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Adam West (born William West Anderson on September
19, 1928 in Walla Walla, Washington) is best known
as the actor who played the role of Batman (1960s
TV series)|Batman on the original television
program that ran from 1966 to 1968.

==Biography==
West grew up reading the Batman comics. He
graduated from nearby Whitman College where he
majored in literature and psychology and was
married.  He served two years in the United States
Army.  He worked as a disc jockey, truck|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. 

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 part 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 typecasting
(acting)|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 famed prostitute
Xaviera Hollander.

During the 1990s he achieved partial Cult
classic|cult status, appearing as himself in such
films as The Size of Watermelons and Drop Dead
Gorgeous.  West has 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|Trio channel.

West makes semi-regular appearances on the Fox
Network|Fox animated series Family Guy, on which
he plays Adam West, mayor of Quahog, Rhode Island.
 This character is somewhat quirky, reflecting and
reinforcing the television audience's perceptions
of West since his role as Batman.  (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, with the same
personality as Family Guy portrayed.  A few
episodes make fun of his role as Batman by casting
him as Timothy North, the superhero CatMan. He
also voiced similar cartoon roles on Kim Possible
and Johnny Bravo.

==Filmography==
*Voodoo Island (1957)
*The Young Philadelphians (1959)
*The FBI Story (1959) (voice only)
*Geronimo (1962)|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 movie)|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 (movie)|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 (movie)|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 (movie)|The Clinic (1995) 
*The Size of Watermelons (1996) (Cameo)
*Joyride (movie)|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 (movie)|Seance (2001) 
*From Heaven to Hell (2002) 
*Baadasssss! (2003)
*Tales from Beyond  (2004)
*Buckaroo (2005)
*Angels with Angles (2005) (currently in
post-production)
*Chicken Little (2005 movie)|Chicken Little (2005)
(voice) (currently in post-production)
*Return to the Batcave(2005}
*Frankie the Squirrel (2006) (currently in
post-production)

==TV Work==
*The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor (cast
member from 1961-1962)
*Batman (1960s TV series)|Batman (1966-1968)
*Batgirl (1967) (short to present Yvonne Craig's
character to American Broadcasting Company|ABC
executives for the third season of Batman)
*Alexander the Great (1968)
*

==References==
* Book reference | Author=West, Adam | Title=Back
to the Batcave | Publisher=Berkley | Year=1994 |
ID=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

==External links==
*imdb name|id=0001842|name=Adam West
*http://www.adamwest.com/ AdamWest.com - official
site
*http://www.geocities.com/~1966/admwest.htm 1966
Batman TV Heroes - Adam West
*http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/2005062
2/d_flashback22_batman.art.htm '60s "Batman" Adam
West, 76, gives thumbs up to "Batman Begins"