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Adam West

As a film reviewer, I pretty much like all genres but I have to confess, I am a sucker for Sci-Fi movies and TV programmes and in this I include Superheroes.

Also, I do attend the occasional Comic Con whenever I can (Just to keep up to date on who is trending at the moment) and don’t class myself as a geek…not that there is anything wrong with being a geek.

So, l was all set to visit the London Film & Comic Con exhibition at Olympia this July, when I hear the rumour that Adam West is listed as one of this year’s star guest attractions.

That loud noise was my head exploding. I mean…Adam West! The definitive Batman.

Imagine meeting the legend in person?

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to cross this off my bucket list.

Extremely sad news to hear that Adam West died on Friday following long term illness with Leukaemia, he was 88.

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Robin, Batgirl and Batman
As most readers will know, Adam West was best known for being TV,s beloved Caped Crusader, Batman. Along with his side-kick and Pal Dick Grayson AKA Robin (Burt Ward) and then a year later joined by Barbara Gordon AKA Batgirl (Yvonne Joyce Craig).

The series ran from 1966 to 1968 when ABC pulled the plug. Thank God for re-runs.

I was lucky enough to have been a child of the 60s and on the release of the Batman TV show I would have been a very impressionable 6 to 8-year-old young boy. My Mum even took me and my brothers to see the Caped Crusader on the big screen in ‘Batman: The Movie’. Not only was this a full-length feature film but is was also in colour!
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As Bruce Wayne

Adam West was brilliant as Batman. Later on in life I began to appreciate the comedy and also the fact that West and the cast had their tongues firmly in their cheeks.

I had my first Batman costume (did I say first?) when I was 7 years old. I also remember that one of my friends, Robert Trice became the most popular kid in primary school as his parents were the first in the area to have a colour TV in 1970. Twenty boys crammed in his living room every week…until we all got colour the following year.

In the third year of Batman’s TV run, there was nowhere for the show to go and the studio cancelled the series due to falling ratings. Adam West continued to work in TV and occasional films but not to the extent of the Heyday of Batman.

However, in the year 2000 to 2017, West got a new lease of life and a new young fan base when Seth MacFarlane cast him playing a version of himself as Mayor Adam West in long-running Fox animated hit Family Guy. West was well and truly back in the saddle with his tongue firmly in his cheek once again.
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The voice of Mayor Adam West in Family Guy

Let us not forget that the Batman TV series was massive at the time which may have been because it didn’t take itself too seriously. Particularly with the ‘pop art’ interjections flashing up on the screen with a “Kapow!” or “Smash!” every time the dynamic duo socked a villain. Also, who could forget Robin’s verbal fist thumping interjections usually proceeded by the word “Holy”.

The series was so popular that some of the Hollywood A-list stars of that period were queuing up to play the next villain in the show.

There were the regulars such as The Joker (played by Cesar Romero who was a leading man in his day), The Riddler (played by actor and movie star impressionist Frank Gorshin) and of course Catwoman (played by Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt).

But none of this would have worked if not for Adam West. He will always be my Batman. I feel a DVD coming on.
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Batman: The Movie (1966)

A very fond farewell to Adam West.