 1992, not to mention the increasingly silly Joel Schumacher sequels that followed.

As for Mr. West himself, he has little interest

in the modern-day BATMAN film series. After some public protest in 1989 when he was not offered a cameo in the first picture, West came to see the new movies as completely different creatures from what had come before.

"I've never really sat down and watched [them]," West says in a telephone call from his Idaho home, before adding with a laugh, "I guess maybe I didn't want the hate to overwhelm me!"

Of course, he's joking. Though amid the laughter he does point out that even if he were offered a cameo in any future BATMAN project, it wouldn't be enough anymore. Rather, West finds the idea of playing a Gotham City villain much more appealing.

"That might be worth considering," he says. "For example, I did a villain in [the Sci-Fi Channel super-heroine series] BLACK SCORPION. The reason I did that is when you hang around watching everyone else play villains and you're the good guy, you kind of get a little bit of a desire to play a villain yourself."

But it was as a good guy that West made his impression on young, would-be superheroes everywhere. He first donned the cape and cowl of Bob Kane's beloved character in 1966 when BATMAN hit the television airwaves. The show was an instant success, and a feature film was released to theaters that summer. But 1966 is a long time ago, and West admits that he hadn't watched the show or the movie in some time before being approached about the DVD (for which he provides an audio commentary along with co-star Burt Ward).

"Maybe some actors [would dwell on the show], but I don't think that would be too healthy," the actor explains, though he also points out that he preferred going into the commentary unprepared. "I'd rather do it and be fresh with whatever occurs at the moment."

The resulting commentary is great

fun, as West re-teams with his old partner Ward and the banter between the two flies free and often. One gets the impression from their session that these are two guys who really enjoyed working on the show together. In fact, while talking to West the actor reveals that he and Ward clicked from day one, even before the young Robin had the role.

"They signed me right away and I didn't have to audition or test or anything," West explains. "But they said, 'Would you mind testing with a couple of possibilities for Robin?' I said, 'God, no. I want the right chemistry.' The first one up was Burt Ward, and I knew almost instantly that he was right on."

With the essential relationship of the Dynamic Duo in place, it then fell to the show's creators to craft the show's unique mix of colorful action, family fun and subtle adult humor. West thinks BATMAN's multilevel tone, which appealed to all ages, is one of the reasons the show has endured. He attributes the program's then-unique approach to several parties.

"Our late executive producer Bill Dozier had a great talent for mixing talent," says West. "I would give him and his associate Charles Fitzsimons a lot of that credit, [as well as] Lorenzo Semple Jr., who wrote the two first episodes."

West also acknowledges that he had some small part in crafting the attitude of the show. After all, much of the magic of BATMAN comes from the dry, straight-faced line readings (of some ridiculously wacky dialogue) provided by the cast.

"It read [on paper] less lively than

I tried to make it," he clarifies. "[Batman was] more of a simple straight man, and I thought, 'No, no, it's not going to be interesting that way, not as funny.' And I just did it the way I felt it should be done. I got lucky with it and they understood; they saw the results, the reaction, and they gave me the OK."

Obviously, West's bosses knew what they were doing. The show hit big, and though its popularity burned out fairly quickly - only lasting three seasons - it became a staple of syndication soon after cancellation. West has his own ideas on why the program has endured all these years.

"[I think it's] my legs," he laughs, before getting serious. "I think it just strikes such a chord because it's family friendly, and you know, I've got three generations of fans. They can watch together and you see different things in the show as you get older. And Batman, that's a character that's been around a long time."

The actor is acutely aware of the show's huge following, and he's humbled by it.

"Yeah, that's nice," he muses. "That's the fun part of it all."

But when

the show ended in 1968, West found himself on hard times. While he is universally recognized as the fan favorite of the actors to play Batman over the years, such pigeonholing can prove quite detrimental to a performer's psyche, not to mention their career. Everywhere he went, West was thought of as the character he had once played, rather than an actor who could play many roles. It was not an easy time.

"It took me years of typecasting and rejection and fighting that before finally starting to move again," he explains. "And during that period especially, you get anxieties about it. It can be pretty destructive when you think, 'Oh God, I'll never work again. It's the last thing I'll ever do.' And that starts to nip at you in the middle of the night. It's not an easy deal. But, what the hell, [in] my life and my career, I'm very lucky. I mean I could be out there stacking railroad ties or whatever, putting a fender on the same kind of car every 10 minutes."

Clearly, the man is now at ease with his indelible association with the character. After the rough times in the years immediately following the cancellation of BATMAN, West found his second wind, so to speak, and took to a variety of film and television roles. After the huge success he experienced as the Caped Crusader, and the humbling typecasting that followed, he has learned to not take the entertainment business too seriously.

"I guess my career is kind of a mystery, because I've just done so many lousy movies and a few good ones, [plus] five television series," he says. "I don't even think about it that much. It's just a job. I go in and I bring what I can - I just go and do it, say, 'Send the money,' and get out! But, you know, nobody knows that I write poetry or paint."

Adam West proves how comfortable he is with his public image by his simple response when asked if he'd like to discuss those lesser-known talents of his.

"Nah," he concludes.