Biography
After attending Lakeside School, a prestigious high school in Seattle, he graduated from nearby Whitman College where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, majored in literature and psychology, and was married. He served two years in the United States Army. He worked as a disc jockey, truck driver and cowboy, then travelled with his wife around Europe, where he sometimes worked as a milkman. Eventually he settled in Hawaii where he got a role on a light entertainment show called The Kini Popo Show. In Hawaii he divorced his first wife and married a Hawaiian woman named Ngatokoruaimatauaia Frisbie Dawson who Adam called Nga.
Adam West as Batman
In the 1960s, various roles in films and television brought him to the attention of William Dozier, who cast him as Batman in the 1960s hit television series. West has said he was also invited to play James Bond after Sean Connery decided to give up the role, and that he was almost a majority of the three big B's of the 1960s: Bond, Batman, and The Beatles. The Batman show was internationally successful as light camp entertainment, running from 1966 to 1968 and even producing a feature film.
After the show ended, West was typecast as Batman and had trouble playing other roles; audiences identified him as Batman and no one else. Even his convincing lead performance as cynical tough guy Johnny Cain in the 1969 film The Girl Who Knew Too Much did not erode his Batman image.
He never stopped working after Batman and during the 1970s and 1980s appeared in a range of B-grade films and non-aired TV pilots, including The Happy Hooker Goes To Hollywood about the famed call girl, Xaviera Hollander.
In 1983, West returned to the Batman role, this time in animated form on the Super Friends cartoon. Olan Soule, who had done Batman's voice in previous seasons of the cartoon, turned the Batman role over to Adam.
During the 1990s he achieved partial cult status, appearing as himself in such films as The Size of Watermelons and Drop Dead Gorgeous. West has also lent his voice to several animated television series, including The Simpsons and the animated Batman television series. In 1991 he starred in the pilot episode for Lookwell, in which he portrayed a washed-up TV action hero who falsely believes he can solve crimes in real life. The pilot, written by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel, has accrued a reputation for being one of the funniest potential series not to be picked up by a network. It was later broadcast on the Trio channel.
West had a cameo appearance on the Fox animated version of Batman, Batman: The Animated Series. In the episode "Beware the Gray Ghost", West voices The Gray Ghost, a tribute to early superhero characters like The Shadow and the Crimson Avenger, and an early childhood inspiration to Bruce Wayne.
Adam West plays "Mayor Adam West" on the animated sitcom Family Guy
West makes semi-regular appearances on the animated series Family Guy, on which he plays Mayor Adam West, the near-lunatic mayor of fictional Quahog, Rhode Island (though "Mayor Adam West" was not originally intended to be voiced by the real Adam West.)
Adam West also appears on Nickelodeon's animated series The Fairly OddParents, as himself, but who portrayed the superhero Catman and major Hollywood star. He also voiced cartoon roles on Kim Possible as Timothy North, a washed-up actor who believes he is the superhero he portrayed on television, The Fearless Ferret. He also starred on the Cartoon Network series Johnny Bravo. In The Batman, he plays the mayor of Gotham City named Marion Grange, and most recently has done voice over work for The Boondocks.
He is also a canny investor who has appeared on Fox's Cashin' In show about the stock market and investments in general.
Batman is listed in the Ketchum, Idaho telephone directory, as "See West, Adam."
Filmography
Voodoo Island (1957)
Ghost of the China Sea" (1958)
The Young Philadelphians (1959)
The FBI Story (1959) (voice only)
Geronimo (1962)
Tammy and the Doctor (1963)
Soldier in the Rain (1963)
Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)
The Relentless Four (1965)
The Outlaws Is Coming (1965)
Mara of the Wilderness (1965)
Batman (1966)
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969)
Hollywood Blue (1970) (documentary)
The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971)
Curse of the Moon Child (1972)
Tactical Guerilla (1974)
The Specialist (1975)
Fiona (1977)
Hooper (1978) (Cameo)
The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (1980)
One Dark Night (1983)
Hellriders (1984)
Young Lady Chatterly II (1985)
Zombie Nightmare (1986)
Night of the Kickfighters (1988)
Doin' Time on Planet Earth (1988)
Going Undercover (1988)
Omega Cop (1990)
Mad About You (1990)
Return Fire (1991)
Maxim Xul (1991)
The Best Movie Ever Made (1994) (Cameo)
The New Age (1994)
Not This Part of the World (1994)
Ride for Your Life (1995) (short subject)
The Clinic (1995)
The Size of Watermelons (1996) (Cameo)
Joyride (1996)
Redux Riding Hood (1997) (short subject) (voice)
An American Vampire Story (1997)
Behind the Sting (1999) (documentary)
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) (Cameo)
Seance (2001)
From Heaven to Hell (2002)
Baadasssss! (2003)
Tales from Beyond (2004)
Buckaroo (2005)
Chicken Little (2005) (voice)
Angels with Angles (2005)
Family Guy presents Stewie Griffin: The untold story (2005) himself
Upcoming:
Sexina: Popstar P.I. (2006)
Frankie the Squirrel (2006)
Television work
The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor (cast member from 1961-1962)
Batman (1966-1968)
Alexander the Great (1968)
The Eyes of Charles Sand (1972)
Poor Devil (1973)
Shazam! (cast member from 1974-1975) (voice)
Nevada Smith (1975)
The New Adventures of Batman (1977-1978) (voice)
Tarzan and the Super 7 (1978-1980) (voice)
Legends of the Superheroes (1979)
For the Love of It (1980)
Warp Speed (1981)
I Take These Men (1983)
SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984) (canceled after 16 episodes) (voice)
The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1986) (canceled after 10 episodes) (voice)
The Last Precinct (1986) (canceled after 7 episodes)
Lookwell (1991) (unsold pilot)
1775 (1992)
The Simpsons (1992) (voice as himself)
Danger Theatre (1993) (canceled after 7 episodes)
The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1993-1996)
Johnny Bravo (1997) (voice)
The Secret Files of the SpyDogs (1998-1999) (voice)
Family Guy (1999-Present) (voice as himself)
The Fairly OddParents (2001-Present) (voice as himself)
Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003)
The Boondocks (2005) (voice)
References
West, Adam (1994). Back to the Batcave, Berkley. ISBN 0425143708.
Press kit notes for The Girl Who Knew Too Much
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." on being typecast as Batman
"I love this job more than I love taffy. And I'm a man who loves his taffy . . . UMMMMMM . . Taffy" Mayor West in Family Guy
"Sometimes you just can't get rid of a bomb." Batman
"You know you'd be perfect as (insert item) and i don't say that to everyone" Catman Fairly Odd Parents
