Adam West

Adam West was born William West Anderson on September 19, 1928 in Walla Walla, Washington, to parents Otto West Anderson, a farmer, and his wife Audrey V. (Speer), an opera singer.

At age 10, in 1938, Adam had a cache of comic books; and starting in 1939, Batman, who appeared in Detective Comics, made a big impression on him--the comic hero was part bat-man (a la Count Dracula) and part world's greatest detective (a la Charlie Chan and Sherlock Holmes). When his mother remarried to a Dr. Paul Flothow, she took Adam and his younger brother, John, to Seattle. At age 14, Adam attended Lakeside School, then went to Whitman College, where he got a degree in literature and psychology. During his last year of college, he also married 17-year-old Billie Lou Yeager. Adam got a job as a disc jockey at a local radio station, then enrolled at Stanford for post-grad courses. Drafted into the army, he spent the next two years starting military television stations, first at San Luis Obispo, California, then at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Afterwards, Adam and his wife toured Europe, visiting Germany, Switzerland and Italy's Isle of Capri. When the money ran out, he joined a childhood and college buddy, Carl Hebenstreit, who was starring in the kiddie program "The Kini Popo Show" in Hawaii. Adam would eventually replace Carl but not the other star, Peaches the Chimp.

At Lakeside High School, West excelled in sports and served as school president of his 1946 graduating class. Graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where he played water polo, ran track, skied and swam. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Literature (minoring in Psychology) and was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He was also a member of the public speaking and debating team.

In 1956, he got a divorce and married a beautiful girl, originally from Tahiti, named Ngatokoruaimatauaia Frisbie Dawson (he called her "Nga" for short).

They had a daughter, Jonelle, (born 1957) and a son, Hunter, (born 1958).

In 1959, Adam came to Hollywood. He adopted the stage name "Adam West", which fit his roles, as he was in some westerns.

After playing the role of a resourceful secret agent in a Nestle's Quik commercial in the early 1960s, he caught the eye of ABC executives. The execs thought he might be right for an upcoming television series they were about to produce, Batman (1966).

After seven years in Tinseltown, he achieved fame in his signature role as Bruce Wayne / Batman, on the wildly popular ABC-TV series Batman (1966) (though he has over 60 movie and over 80 television guest appearance credits, "Batman" is what the fans remember him for). The series, which lasted three seasons, made him not just nationally but internationally famous.

The movie version, Batman: The Movie (1966), earned Adam the "Most Promising New Star" award in 1967. The downside was that the "Batman" fame was partly responsible for ruining his marriage, and he was typecast and almost unemployable for a while after the series ended (he did nothing but personal appearances for two years).

Discussed the James Bond role in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) with producer Albert R. Broccoli. West felt the role should be played by a British actor, and declined the role.

In 1970, he met and then married Marcelle Tagand Lear, and picked up two stepchildren, Moya and Jill.

Was considered for the role of Popeye Doyle in The French Connection (1971), which went to Gene Hackman.

In addition, they had two children of their own: Nina West in 1976 and Perrin in 1979. You can't keep a good actor down -- Adam's career took off again, and he appeared in 50 projects after that: movies, television movies and sometimes doing voices on television series.

His father, Otto West Anderson (died 1984) was a farmer, his mother, Audrey Speer (died 1969) was a singer with a Christian musical group, The Speers. West was of Swedish ancestry on his father's side, and English, with small amounts of German, Irish, and Welsh from his mother's side. He was a farm boy until his parents' divorce when he was 15 years old. He, his mother and his younger brother, John, then relocated to Seattle.

Was considered for the role of Thomas Wayne (Bruce Wayne's father) in Batman (1989), but lost the role to David Baxt.

West once appeared on Batman: The Animated Series (1992) playing - of all things - an out-of-work actor who was unable to escape his identification with the role of a superhero he had played decades earlier, the Gray Ghost. Prior to this, West had supplied the voice of Batman on SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984).

Made nine guest appearances on Politically Incorrect (1993), which was hosted by Bill Maher, who was one of his lifelong fans.

Adam wrote his autobiography "Back to the Batcave" (1994). One of his most prized possessions was a drawing of Batman by Bob Kane with the inscription "To my buddy, Adam, who breathed life into my pen and ink creation".

Both West and Ernest Borgnine had roles on Spongebob Squarepants (1999), Borgnine appeared as Mermaid Man from 1999 until his death in 2012, with West appearing as Young Mermaid Man in one episode in 2010, which also featured Borgnine.

Beginning in 2000, West made guest appearances on the animated series Family Guy (1999), on which he played Mayor Adam West, the lunatic mayor of Quahog, Rhode Island.

Adam West was the father of Hunter Anderson, Jonelle S. Anderson, Nina West and Perrin West. His daughter, Nina West, the host of TV Land Real Estate (2002), was a model and twice appeared with her father on Howard Stern's radio show. Adam West also had five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Made an appearance at every San Diego Comic-Con International from 2007 to 2016.

He was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in Palm Springs, California on April 10, 2010.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6764 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 5, 2012.

West was the tallest actor to play Bruce Wayne/Batman until 2013 when Ben Affleck, who is two inches taller, was cast in the role. West remains the only actor to play the role to be the same height (6'2") as the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman, according to DC Comics statistics.

On June 9, 2017, Adam West died at age 88 after a brief battle with leukemia in Los Angeles, California.