Adam West RIP

Adam West RIP

From Hollywood Reporter, ((West, who was at the pinnacle of pop culture after Batman debuted in January 1966, only to see his career fall victim to typecasting after the ABC show flamed out, died Friday night in Los Angeles after a short battle with leukemia, a family spokesperson said. ))

Look I hated the 60s Batman show, and I hated the hammy style of the show. However, Batman wouldn’t be the pop cultural icon that he is today if it weren’t for the Adam West version. The show kept the Batman comic in print and made sure the comic book survived the slump. And, you have to give West credit for all the pop cultural references to his show (Boom Pow).

West was the third actor to play the character in a live action movie. However most people remember him from the 60s show and that strange spin-off movie.

I really dug his performance in the Batman the Animated series. He played the Grey Ghost and was brilliant in just that episode. I dare say it is his best performance to date. The man made a second career out of doing VO work on cartoons and video games (GTA 5).

Heck, I even remember him in that semi-porn movie Lady Chatterley film. (Young Lady Chatterley II  ) Uh, why is Batman in a softcore movie? I guess he needed to pay some bills.

Most of the young people knew him from Family Guy as the mayor. I thought he did a okay job in that role.

He did complete the animated feature of the 60 style series. This sequel also stars William Shatner.

My favorite “Interview” with West was the one with Space Ghost. I remember the producers ripping into Adam West because he was a bit of dick.