Actor, artist, TV icon and Idahoan Adam West died Friday night in Los Angeles at age 88. The beloved star of the small screen passed away after a brief battle with leukemia.
A resident of the Wood River Valley for over 30 years, West said he fell in love with Idaho for its rural charm in a December interview with Boise State Public Radio.
“We came to Idaho in 1985, directly from LA,” West said. “I love it because I’ve been able to do all kinds of things outdoors and at the same time not be interrupted and to keep reading good books—you know, it’s just a lovely place. We’ve got three mountain ranges around the house, a stream behind, and 18 elk.”
West was born in Walla Walla, Washington in 1928. As a little boy he dreamt of making it big in Hollywood. The future star got one of his first media jobs in his senior year of college working at the school’s radio station.
“I was in college my last year, and I decided I’d pick up a few extra bucks if I could and auditioned and they liked it, and I did everything. The news, I was a DJ.”
And, as a ribald aside, he threw in that he also occasionally hosted some of the station’s religions programs “wearing nothing but a bathrobe.”
In 1959, West moved to LA and made the television rounds. He had minor roles in several westerns including "Colt. 45" and "Lawman," and twice appeared on the famous legal drama "Perry Mason." However, it wasn’t until 1966 that West landed the role of a lifetime: Batman.
Each week, the dynamic duo of Batman and his sidekick Robin would take on a famous nemesis like the Joker, Catwoman or the Penguin. West has a trove of stories from the set and shared a memory of working with Liberace who guest starred on Batman in 1966 as the villainous piano player, Chandell.
“He played a dual character, you know, brothers. And the evil guy, he tried very hard to make him really vicious and awful. So you’d see him walking around the soundstage, saying to whoever would listen,” here West shifted into his best Liberace impression, “‘I’m really a bad guy. I am so bad. I am going to hurt you a lot. George, where’s my candelabra?’”
He laughed and reflected on working with the famous musician.
“You know, and you see people like that and you see their style, their way of working, their showbiz persona, and it’s very amusing.”
Although Batman only ran on ABC for three seasons, it became West’s legacy and launched a film franchise that’s seen the likes of Christian Bale, George Clooney, and Michel Keaton all don the iconic cowl and cape.
While West loved and reveled in his status as a pop culture icon, he initially struggled with the typecasting that resulted from playing the comic book hero.
“You know, people loved the show, so why the hell don’t I love the show? That was my attitude, finally, after five years of struggling and theater, and different things. And some really lousy movies. I decided that yeah, yeah, I’m going to accept this; I’ll embrace it, and it’s gone on for 50 years!”
Although he was forever linked to Batman, in his later years West found a second career as a voice actor. More often than not West would play a version of himself. On the animated sitcom "Family Guy" West played the mayor of the town, Adam West.
He was able to make fun of himself while, as he put it, walking a fine line and preserving a certain dignity. The nutty version of himself on Family Guy embodied his philosophy of comedy.
“My feeling has always been that real comedy, good comedy, always comes from the truth – from some kind of realism,” he said
Looking back on his career in December, West said he really only had one job.
“You know, to be 88, and still be able to click my heels and to make people laugh – which is really my job, isn’t it, to make people laugh? I go into the studio when I work and I laugh and they laugh and it’s good.”
Adam West was 88 years old. He’s survived by Marcelle, his wife of more than four decades, six children, and numerous grandchildren.
For more local news, follow the KBSX newsroom on Twitter @KBSX915
Copyright 2017 Boise State Public Radio