Pretty sad news over this weekend regarding the man who was the first Batman I knew as a little kid. By then Batman was being shown through syndication for afternoon TV. It was so inspirational that my brother and friends often ran around the house waring bath towels as capes. If you could snag dish-washing gloves for gauntlets, it was even more convincing!
I never got to meet Mr. West up close. I miss the opportunity some years ago when he came to Wiz World with Burt Ward.
I did see him at a special screening of Batman: The Movie at the Paramount during Austin’s BatFest. The city made him the honorary mayor for the weekend, hoping he could be spared from his current duties in Quahog, RI. West was humorous and mentally agile, especially when a man asked a question on behalf of his shy son; the boy wanted to know if the shark was OK. He chuckled and said the shark was fine, it was only pretend.
Many people always thought West was a lousy actor due to the show typecasting him for much of his career. Not really. He was a very good performer, often appearing in guest spots on the Sitcoms and Dramas of the early Sixties which would be Westerns, cop shows and medical junk. I think he landed Batman after how well he did co-starring with the Three Stooges in The Outlaw is Coming.
Anyway, years before he landed his trademark role, the producers of Batman used to hang out at the Playboy mansion. For laughs, Hugh Hefner would show the old serials of Batman from the Forties like a Sixties version of MST3K. The audience laughed because they were terrible or the ironic, it’s-so-bad-it’s-good vibe. Thus William Dozier and company decided that if the landed the opportunity to do a Batman TV show, it would be campy. Good move too, the approach worked with the Baby Boomers who were in high school and university. Meanwhile, West’s instructions were to play Bruce Wayne/Batman as if Hugh Hefner were a masked vigilante. You can’t tell today since Hefner hasn’t been in the public eye for years. What little I know, I’d say it’s a tad exaggerated yet I love, especially when Batman had a duel with the villain Shame and all the hilarious lines from the 1966 movie.
I’m glad he had a renaissance starting the Nineties as a voice actor. West had appearances on The Simpsons, Futurama, Johnny Bravo and the various Batman cartoons (The Grey Ghost, Dr. Thomas Wayne). Family Guy is where he got to be “himself” and what most probably recognize him in now.
Thank you Mr. West for all the joy, laughs and excitement you brought. To this day, I’m confident you continue to inspire little kids to run around their houses in towel-capes.