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Quick Facts
- NAME: Adam West
- OCCUPATION: Film Actor, Television Actor
- BIRTH DATE: September 19, 1928 (Age: 84)
- EDUCATION: Lakeside High School, Lakeside High School
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Walla Walla, Washington
- Originally: William West Anderson
- ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo
Best Known For
Actor Adam West play the crime-fighting superhero Batman in the 1966 TV series. The phenomenal popularity of the series made West a household name.
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Play NowAdam West. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 04:25, May 21, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/adam-west-9542349.
Adam West. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/adam-west-9542349 [Accessed 21 May 2013].
"Adam West." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 21 2013, 04:25 http://www.biography.com/people/adam-west-9542349.
"Adam West," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/adam-west-9542349 [accessed May 21, 2013].
"Adam West," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/adam-west-9542349 (accessed May 21, 2013).
Adam West [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 21] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/adam-west-9542349.
Adam West, http://www.biography.com/people/adam-west-9542349 (last visited May 21, 2013).
Adam West. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/adam-west-9542349. Accessed May 21, 2013.
After two successful seasons, escalating production costs and flagging ratings caused ABC to cancel the Batman series. Typecasting brought West’s career to a grinding halt. With an overwhelming sense of failure, he was reduced to making guest appearances as Batman at county fairs and rodeos.
Over the next few years, West took whatever work he was offered,
Contents
ranging from low-budget embarrassments like
The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977) to quality projects like the action-laced comedy
Hooper (1978). During the 1980s, he was featured in a slew of forgettable projects, including the raunchy motorcycle film
Hellriders (1984) and the amateur horror movie
Zombie Nightmares (1986).
In 1989, West enjoyed a resurgence of popularity with the highly anticipated release of Tim Burton's blockbuster
Batman, which featured Michael Keaton in the title role. To coincide with the film, the original Batman series returned to airwaves around the world. During the 1990s, three more full-length Batman installments were released —
Batman Returns (1992),
Batman Forever (1995), and
Batman & Robin (1997).
Most recently, West made appearances or has done voiceover work on many of America's most popular TV shows, including
30 Rock,
The Simpsons,
Family Guy, and
Politically Incorrect.
In 1950, West married his college friend Billie Lou Yeager. The couple divorced in 1956. The following year, he wed a Hawaiian dancer, Nga Dawson, with whom he had two children. In 1962, his second marriage fell apart when Nga left him for another man. In 1970, he married Marcelle Lear. West and Lear had two children.
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