Death In Entertainment
Kyle Ploof and Ben Kissel discuss Hollywood murders, true crime, on-set deaths and more!
Death In Entertainment
Batman's Shadow: How Adam West Reclaimed His Legacy (Episode 165)
Behind the mask of Batman was a man who fought his greatest battle not against the Joker or Riddler, but against the crushing weight of an iconic role that threatened to define—and destroy—his entire career.
Adam West's journey from farm-raised boy in Walla Walla, Washington to cultural phenomenon is a masterclass in resilience. While most remember him delivering deadpan lines in a blue and gray costume, few realize the profound struggles he faced after Batman was canceled in 1968. For nearly a decade, West wandered through Hollywood's wilderness—typecast, overlooked, and often broke—taking whatever work would pay the bills while directors couldn't see beyond the cape.
What makes West's story truly remarkable wasn't just his meteoric rise or painful fall, but his eventual renaissance. Rather than resenting the caped crusader who both made and broke him, West gradually embraced his Batman legacy with self-deprecating humor and grace. By the time a new generation discovered him as the hilariously unhinged Mayor West on Family Guy, he had completed one of the greatest character rehabilitations in Hollywood history.
This episode pulls back the curtain on the man behind the mask—from his early radio days to his wild Batman-era escapades (including getting kicked out of Hollywood orgies with the Riddler!) to finding peace as a devoted family man and voice acting legend. West's story reminds us that sometimes our greatest obstacles become our greatest gifts when viewed through the lens of time and perspective.
If you've ever felt pigeonholed, overlooked, or defined by one chapter of your life, Adam West's remarkable journey will show you it's never too late to reclaim your narrative with humor, resilience, and joy.
Death in Entertainment is hosted by Kyle Ploof and Ben Kissel.
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What's going on? Ditto Universe. It's Kyle. If you've been listening to us for a long time, you know that we generally don't start with a pre-recorded message and if we do, it's usually not great and our fans are not stupid. So they've known a change has occurred, but not known why. So I'm here to inform you guys why.
Speaker 1:To our valued Dettos, I want to inform you of a significant change to the podcast. As of this week, alejandro Dowling is no longer a part of Death Entertainment and will not be returning as co-host. It's a brutal change that alters the dynamic of the show, especially for the people that have been with us for the last four years. When Mark left, it was a gut punch to many, including myself, but he was not asked to leave. He willingly left on good terms, always with the opportunity to come back if he wanted a guest or come back as a host. With Alejandro, that is not the case.
Speaker 1:I hope everyone realizes that this was not an easy decision. It came after ongoing conversations and efforts to address both performance-related concerns and behind-the-scenes challenges that were affecting the creative and professional direction of the show. While I've appreciated Alejandro's unique voice in the moments he brought to the podcast, it ultimately became clear that Parting Ways was in the best interest of the podcast's future and the kind of working environment I'm striving to maintain. I understand that long-time listeners may have questions or mixed feelings about this change, and I completely get it, but out of respect for Alejandro, I won't be sharing specific personal details. What I can say is that this decision reflects a need for accountability, consistency and alignment with the standards I hold for myself and the content we create. I'm deeply committed to evolving the show in a positive direction. My focus remains, and has always remained, on delivering high-quality episodes, thought provoking discussions and fresh ideas, something I'm genuinely excited to continue sharing with you.
Speaker 1:It sucks and I hate it, but it had to happen due to bad behavior, missed deadlines and recently, some major breaches of trust that we could not recover from. And again, I hope everyone knows this decision was not made lightly. In the end, I've lost a coworker, a friend and my son's godfather. I want to thank Alejandro for his time on the podcast and wish him the best in his future endeavors. If you guys want to continue to follow him, he has his own YouTube channel at Hollywood Vulture. I appreciate you guys for sticking with me and sticking with the show, if that's what you choose to do. I'm grateful for your support. I've always been, and I'm looking forward to what's next, and that's all I'll say for now. Let's start the show. Before Christian Bale was growling and before Ben Affleck was whatever he was doing, there was only one man brave enough to put on spandex, smirk at danger and say some days you just can't get rid of a bomb.
Speaker 1:That's right, Adam West, the OG Caped Crusader who, karate, chopped his way into America's hearts, then spent the next four decades being ridiculously typecast. But behind the POWs and the BAMs was a man who battled more than just cartoon villains. We're talking about a guy who went from Hollywood's hottest bat thing to doing voiceover gigs and car show appearances just to keep the utility belt buckled. This week we dive into the eccentric and sometimes tragic story of Adam West from fighting crime in Gotham to fighting irrelevance in real life and eventually rising from the pop culture grave like a phoenix in a cowl. Holy funeral Batman. We're covering Adam West today on Death in Entertainment.
Speaker 4:Adam West today on Death in Entertainment world. Um, this makes me a little nervous. The hair stood up on my arms just like in the movies.
Speaker 3:What do you call this thing? Anyway, death in entertainment greetings, deado universe.
Speaker 1:What's going on? Everybody?
Speaker 4:my name is kyle plouffe I'm ben kissel and this is death entertainment. Oh, I had a whole thing planned out. Are we looking north? Are we going south? Are we going east? This is really good. No, we're going. Adam West Whoa, that was awful. But today we're talking about Adam West, the quintessential actor of his time, a sex symbol, despite what many of you have said over the years, when you see him in his Batman outfit.
Speaker 1:Yes, sex symbol. Indeed, we're going to talk about a lot involving that and, obviously, the life and death of Adam West, and, without further ado, let's do it All right. So, adam West, that was not his name, actually.
Speaker 4:Adam West's, not a name, no, he was born.
Speaker 1:William West Anderson.
Speaker 4:That's a great name also.
Speaker 1:Billy West.
Speaker 4:Billy West Anderson Sounds like an outlaw.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was born September 19th 1928 in Walla Walla, Washington.
Speaker 4:I love Walla Walla Washington. There was a woman from the real world, seattle, from Walla Walla Washington.
Speaker 2:Remember that.
Speaker 4:Deep cut. Yeah, probably 30 years old now, shit.
Speaker 1:Well outside of her Walla. Walla Washington is known for being a quiet agricultural town. It's actually known for the penitentiary that's there. Oh nice, obviously more than its entertainment pedigree.
Speaker 4:Walla Walla Penitentiary, where all the prison guards are koalas.
Speaker 1:Hey.
Speaker 4:Doesn't that sound like that?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:I mean, if you're going to go to one penitentiary, you want to go to Walla, walla, walla, walla. It's like Alcatraz, where you're like that sounds really intense, or Walla, walla, it sounds real cute.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but who's locked up in this prison? Who? Gary Ridgway? Oh no, kidding the Green River killer who was convicted in 2003 of 48 murders he did between 1982 and 1998.
Speaker 4:Well, he makes it less cute.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah, Gary Ridgway, bad dude.
Speaker 1:Joseph McEnroe is also serving a life sentence there. He's the perpetrator of the 2007 Carnation murders, in which he assisted his girlfriend, Michelle Kristen Anderson, in killing six of her family members.
Speaker 4:Any relationship to West.
Speaker 1:Oh West. Yes, that's right, I don't know. That's an interesting question.
Speaker 4:Interesting question. Indeed, that's what I do I bring the questions.
Speaker 1:Robert Lee Yates. He's a serial killer convicted in 2000 of murdering 13 people, and in 2002 he was sentenced to death for two additional murders.
Speaker 4:All right, is he dead yet.
Speaker 1:No, a lot of these people, all these people are still alive. Gerald Friend was also there. He was a convicted serial rapist and kidnapper whose crimes after his release served as the inspiration for the Nirvana song Pauly oh no kidding, pauly wants a cracker.
Speaker 4:That's about him.
Speaker 1:I think I should get off her first.
Speaker 4:I thought that was about a bird.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you would Wow, until you hear this story. This is unexpectedly dark for such a goofy guy like Adam West, but this is a crazy story that I wanted to share, all right. So Friend was originally jailed for abducting a 12-year-old girl from Sumner Washington. This happened in July 1960 when he was 22 years old. He picked up the girl. She was hitchhiking. People used to just fucking do that.
Speaker 4:There weren't as many cars back then.
Speaker 1:What's going?
Speaker 4:on, you could trust folks. I mean you couldn't, they were all serial killers, but theoretically you could trust folks.
Speaker 1:My stepfather was just here last week. He was telling me about how he thumbed all the way from one side of Massachusetts to the other. The guy who picked him up was in his underwear why wouldn't he be? And he was like no, you sit up front because my stepfather was cute that's the quickest way to get thumbed he was thumbing.
Speaker 1:And then he got thumbed exactly oh boy. So yeah he. He forced the the girl and her brother into the car at gunpoint and then forced the boy out of the car at gunpoint so he's like, hey, get in. And then he got in. Then he's like, wait, you get out, I'm keeping your sister. He.
Speaker 4:He went to the Alec Baldwin School of Directing. Yeah, interesting.
Speaker 1:Well, this girl survived. He drove her to Mount Rainier where he beat her, raped her and cut her hair.
Speaker 4:Cut her hair. Yeah, he gave her a nice fade. Okay, interesting barbershop technique.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's like. You're seeming like you're going through a crisis right now. Want me to cut you some bangs.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I missed that scene from the movie Barbershop Deleted. I guess A little too foul for the comedy that was supposed to be kind of lighthearted, yeah.
Speaker 1:So after the haircut, she eventually escaped by jumping into the river, and she was discovered there by a passing motorist.
Speaker 4:Another situation where she had to hitchhike.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Arms up, wow. Several days later, his father found him hiding in a field near their home. Well, I don't understand how that happened either. He's just there, his dad, just wandering through a field, and he's like hey son, it was the sixties, there wasn't as much to do, you know.
Speaker 4:I mean, this is before even Batman started on television. So during the day you just kind of walk through fields, lived a day you just kind of walked through fields, lived your best life, looked at butterflies and stuff.
Speaker 1:Friend drew a 22 pistol and was wounded in the ensuing struggle against his dad. His dad took him to the hospital and turned him into police. Friend was convicted of rape and torture. I don't like that. This guy's name is friend no, it's really confusing me.
Speaker 4:That whole story confused me so the serial killer. He was confronted by his own father yes, in a field and then he got into an argument and a gunfight with his father. Yeah bam, and he shot himself.
Speaker 1:And then he shot himself because he's a moron yeah, and his dad was like you're going to jail now well, friends like these, 25 to life so he was convicted of the rape and the torture. He was sentenced to a minimum of 75 years did, did.
Speaker 4:Did she have to pay for the haircut? That can be really expensive. That's 150 bucks for chicks.
Speaker 1:It is. However, after serving 20 years at Walla Walla and escaping twice, he was paroled in 1980.
Speaker 4:That's what I'm saying. The entire prison's made of yogurt. Come on, walla, walla. It's just not a scary enough name he escaped twice.
Speaker 1:Usually you get time put on for trying to escape, not even actually escaping. He got out and was recaptured twice and still got out in 20 years. And when you're this kind of fucking psychopath you can only keep it in for so long. So in june 1987 he abducted a 14 year old girl at knife point when she accepted a ride after a rock concert.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 1:He repeatedly raped and tortured her while she was tied to a pulley and suspended from the ceiling of his mobile home.
Speaker 4:All right, I got to ask where is Batman and where is Robin.
Speaker 1:They're coming.
Speaker 4:Oh my Lord, they are late to the party.
Speaker 1:They're two years away from Tim Burton's Batman. Okay, the girl escaped by jumping from his truck at a gas station, so these girls are just running away willy-nilly.
Speaker 4:Well.
Speaker 1:Luckily, yeah. A friend was stopped a day later for a traffic violation and arrested when the deputies recognized him. He was convicted of first-degree kidnapping and rape that August and he was ordered to serve the remainder of his 1960 sentence in addition to a second 75-year sentence, so 150 years.
Speaker 4:What is ghost? You know, maybe we did need to get tough on crime in the 90s. Yeah, maybe we did.
Speaker 1:The following year, in 1988, his victim sued the state and the Department of Corrections for prematurely paroling him in 1980 and settled the lawsuit. Okay, this is a perfect place to raise a family. It doesn't sound like it. Okay, this is a perfect place to raise a family.
Speaker 4:It doesn't sound like it. It sounds like an awful place to raise a family.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know Right near a penitentiary?
Speaker 4:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:So Wes' father, adam Wes' father, his name was Otto Anderson. Oh, he was a farmer and a wheat mill manager.
Speaker 4:Oh, I love it higher up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, his mother, audrey Spear, was an opera singer and concert pianist.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:So they're doing well, they're talented. If you're a farmer and these days you're making a ton of money, People are coming to you for everything.
Speaker 4:He was managing the farm. He wasn't in the fields per se.
Speaker 1:He was a farmer, later became the wheat mill manager.
Speaker 4:Worked his way up. Yeah, interesting.
Speaker 1:His early years Adam West, of course we're talking about by most accounts were ordinary. He attended Walla Walla High School, which apparently you can just leave in the middle of the day and not get in trouble.
Speaker 4:Hope you like pudding More pudding for lunch here at Walla Walla High School. Well, you used to be able to leave for lunch. You didn't have an open campus.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 4:Oh, our public school SPASH in Stevens Point. They had an open campus so they could leave for lunch. What? Oh yeah, most schools did the Catholic school I went to. We were unlocked and we were in prison.
Speaker 1:They didn't trust us in Massachusetts.
Speaker 4:Of course not.
Speaker 1:They know we wouldn't Exactly so. He excelled at sports and academics, but his heart was already leaning toward performance.
Speaker 4:I love it. Probably got that from his concert pianist mother.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was inspired by the early days of television and the golden age of cinema. He dreamt of more than just the small town life. He saw around him, in the prison, in his backyard.
Speaker 4:It's actually sort of the origin story of Superman Growing up on the farm knowing he was here to do something bigger. Yes, something better. Not that there's anything better than farmers. Thank you for all your hard work. And, monsanto, go to hell, love it. No, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we don't like it.
Speaker 1:That's bad. Yeah, it's bad. The one thing that is different from Superman is that his parents got divorced, which was a rare and difficult event in those times. I mean, still it's not rare, but it's still a difficult event in these times.
Speaker 4:Of course.
Speaker 1:Adam was taken with his mother. They packed their bags for Seattle. All right, going to the big city, yeah, so there he attended Lakeside School, which was an elite private academy Okay, where his horizons broadened even further.
Speaker 4:So this divorce may have actually been a good thing. Kind of got out of a small town.
Speaker 1:It's rare, but it happens.
Speaker 4:It does happen. Got to go see the big city of Seattle. A lot of hills, yeah, good for cardio, good for glutes. Seattle has the best butts per capita because of those hills they do.
Speaker 1:But they also have the Seattle freeze Right. It's horrible. The people are mad all the time. They freeze you out.
Speaker 4:And the strip clubs are extra weird because they're not allowed to serve any alcohol. So people go in there pissed drunk and then they kind of sober up and then it's really bizarre.
Speaker 1:Like what am I doing?
Speaker 4:I've got to get back to my wife. Well, the dancers are all supposed to be sober the whole thing's wrong.
Speaker 1:Some things, without alcohol or drugs, make it creepier, and strip clubs are one of them. That is definitely true. 36 days no alcohol, by the way. Hey, congratulations, thank you, you're doing great. So he continued to immerse himself in literature, theater and art. He's, you know, sowing the seeds of a future career in show business. Yeah, he then went on to attend whitman college, back in walla walla. So he's going back to get his degree.
Speaker 4:It's different Now you're in college a lot more freedom. Sometimes a college town that's really small, where the college runs the entire place is real fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was majoring in literature and psychology, which Batman could benefit from.
Speaker 4:Very Bruce Wayne.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was during these years that he developed a fascination with the power of the human voice and the subtlety of nonverbal communication.
Speaker 4:It does sound like one of those judo, one of those fake karate masters who uses the energy flow to fall over.
Speaker 1:You go down you go down yeah. He also worked at the local radio station, beginning to understand the mechanics of performance from behind the microphone.
Speaker 4:Love it.
Speaker 1:Upon graduation, West was drafted into the United States Army. Let's go Serving as the announcer on American Forces Radio.
Speaker 4:That is the best gig you can possibly get.
Speaker 1:It's the real-life. Good Morning Vietnam.
Speaker 4:It really is and talk about a captive audience they can't legally leave. They are going to be tried for treason if they don't listen to you every frickin' morning.
Speaker 1:That would be incredible.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's great Kind of a celebrity there on the base camp probably.
Speaker 1:State-mandated audience. This role would not only refine his distinctive voice, but also expose him to a world audience, a harbinger of things to come. When his military service ended, west set his sights on Hollywood. Let's go With little more than a hope and a headshot. He moved to California, changing his name from William West Anderson to the punchier, more marquee-friendly.
Speaker 4:Adam West. I mean, he is one of these guys. We've talked about a couple of other ones who have great first names. Yeah, usually they are. What is it? Humperdinck?
Speaker 1:Engelbert Humperdinck. Engelbert.
Speaker 4:Humperdinck that's usually these people's first names.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Brian Warner. Let's go with Marilyn Manson instead. He's actually got a name that would work either way.
Speaker 1:That's true. His name was simple, but the ambition behind it was anything but so he went south to sunny California. Yes, the Hollywood of the 1950s was a place of dreams and ruthless competition and corruption.
Speaker 4:And steak dinners. Yes, oh my God.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a lot of steak dinners.
Speaker 4:Bro, I was just at the Smokehouse. You can smell the old producers just lying to actors.
Speaker 1:Yeah, You're going to be a star girl. Yep, Get under the table.
Speaker 4:Exactly. Hey, why do my fingers smell like fish, but I ate the steak? Hey, come on, it was about molestation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Marilyn Monroe.
Speaker 4:And abuse towards actresses.
Speaker 1:And actors.
Speaker 4:And actors, and actors. No, that's very true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the parents of actors too.
Speaker 4:What? Yeah, they would molest the parents, and they trickled it down.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what was her face? Shirley Temple, what they sexually assault. One producer had Shirley Temple in one room and the other one had the mother in another room, and they both got assaulted at the the same time oh my god it ain't good I gotta put some vodka in that drink, good lord for adam west, the journey to recognition would not be immediate nor easy, which usually is pretty good.
Speaker 1:It seasons you up exactly, get you ready for the the harshness of the situation you're getting yourself into well, everyone says they want to be an actor.
Speaker 4:I'm going to go to hollywood, but that's really where the rubber meets the road and, yes, it's really fun. But you got to go to Hollywood, but that's really where the rubber meets the road and, yes, it's really fun, but you got to go through hell to get there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he started where many aspiring actors began Commercials, minor roles and bit parts in television westerns and B-movies. In these early years, West's chiseled jawline and commanding presence landed him in roles that emphasized action and adventure. He was a super stud, yeah he appeared in shows like cheyenne, maverick and sugarfoot oh playing cowboys, soldiers in the occasional romantic lead well, you're gonna want to get that amputated sugarfoot, the old sugarfoot.
Speaker 1:It's a story of diabetes, diabetes type 2 though these parts gave him exposure, they did little to distinguish him from the sea of similarly handsome square-jawed actors.
Speaker 4:Also, people wonder why westerns were so popular. And then I got to Los Angeles and that's just it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the hills are out here. It's all sandy and desert-y, it's a free set.
Speaker 4:The entire state is set for westerns.
Speaker 1:A lot of horses out here, santa Anita's out here. But uh, state set for westerns a lot of horses out here, santa anita's out here. But uh, adam west was savvy. He understood that the key to longevity was versatility. So in the early 1960s he expanded into more comedic roles, showcasing a dry wit and deadpan delivery that would later become his trademark. Yes, perhaps and this is crazy, I did not know this the most pivotal moment in his early career came in the form of a commercial. In 1965, west starred in a Nestle Quick television ad playing a suave debonair spy, a clear spoof of James Bond. Let's check it out.
Speaker 3:I see automation displaces labor in your organization too, dr Sloan. Ah, captain Q, join me in a glass of delicious chocolate quick, won't you? Thank you, doctor, I could use some energy. Incidentally, one of those torpedoes you fired at me was circling and you're sunk some people will do anything to get rich quick.
Speaker 4:Toodaloo. I love it. It showcases his action skills. A little sense of humor there. Obviously he's very handsome.
Speaker 1:That's exactly how he played Batman, so it was just already. The character was there, yes. So the producers of ABC's Batman saw that commercial and they were like, huh, that's kind of the vibe we're going for.
Speaker 4:Right, and so, out of all the work he did, the commercial is what got the attentions of the producers for batman a goddamn nestle quick commercial keep.
Speaker 1:That's why you say yes to most things yeah everything right, but yes to most things yeah, so in the late 60s, the mid 60s, abc was trying to uh develop this batman comic book series.
Speaker 4:Okay Now, at this time, comic books were still considered for children. Yes, they were very juvenile. The dialogue, as opposed to today, was super simplistic. And for Adam West, I'm interested to hear about what he thought about even being proposed this role, because he wants to be a serious actor. Yes, in some ways Originally he didn't turn it down, but he wants to be a serious actor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so in some ways, originally he didn't turn it down, but he did not want to do it. It wasn't until he actually read the script for the pilot, which that's really what turned him onto. It Got you. So I didn't even know this, because I thought Adam West was the first on screen portrayal of Batman.
Speaker 4:This is not the case. Yes, my mother made us watch the original Batmans.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 4:Yes, they were from like what? The 30s or 40s?
Speaker 1:43 and 49. Yeah, columbia Pictures came out with hours of short films called the Batman Serials in 1943 and the Batman and Robin Serials, in which Lewis Wilson and Robert Lowry portrayed each Batman respectively.
Speaker 4:And this Batman was all goofy looking. He had stupid ass ears, kind of fat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, batman was all goofy looking, he had stupid ass ears kind of fat yeah, and so literally like but it was still the same gritty, dark, brooding kind of Batman.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 1:And they were committing to fighting crime and upholding the American way, because at the time it was, you know, world War II time.
Speaker 4:Everything got tied into the American way. Yes, it really did.
Speaker 1:So let's watch a little bit of this. Like you said, these ears are ridiculous oh, they're hilarious.
Speaker 4:I remember I asked my mom for batman and this is what she got me from walmart wow yeah, but after he became ill and rather eccentric, we completed it.
Speaker 3:Where is he now at home in retirement, professor hamill? Professor Hamill, so you let my machine be stolen, my life work. You're a pack of careless idiots. We're doing everything we can to get it back. Whoever stole it probably has more brains than all of you.
Speaker 1:This guy comes in in a wheelchair. Real hot. Being like you have no brains, I'd be like bitch. At least I got legs, whoa.
Speaker 4:Batman would never say such a thing. He wouldn't, well, maybe have no brains. I'd be like bitch, at least I got legs. Whoa, batman would never say such a thing he wouldn't.
Speaker 1:Well, maybe he wouldn't. No, he actually makes a very astute observation right after this.
Speaker 3:You'll never see it again.
Speaker 1:Take me home, Carter.
Speaker 4:So this guy gets taken out. I know the plot twist. I won't ruin it. I don't want a spoiler alert, did you?
Speaker 2:tell Professor Hamill that his machine was stolen. No, then how could he know it so soon?
Speaker 1:Oh, maybe because he was in on it.
Speaker 4:Mic drop yeah.
Speaker 1:Batman. This is when he was a detective. He was very smart. Batman's always a detective. Yes, but they really played up the detective angle.
Speaker 4:That's kind of my favorite characteristic. That's why I love the Robert Pattinson Batman. Yes, some people didn't like it Too detective-y.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but that's where it all started.
Speaker 4:That's what he is. He's a detective. Detective Comics DC. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, with this said, adam West was the third portrayal of Batman on screen, and so what's crazy is that it was so groundbreaking, but I don't think they realized how much of a risk they were taking, because this was the original Batman dark, brooding, and that's what a whole generation came to expect. Right, but that's obviously not what ABC did.
Speaker 4:They went kind of Joel Schumacher with it.
Speaker 1:They went even goofier than Joel Schumacher and it shows a crazy amount of risk and I don't even know if they knew how much of a risk they were truly taking I don't think people would do most of the time when they get stuck on top of a mountain yeah and then they're like we shouldn't have done this, but they gotta figure out their way down hey, they made a choice
Speaker 1:why, not, and you gotta respect that you can always ask for forgiveness later yeah, so the batman of the mid-1960s was not, you know, the tormented dark knight that people knew then and that we know today. Rather, he was a colorful, campy, over-the-top figure whose adventures leaned heavily into absurdity and satire.
Speaker 4:No nipples.
Speaker 1:No nipples, that's correct.
Speaker 4:That was one of the things I always thought as a kid, because his suit is so tight and it's cold sometimes. Yeah, but I think Adam West as a human probably had small nipples. Probably small nipples probably had some pasties on oh could be.
Speaker 1:Actually, burt Ward, who played Robin, came out and said that his dick was too big so he needed to get it tucked back while he was wearing Burt.
Speaker 4:Ward's dick was too big.
Speaker 1:Robin's dick was too big, so they had to tuck it while he was on camera with the underwear on. Who's laughing now? Who's laughing now? Who's laughing now? Also, burt ward was a little slut. Yeah, they both were. We'll get to that, good lord. What abc needed was an actor who could play the part with total sincerity, no matter how ridiculous the situation it almost reminds me of liam neeson in the naked.
Speaker 4:Not liam neeson, I apologize, that's supposed to be the new one the reboot of naked gun leslie nielsen. Of leslie nielsen, of course, a very serious, and he brought a serious tone to that role, which is why it was so funny yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because in comedies you can't ham it up. Really, you got to play it very. It's the situation that's ridiculous, exactly, and how serious everyone is in it. So Adam West, with his booming voice, his square chin and his earnest delivery, was the perfect candidate. Yes, ernest Delivery was the perfect candidate. Yes, they did a screen test that paired him with Big Dick Burt Ward a young actor cast as Robin.
Speaker 4:Oh my God, Dude, I'm telling you, it's always the little guys.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Skinny vascular little fucking dudes have hogs Yep.
Speaker 4:It's just the way that God worked it all out and the rest of us got whatever. We got Proportion, the scraps.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just the scraps us got whatever we got proportion scraps for him. I didn't realize that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and they both won the roles that would define and, for a time, can find their careers burt ward in another era.
Speaker 1:He could have been buffalo bill yeah, I'd fuck me, would you fuck me? He was already talking it.
Speaker 4:Exactly. Take a look at Mr Winky.
Speaker 1:Yeah, in January of 1966, Batman premiered on ABC January 12th 1966 to be exact. Okay, and Adam West remembers this because he remembers going to the Malibu markets right there on the pier to go get some things before heading home to watch Batman to see if it was any good.
Speaker 1:So he has no idea if he just made a bust or the biggest thing of his career yeah, even though there were hours left until the the show premiered, he had been hearing people, like everyone on the pier, being like hurry up, we can't miss batman tonight.
Speaker 4:Get your shit and let's go I love this and so I love that he actually had to go. You have to go out, yeah, and people were vocally talking about it. That must be such a cool feeling.
Speaker 1:Right, and it was then he had.
Speaker 4:Also a lot of stress. Yeah, you're like holy crap people actually know this is coming out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this better not suck. I don't even have nipples. It was then he had a sneaking suspicion that his life would never be the same. But luckily, and for better, for worse, the show was an instant phenomenon. For better, let's go, yeah, for badder, hey. The pilot episode of the 1966 batman tv series is titled hi diddle, riddle I think that's.
Speaker 4:I think that's the name of the trial going on right now as well all right, it stars adam west as batman and burt ward as robin. Burt Ward could have been hired for one of those parties.
Speaker 1:And in fact he was, oh yeah.
Speaker 4:By the size of his batter-wang.
Speaker 1:In the episode, the dynamic duo faces off against the Riddler who is attempting to sue Batman.
Speaker 4:I love he's going through the court system. Yes, oh, that's the ultimate riddle.
Speaker 3:One cigarette overboard and made the boat a cigarette lighter. You saw him giving me a light as I handed back his cross Out riddled. I thought you might be Batman. That's why I brought witnesses with cameras. Oh, what is it that no man wants to have? Yet no man wants to lose A lawsuit. Correct boy wonder.
Speaker 1:He's just been waiting to serve Batman papers.
Speaker 3:After you've chewed over this one for a while, look for two more. Adios, amigos. See you in court. No.
Speaker 1:Outriddled.
Speaker 4:Outriddled. Indeed, I love he also looks like that Lesko character who wears the suit that he'll help you cheat how to save money. Cheat the system, yeah, or just work with the system, maybe. Maybe just working with it.
Speaker 1:That's what Donald Trump says. So, as you can see, it's vibrant colors, dynamic camera angles, fight sequences with the bam pow boom.
Speaker 4:The best fight sequences with the bam pow boom the best. They really did do a great job of capturing the energy of a comic book with the boom pop pow. Like I loved it it was as a child very there's a lot going on. It's captivating for my adhd brain yes, yeah, it's very quick.
Speaker 1:There's very, uh very little silence happening in this the show my god, I love the lawsuit angle.
Speaker 4:Yeah, also the first episode we know for a fact you in court. Riddler has no moral compass whatsoever. This is a great setup for what he's going to become.
Speaker 1:Yes, for three glorious seasons, batman dominated pop culture, launching west into international fame. He made it to the cover of Life magazine, time magazine and more.
Speaker 4:Dang not bad.
Speaker 1:It's crazy. All of this happened. I mean, everyone knows Adam West, Batman, and it was only two years of his life.
Speaker 4:And it all happened with a Nestle Quick commercial and the show was fairly quick as well. So that just shows you. You never know what opportunities lie in front. That's right Of you.
Speaker 1:Children idolized him. Adults adored the show's playful subversion of authority and pop art aesthetic.
Speaker 4:I mean, the movie itself is just absolutely fantastic.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you can't get rid of a bomb. You can't.
Speaker 4:And he doesn't want to blow up a bunch of ducks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly it's adorable. West was suddenly everywhere. He was on magazine covers and parades, even appearing as Batman in public service announcements. Love it. But as quickly as it rose, the bat signal dimmed. Oh no.
Speaker 4:And it changed to Burt Ward symbol just a huge cock and balls.
Speaker 1:I'm getting hammered.
Speaker 4:They say there's a horny woman in Gotham, and then Burt says I'll go save her.
Speaker 1:So in 1968, Batman was canceled after declining ratings in a saturated market for superhero media.
Speaker 4:Hmm, interesting.
Speaker 1:For Adam West, the fall was precipitous.
Speaker 4:Oh, this is back in the day. There was no other rebounding. There was no way to get your name back out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly so he had become, in the eyes of the industry, Batman and Batman alone. You bastards. The curse of typecasting is a cruel paradox in Hollywood.
Speaker 4:It really is.
Speaker 1:An actor achieves immense fame through an iconic role, only to find themselves shackled by it for the remainder of their career.
Speaker 4:Technically, he did too good of a job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4:And yeah, it's awful. I do think again, with modern era technology it's a little bit lightened, but back in the day it's a little bit lightened, but back in the day it was like, yeah, you're not working.
Speaker 1:Not even is it lightened, it's embraced. At this point, if you become an iconic character.
Speaker 4:you can make a living off it for the rest of your life and you can be a titular character.
Speaker 1:Titular Tit.
Speaker 4:Or you can be sort of a side character and you can make money with your Comic-Cons and OnlyFans.
Speaker 1:Hey, whatever.
Speaker 4:It Only fans. Hey, whatever it might be cameos Imagine Burt.
Speaker 1:Ward, he could get Only Fans. Now he really should. Is he still alive? He is.
Speaker 4:Oh, good for him.
Speaker 1:Throughout the late 60s and into the 1970s, West struggled to find roles that allowed him to step out of the towering shadow of Batman. Casting directors couldn't see beyond the cowl Producers worried.
Speaker 4:I mean, didn't they know that he's not Batman? I'm not really him, guys. No, but I'm Adam West. That wasn't even me in the show.
Speaker 1:Right. Producers were worried that audiences would only ever see Gotham's Dark Knight, no matter what role he played. Oh, come on. He himself acknowledged this period as deeply frustrating. He recalled auditioning for serious roles, only to be met with polite rejection or, even worse, laughter.
Speaker 4:Hey, do you got any shark repellent yeah?
Speaker 1:That would really suck. To be like I'm coming in for serious stuff and you guys are just laughing me out of the room.
Speaker 4:Right, it's a cruel beast.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Fickle motherfuckers.
Speaker 1:Yet he refused to be bitter.
Speaker 4:There we go.
Speaker 1:You know, abundance mindset, things will come back around.
Speaker 4:Let's go, it's gonna be okay, it will.
Speaker 1:He continued working, taking roles in low-budget science fiction films, which, oh, that just sounds heartbreaking.
Speaker 4:Dude, but I'm telling you again, sci-fi at this time wasn't where it is today, which is considered really popular cinema. Yeah, it was laughed at, it was for nerds. This is when nerds didn't have all the power, and now obviously nerds have too much power and they're ruining the world. But this was when really sci-fi was on the fringes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was actually doing cult shows and movies like the Girl who Knew Too Much and Robinson Crusoe on Mars.
Speaker 4:Yeah, the Girl who Knew Too Much, it was just math. Yeah, there's a guy. This girl knows too much. We got to get her out of here.
Speaker 1:He showcased his ability to bring gravitas to outlandish premises.
Speaker 4:Absolutely, and he did ground because Batman was so goofy. He did ground it in many ways.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. His personal turbulence mirrored his professional struggles During the 70s. His personal life was marked by two divorces and a growing sense of disillusionment with Hollywood's fickle nature.
Speaker 4:It really is.
Speaker 1:He battled periods of deep depression, financial difficulties and the looming realization that he might never fully escape the shadow of the bat Dang. But resilience was in his DNA.
Speaker 4:Reminds me of the new Batman, the new one that was out three years ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:I am the shadows, remember that. Yeah, they better make it again. Batman 2 better come out. They better not cancel this one. I've been really mad.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right he began to embrace his status as a pop culture oddity. So the 80s were a different time. It was the advent of comic book conventions and nostalgia driven television reruns so we kind of yada, yada, yada there.
Speaker 4:So the entire 70s he was out of work. Yes, wow.
Speaker 1:And so he was struggling to hang on. He, you know, had to sell cars and stuff to just keep his money around damn.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean, no one remembers those times no they do pass, and then everyone's like what a life he must have had.
Speaker 1:It's like it must have been awesome all the time Right?
Speaker 4:No, there's that whole 3,000 days of hell.
Speaker 1:That's a good name of a movie.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, it is good.
Speaker 1:He became a fixture at these fan expos. I didn't realize that the Comic-Cons all started in the 80s. I didn't know that either. Yeah, he was signing autographs, posing for photos and sharing stories of his days on Batman throughout the 1980s. It's great. Interesting, cool. So for a younger generation, adam West became a living relic of a more colorful, playful era of superhero storytelling.
Speaker 4:You know, I really appreciate you coming, but could you stop calling me a living relic?
Speaker 1:It just makes me feel real fucking old, everybody give it up for Living Relic, oh great.
Speaker 4:I'm 43, by the way.
Speaker 1:But he was self-aware about it. He was poking fun at his own legacy and appearing in comedic roles where he parodied himself or exaggerated his camp persona yeah which is, you know, foreshadowing and you never know what Hollywood is going to give you.
Speaker 4:Much like professional wrestling yes sometimes they put a gimmick on you and you're like what the hell am I gonna do with?
Speaker 1:This self-deprecating approach endeared him both to old fans and new. It was in these years that Adam West began to reinvent himself, not as the Dark Knight, but as the man who played the Dark Knight and lived to tell the tale.
Speaker 4:So he had to be. Like you know, I'm not really Batman.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And people were like nah, I think you're Batman. I saw it on TV.
Speaker 1:I'm this guy with thoughts and feelings, right.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I highly doubt it. You're a relic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're a living relic. According to both West and Ward, especially in later interviews that they would give at these cons or on TV or in print, the Batman set was a carnival of 1960s excess.
Speaker 4:I love it. You can see them too at the Comic-Con. You got two microphones, not just a really tiny microphone for Burt Ward's huge cock. My dick likes to do some talking too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they asked Burt Ward at one of the Comic-Cons.
Speaker 4:Did they talk about his dick?
Speaker 1:Yeah, they go, you know, is it true? And he goes.
Speaker 4:They don't call me the Boy Wonder, for nothing which is a line I'm day of his life since January 12, 1966. It's also a little gross because it's Boy Wonder and I don't want to think about a 10-year-old with just a massive foot long. But all right.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Bert. He is supposed to be a minor in the show.
Speaker 4:I know that's the thing.
Speaker 1:He was 20 in real life when he started the show. But yeah, he's supposed to be like a 13-year-old's cock back. It's too big.
Speaker 4:I mean hey, batman aside, bruce Wayne is still a billionaire, so God knows what he was up to. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So Wes later claimed that he and Ward were constantly propositioned by fans and that they used to use the costumes as foreplay. They would show up to sex parties and stuff dressed as Batman and Robin, and even some of the villains would show up the Riddler. He went to some orgies with Batman.
Speaker 4:Wow yeah.
Speaker 1:Look at that. They both have said that their superhero status gave them near rock star access to women.
Speaker 4:Let's go.
Speaker 1:In his memoir Back to the Batcave, wes wrote about his wild orgies and fan encounters that would make the Joker blush.
Speaker 4:Interesting.
Speaker 1:One of Wes' most infamous anecdotes involves being kicked out of an orgy with Frank Gorshin, who played the Riddler.
Speaker 4:Oh, my God.
Speaker 1:Because the other guests couldn't stop laughing at Batman and the Riddler having sex in their uniforms or their costumes, that's fantastic. There was just banging chicks and everyone was laughing. The people in the orgy were having a great time, but the hosts were upset and they kicked them out.
Speaker 4:Oh, come on, you got Batman and the Riddler and you're going to kick them out. Yeah, Ridiculous. I mean not a good day to be the set costume cleaner when they come back from the gangbang, but you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, burt Ward also had his struggles on set. He didn't have a stunt double like Adam West did. He didn't.
Speaker 4:No, there were some stunts in that show.
Speaker 1:You had to roll around, jump around, get punched, end up getting launched through some boxes in the back of a warehouse or something.
Speaker 4:He had tiny little legs. He did but a huge piece. Well, I was going to say three of them.
Speaker 1:He ended up being injured repeatedly, from explosions to car crashes, and he was injured so often that the studio reportedly reduced his salary because of all the insurance claims he took out on the set, Wait.
Speaker 4:So you all are hurting me and I'm getting paid less.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because he was actually taking out the insurance claims.
Speaker 4:He should.
Speaker 1:Oh Jesus, yeah. So he also wrote a tell-all book in 1995 titled Boy Wonder, my Life in Tights, nice. He dished out everything on Wes' escapades to his own sexual prowess. Like I said, his Robin tights were too tight and he needed special undergarments.
Speaker 4:All right, there we go.
Speaker 1:Burt Ward turned his focus to animal rescue after his career because he was typecast as well and couldn't find work.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:He founded the Gentle Giants Rescue Ben.
Speaker 4:Don't look at me, don't even look at me. Gentle Giant, that's what they say. Everyone says, oh, you're a Gentle Giant. Until they don't Gentle Giant, then everyone's mad at that too, which is a bunch of lies. But anyway, gentle Giant, and it's like it makes me seem like you're autistic, which? Is fine, yes, but it does make you feel slightly special needs. Yeah, and that's fine. Well, I just got myself in a quagmire, wow family guy.
Speaker 1:You know we will be talking about it in a second.
Speaker 4:I can't miss segues. All I do is find segues. Boom, boom, boom boom.
Speaker 1:But it was called the Gentle Giant's Rescue because he rehabilitated and found homes for large dogs.
Speaker 4:Oh, I love that.
Speaker 1:Very sweet. So Adam West's willingness to embrace the absurdity of his legacy would lead him into an unexpected renaissance.
Speaker 4:Let's go.
Speaker 1:Because the 1990s and the 2000s ushered in a new golden age for Adam West, one that saw him shift from live-action hero to beloved voice actor, I mean, his voice is superb it you, yeah, it's once he talks. You know, it's exactly him yeah, it's a rarity yeah, perhaps the most notable of these roles was his portrayal of a fictionalized, exaggerated version of himself on the animated series family guy family guy brought him back, yes, in a big way, because there's a generation who was like who is that guy?
Speaker 4:Yeah, and then they go back and they're like oh no shit.
Speaker 1:He's the best. He is the best. He played Mayor Adam West, which was an unhinged, bizarre caricature of himself that became an instant fan favorite.
Speaker 4:I love that he was able to lean in and have some self-defacing humor.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly so we. So we'll show one of these clips from one of his first episodes damn it, swanson.
Speaker 3:I want them found. Mayor west, we have every available man looking for the griffins. We just don't have any leads, not the griffins. You moron the rest of my light, bright pieces. My name isn't adam we, or is it? Who am I? What number did dial? Don't ever call here again. I guess I told him nobody messes with Adam Wee.
Speaker 4:Wow, that sounds like the last administration.
Speaker 1:Yeah, seriously, oh boy too real.
Speaker 4:Too real. I love that.
Speaker 1:So this role introduced him to an entirely new fan base, many of whom had never seen the 1960s Batman. Through this animated form, Wes found creative freedom he hadn't experienced since his early days in the industry. He could be outrageous, surreal, delightfully odd, all while using his most powerful tool, his unmistakable voice. Absolutely, and in addition to Family Guy, he had an entire voice acting career. He lent his voice to numerous shows, including the Fairly Odd Parents, the Simpsons and Batman. The Animated Series by the mid-2010s. Adam West was not just a nostalgia act. He was a revered elder statesman of pop culture. Yes, He'd done the impossible. He outlived his own typecasting, which that's. All you really need to do is just stay alive Absolutely Long enough for people to come back to you.
Speaker 4:Totally, there's always a new generation coming up.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So behind the cape and cowl, adam West was a man of quiet introspection, humor and devotion to his family. Through the early years in Hollywood they were marked by personal turbulence. West ultimately found his stability in his later years.
Speaker 4:Well, thank God for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:I can understand where he's coming from. Hollywood's a little bit of a. It's turbulent when you first get here. Yeah, a bit of a blender, because you don't realize that you can't trust anyone.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 4:And then when you realize that things start to actually settle down.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Then you know Exactly, you know it's not like new york, where I mean I trust everyone in new york because they scream in your face and they tell you what they think. Yeah, and then here you have no fucking clue, so you just kind of right assume the worst at this point exactly unfortunately we haven't talked much about his personal life, uh.
Speaker 1:But in 1970 I was saying the 70s were pretty bad for him. Yes, it wasn't all bad. He married, uh, marcel lear okay and a relationship that would endure for the rest of his natural life.
Speaker 4:So he had two divorces and the third one stuck. Yes, gotcha.
Speaker 1:Marcel became not only his life partner but also a grounding force during the rollercoaster of his career's highs and lows. Together they built a home in Idaho. No kidding Far from the glare of Hollywood.
Speaker 4:I wonder why he chose Idaho, because it's very anti California. So it's very anti-California. So it's I know, but Idaho makes Wisconsin look like there's something to do, yeah.
Speaker 1:Like Idaho is really. I mean, they got the potato, they do.
Speaker 4:But that's just a lot of field really. Yeah, you could get sprawling mansions for like $300,000. I mean, that's why so many celebrities live in Wyoming, for example Montana.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yep, why so many celebrities live in wyoming, for example montana? Yeah, you know, you can have a whole farm.
Speaker 4:I look on five bucks you really can, and then you could be like I think it's uh, yeah, rupaul, he's got, uh, he's got so much land that he sells it for fracking wow, some people get upset about. But whatever he's making his nut and so he literally is just he found, he struck gold yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 1:So Adam ended up being a father to six children Wow and spoke often about how fatherhood gave him a sense of purpose beyond acting.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:He was known to be a warm, attentive and sometimes playful father, never above donning the Batman mask at family gatherings to amuse his children and grandchildren.
Speaker 4:An actor who was a good father. Hey, wow.
Speaker 1:You know, that's rare. Very rare, especially on this show you can do it, kyle.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's true. We did start the episode with a guy named Friend who wasn't so friendly. No, but you see, that's why there's hope for you. You are a good father, since he doesn't need to be rehabilitated as a father.
Speaker 1:Yes as a father.
Speaker 4:Yes, exactly, but no, that's very nice that he actually cared for his children and he didn't bring the stress of Hollywood into the home.
Speaker 1:In fact he would bring some of his sons onto the actual set when they were young, you know, and oh, that's awesome. They would get to go up and down the bat pole and hang out and they said it was a blast.
Speaker 4:My dad was a truck driver, so I got to drive in the truck and toot the horn every now and again. That was a pretty big deal.
Speaker 1:That's awesome.
Speaker 4:Imagine if he was Batman. Hey, He'd get a Batmobile. Kind of cool too, Dad. Why weren't you Batman, Dad?
Speaker 1:Yeah, what the hell.
Speaker 4:That complaint number 1,104. Why weren't you Batman Dad?
Speaker 1:In his final decades, west's public persona was that of a man who had made peace with his journey Love it. He remained active, attending the conventions well into his 80s and still relishing the opportunity to connect with fans who viewed him as a childhood hero. In interviews West spoke openly about the passage of time and the nature of fame. Also the value of embracing one's past. He understood that, while the industry might have moved on from his style of heroism, the fans never had Absolutely, and you know every time you watch that I can't believe it was only two seasons.
Speaker 4:Yeah, but when you watch the Batman, it is timeless because it's goofy, obviously.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 4:But it's such another world, yes, that it's timeless.
Speaker 1:Yeah, In 2017, Adam West's remarkable journey came to an end. On June 9th 2017, he passed away in his Los Angeles home after a brief battle with leukemia. He was 88 years old.
Speaker 4:Hey, not bad.
Speaker 1:It was crazy because it's like Joe Biden they didn't even fucking tell anybody until he was done.
Speaker 4:Well, it's a little different, you know, because he wasn't the president. But 88, hell of a run, damn near made it to 90. Wow, yeah, that's crazy and I understand from a celebrity standpoint. I would equate it more to a Norm MacDonald.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 4:Because you don't want to bum people out, mcdonald. Yes, because you don't want to bum people out. And it would have been nice if we could have pre-mourned Norm where I would have DM'd him and been like I love you and he wouldn't have responded. Of course, maybe he would have, who knows? I respond to my DMs.
Speaker 1:I played poker with him for like 14 hours one day.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I would have probably said a lot more.
Speaker 4:But he probably didn't want that. Yes, so but he probably didn't want that. Yes, so we've got to respect their wishes, it's true.
Speaker 1:So because of that, news of his passing sent waves across the entertainment industry and among fans around the world. Tributes poured in from actors, directors and comedians who cited West as both an influence and an icon.
Speaker 4:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:In LA. Here the bat signal was projected onto City Hall. I don't remember that.
Speaker 4:I don't remember that at all. I wish I remembered that. Did it work? Did crime stop for?
Speaker 1:at least 10 minutes. It picked up because everyone was looking at the bat signal.
Speaker 4:Ah, yeah, they didn't get the squatters out of your last van. That ruined your life and made you homeless Even worse than that. Kaylina, the mother of my child, the mother of my child.
Speaker 3:A mother of my kid Of his child.
Speaker 1:Yes, she got her actual wallet stolen by a guy who plays Joker on Hollywood Boulevard.
Speaker 4:That's amazing.
Speaker 1:Fucking ridiculous.
Speaker 4:She got too close, she got way too close. She got too close to the flame. Yeah, if you're visiting Hollywood, and I'm sure you already know this, but never approach any of the people that you see dressed as Joker, batman, penguin, anything. They are scary, scary people. Drug problems.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Adam West had journeyed from Walla Walla Washington to the heights of superstardom, through the valleys of obscurity and back into the hearts of millions. I love that he was gone. But the legend, the laughter and the lessons remained.
Speaker 4:We can thank syndication.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 4:He really is.
Speaker 1:He's probably on tv more now than he was then, yeah, he really wasn't prepared for you know how his career would be remembered and how his life would be remembered, and he, it is so bizarre because it's out of your control it's completely out of your control, like you try to do all these purpose-driven things and then someone just takes it to a whole different area and you're like that's not my intention.
Speaker 2:But hey perception is reality exactly, and if that's, if something you do mean something to somebody, that's the best possible thing that could happen that's true so here he is talking about becoming an icon I was more concerned with, I think, just one step at a time, just trying to get roles that were interesting and that I felt I could be creative playing and bring something fresh to. But again, I say that I was fortunate because somehow my timing was such with those commercials, with whatever I did, they saw them and they said, kid, I think you can play Batman. And they called me in and I was able to do it the way I wanted, I mean, but I never had a sense of it being. How can I say something permanent, something as lasting as it's?
Speaker 1:been. It's out of your control, like you said, but when it resonates, it resonates and you become larger than life.
Speaker 4:Absolutely, and I love everyone who, in person that's a producer does it right, because that's it. Hey Ken, you want to come in here and sit on my lap, I might get you a TV credit. Producers, man Nasty yeah.
Speaker 1:So his journey mirrored that of many artists a meteoric rise, public scrutiny, personal doubt and, ultimately, a rediscovery of self. For the world of television, west batman represented an era of colorful, campy adventure that brought joy and escapism during a turbulent decade in american history yeah, it's such an interesting time too.
Speaker 4:We haven't really we didn't really discuss the backdrop of the 60s, but obviously a lot of turmoil. People think peace, love, hippies, but the hippies it was a fight yeah, it ended up being charles manson well, that that's you know. We can talk about the cia's involvement in that, oh shit. But it was interesting because again, it was going for the 1950s cookie cutter. Everyone lives in in the suburbs. This is America.
Speaker 1:Pleasantville.
Speaker 4:To 1960s being like no, this is America, motherfucker, we're burning shit down, we're changing the status quo, we want civil rights, all these sorts of things. And then you had Batman, who was seen as sort of a. He dabbled in both worlds Because he wasn't necessarily counterculture, but if you watch some of the footage, it was counterculture Right. But then also he's law and order.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly For comic book culture. He laid the groundwork for superheroes on screen, paving the way for darker, more complex interpretations that would follow.
Speaker 4:And then George Clooney brought the nipples.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he brought some big-ass, hard-ass nipples. Yes, he did Through rubber, which that's why the bat nipples were weird, because they were pre-planted nipples.
Speaker 4:Well, that means Bruce Wayne. When he was sculpted, he put the nipples on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's like, I need room for these fucking sausage nips.
Speaker 4:Unless it was really cold in there and he was fighting Mr Freeze.
Speaker 1:That'd be the only time. I'd imagine it'd be very hot in there.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, adam West taught us it's never too late to reclaim your narrative, the self-awareness and humor can be tools of empowerment and that what once felt like a burden can, over time, become a blessing.
Speaker 4:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:He took what might have been a footnote in television history and transformed it into a lifelong conversation with fans, critics and the world at large. His legacy lives on, not only in reruns and animated cameos, but in the way he inspired others to approach their craft with humility, resilience and joy. And in the end, Adam West did not just play a hero, he became one.
Speaker 4:I love it yes.
Speaker 1:So that will bring us to Final Thoughts.
Speaker 4:Hollywood fickle beast. Yeah, he's seen all sides of it the good, the bad, the middle, the weird. Adam West he saw everything of Hollywood. He had success, he had some lows and, yes, we can all learn through Batman. But I think more than just learning from Batman, we can learn from Adam West. Keep on rolling with the punches, yes. Let the powers roll off your back, yeah, and keep on fighting the supervillain that is. I don't even know whatever your supervillain is, yeah, Just keep on fighting it.
Speaker 1:You can defeat it you will defeat it.
Speaker 4:Yes, or you end up in an orgy with it, like you did with the Riddler, and you guys make friends and get laughed out and have a burger together.
Speaker 1:I mean, when it comes to everything that would be the most embarrassing to me to be kicked out of an orgy for having too good of a time.
Speaker 4:Well, that's not that bad. I mean because he was dressed as Batman.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but he was bringing joy to the people and his cock to the people.
Speaker 4:Exactly, it was a different time, it was a better time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let people share what they're bringing to the party.
Speaker 4:I feel like there's a correlation between the rise of orgies and shag carpeting, which really you would think it'd be the rise of orgies, and tile it just gets matted right in there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's kind of.
Speaker 4:I feel like shag carpeting is probably better now. No one's having any fun.
Speaker 1:Yes, so let that be a lesson to you it's never too late to take everything back into your own power.
Speaker 4:Absolutely. I love reading when people get air quotes success in their lives. Some people are 80, 60, 70. Some people are 10.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:You know, you never know, and everyone's got their own story and journey. And you can't trade, don't trade places for anyone, because whatever. Yeah, at least you know what you're up against now.
Speaker 1:He was 37 years old, which is one year younger than I am now, and that's when he became the most famous and then dwindled away for the next 30, 31 years. So it wasn't until his late 60s that he became, you know, the biggest he ever was. All right, it's incredible, uh, and that will also take us to you've got mail? Oh, my goodness, we got a mailbag. We got a mailbag. Yeah, we're looking at spotify comments here on the last episode, which was very exciting number one force ghost, the fallen stars of star wars.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, doug runkle said every week you guys get better. I really dug the episode and I'm not even a big Star Wars fan.
Speaker 4:Okay, there we go. Wow, there we go. That's pretty big.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Yeah, we talked about there being the anti-ASPCA and, as seen by Dave said, isn't the anti-ASPCA technically PETA.
Speaker 4:It could be, couldn't it? It could be.
Speaker 1:Because they murder every animal they come into contact with and then threaten people with lawsuits.
Speaker 4:All right, much like the Riddler, yeah, all right.
Speaker 1:And then here in our Patreon chat Pano is talking about. He's saying about Adam West's life the good, the bad and the orgy.
Speaker 4:I love that that should be the name of his book.
Speaker 1:That might be the name of the episode. I like that. Thank you guys so much. If you want to, you know, subscribe, share, uh, comment, do it all, baby. We need your support. Tell your friends absolutely.
Speaker 4:Thank you guys so much for your support. Okay, bud, pod at gmailcom if you want to shoot an email to uh. Okay, bud, or death and entertainment, why not? At gmailcom, at gmailcom. And yes, you can join our Patreon at Die Bud and thank you all so much for the support. Hail yourself until next week.
Speaker 1:Don't go dying on us bye you have just heard a true Hollywood murder mystery.
Speaker 3:I have never seen anything like this before the movies, broadway, music, television, all of it a place that manufactures nightmares okay, everybody, movies, broadway, music, television, all of it A place that manufactures nightmares. Okay, everybody, that's a wrap. Good night. Please drive home carefully and come back again soon.