Adam West

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Adam West at the 1989 Emmy Awards (Photo: Alan Light)

Adam West , real name William West Anderson , (born September 19, 1928 in Walla Walla , Washington - † June 9, 2017 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actor and voice actor . West was best known for playing Batman in the television series of the same name , which was broadcast on American television from 1966 to 1968.

Life

Adam West attended Lakeside High School in Seattle , then graduated from nearby Whitman College (majoring in literature and psychology). Shortly afterwards he married. He served two years in the US Army , worked as a DJ , truck driver and cowboy, and then traveled with his wife through Europe, where he temporarily worked as a milkman . Eventually he settled in Hawaii , where he got a role on the entertainment program The Kini Popo Show . There he divorced his first wife and married a Hawaiian woman.

Through various roles in film and television in the course of the 1960s, William Dozier became aware of West and hired him for the television series Batman . West once claimed he was offered to succeed Sean Connery in the role of James Bond after the latter resigned from his post. Almost, according to West, he was two of the "three big Bs" of the sixties : Bond, Batman and The Beatles .

In the fictional city of Gotham City , a frequent venue for Batman, the Westward Bridge was - also - named after West.

The Batman series was also an international success, so that a film based on it was also produced during its runtime. After the series was discontinued, it was difficult for West to get rid of his Batman image and get a new role as the audience locked him in the character of Batman. Even his leading role as cynical macho Johnny Cain in The Girl Who Knew Too Much didn't change that fact. He never stopped working after Batman , however , and starred in a number of mid-range films and non-aired television pilot episodes in the 1970s and 1980s, including The Happy Hooker Goes To Hollywood . West first returned to the role of Batman in 1977 when he took on the character in the short-lived animated sequel to the 1960s series A Case for Batman . In 1983 West returned to Batman again, this time as a narrator in the animated Super Friends cartoons, replacing Olan Soule.

Adam West (2014)

In the 1990s he achieved cult status in some circles through roles in films such as Big Like Watermelons or Mercilessly Beautiful . West has also acted as a spokesperson for many cartoon characters, including The Simpsons and the cartoon version of Batman. In 1991, in the pilot episode of the Lookwell series, he played a wacky television action hero who mistakenly believes he can solve criminal cases in real life. The pilot episode, written by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel, now has a reputation for being one of the funniest series that was never accepted by a major television network. It was later broadcast on a smaller channel (Trio Channel).

West made a brief appearance in the cartoon version of Batman on FOX television. In the episode Beware the Gray Ghost , West spoke the gray ghost, which was supposed to pay homage to the earliest superhero characters like The Shadow or Crimson Avenger.

In six episodes of the animated series Cosmo and Wanda - When Elves Help , West spoke the role of the aging actor Adam West, who only sees himself in the role of "Catman". In addition, West spoke to the semi-insane Mayor Adam West of the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island in the animated series Family Guy . West played himself in the eighth season of the television series King of Queens .

Adam West died of leukemia on June 9, 2017, at the age of 88 . On Thursday, June 15, 2017, the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti , and police chief Charlie Beck invited to a tribute from dusk on in the square in front of the city hall, on which the Batman sign was projected high up. Co-actors from Batman were guests, some visitors appeared in costumes.

Quotes

“It was inescapable. I'd just about land something substantial, something I like or a good career move. Then some dinosaur would rear up and say, 'But the audience will think of him as Batman.' It was formidable. It was there like a brick wall. "

“I couldn't escape it. Whenever I was about to do something solid, something that I liked or would have kicked off my career, some dinosaur would get up and say, 'But the audience will see him as Batman.' It was terrible. It was as if there was a stone wall in the way. "

- about wearing the label "Batman"

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Adam West  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Batman actor Adam West has died. In: Zeit Online . June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Adam West died at the age of 88. In: The world . June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Fans say goodbye to "Batman": One last bat signal . orf.at, June 16, 2017, accessed June 19, 2017.
personal data
SURNAME West, Adam
ALTERNATIVE NAMES West, Anderson William (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and voice actor
DATE OF BIRTH September 19, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Walla Walla , Washington, United States
DATE OF DEATH June 9, 2017
Place of death Los Angeles , California, United States