50 Fun Facts About Batman (1966 TV Series)

Who played Bruce Wayne/Batman in the 1966 series?

Adam West played it so straight that typecasting stalled his career for years, reducing him to paid appearances in his cape and cowl at car shows and carnivals.

Who played Dick Grayson, Batman's teenage sidekick, in the 1966 series?

Burt Ward had trained in karate and did many of his own stunts, which by his own account kept landing him in hospital.

Which US network aired the 1966 Batman series?

ABC planned an hour-long show, then split each story across Wednesday and Thursday nights when two half-hour slots came free. Both nights ended the season in the top ten.

In the first episode of the 1966 Batman series, the Caped Crusader breaks into which dance?

The Batusi has Batman drawing two fingers past each eye like a mask, and the show's star later claimed he made the moves up himself.

How did the 1966 Batman series film Batman and Robin scaling the walls of buildings?

With a sideways camera: the pair walked along a flat floor with their capes held up by strings. The gag let film stars pop out of windows, as so many wanted to be on the show.

Which actor played the Joker in the 1966 Batman series?

Cesar Romero refused to shave off his trademark moustache for the part, so the Joker's white makeup was simply smeared over it, in every episode and in the 1966 film.

Who played the Penguin in the 1966 Batman series?

Burgess Meredith had watched his screen career stall when he was blacklisted in the 1950s. Playing the Penguin made him popular all over again.

In the 1966 Batman series, why did the Penguin's actor improvise his trademark quack?

To avoid coughing: the Penguin's cigarette holder held a real lit cigarette, and the smoke kept catching in his throat, so he covered each cough with a squawk.

Who played Catwoman in the first two seasons of the 1966 Batman series?

Julie Newmar made the costume her own, moving the belt from her waist down to her hips to show off her figure. One of her catsuits is now in the Smithsonian.

Who took over as Catwoman for the third season of the 1966 Batman series?

Eartha Kitt played the part in the 1967-68 season. In January 1968 she criticised the Vietnam War at a White House lunch, and her American career went into a steep decline.

In the 1966 Batman series, Robin's famous exclamations all begin with which word?

Holy: the blank was filled to suit the moment, so the 1966 film alone has "Holy sardine!", "Holy Polaris!" and "Holy heart failure!".

Who was the original Riddler in the 1966 Batman series?

Frank Gorshin earned an Emmy nomination for the part. But when his agents asked for more money, the show refused and briefly recast the role.

Which Addams Family star briefly played the Riddler in season two of the 1966 Batman series?

John Astin filled in for a single two-part story while the regular Riddler's agents held out for more money. The original actor was back for the third season.

Who played Batgirl in the third season of the 1966 Batman series?

Yvonne Craig had been the youngest dancer in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and that training helped when it came to performing Batgirl's stunts.

In the 1966 Batman series, what is Barbara Gordon's day job?

Librarian: in the short film made to sell the character to the network, crooks lock her in a library lounge, which happens to hide her costume in a secret closet.

Why was Batgirl added to the 1966 Batman series for its third season?

To win more female viewers: ratings were sliding, young boys made up much of the audience, and the producer reckoned a heroine could bring in just as many girls.

Who played Alfred the butler in the 1966 Batman series?

Alan Napier recalled that he had never read a comic and asked his agent, "What is Batman?" He took the job on hearing it might be worth over $100,000.

Which regular character was invented for the 1966 Batman series rather than taken from the comics?

Chief O'Hara was created for the show, and within months the comics had borrowed him. Aunt Harriet looks like a TV invention too, but she reached the comics first.

Who was the uncredited narrator of the 1966 Batman series?

William Dozier, the executive producer, voiced it himself. He had been unhappy to be handed a comic-book show at all, until he saw it could play to adults as well as children.

The star of the 1966 Batman series was spotted playing a Bond-style spy in an ad for which product?

Nestle Quik: the ads cast him as a James Bond-type spy, and he was away in Europe shooting a spaghetti Western when the producer sent for him.

Which future Carol Burnett Show regular screen-tested for the lead in the 1966 Batman series?

Lyle Waggoner filmed his screen test alongside a would-be Robin of his own. The footage survived and was released on DVD decades later.

Lorenzo Semple Jr., who wrote the pilot of the 1966 Batman series, later scripted which 1980 space adventure?

Flash Gordon got the same deliberately over-the-top comic-strip treatment he had devised for Batman, whose pilot he wrote while living in Spain.

In its first year the 1966 Batman series was nominated for an Emmy as outstanding what?

Comedy series: the superhero show was filed alongside sitcoms such as Bewitched and Get Smart, and lost to The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Batman belongs to Warner Bros., but which rival studio produced the 1966 TV series?

20th Century Fox owned the footage while DC Comics owned the characters, and the show only reached home video in 2014, when Warner released it under licence from Fox.

Whose 1964 screenings of the 1943 Batman serial are said to have helped inspire the 1966 series?

Hugh Hefner's Playboy screenings in Chicago drew so much attention that Columbia put the two-decade-old serial back into cinemas the following year.

Who composed the theme tune of the 1966 Batman series?

Neal Hefti called the simple-sounding theme the hardest piece he ever wrote. He tore up a lot of paper and nearly gave up on it, then won a Grammy for it.

What do the lyrics of the 1966 Batman theme consist of?

A single repeated word: eight singers cry "Batman!" in harmony with the trumpets. The show's own star later misremembered the voices as horns.

What name was given to the merchandising craze set off by the 1966 Batman series?

Batmania filled the shops with Batman merchandise, and the producers had a feature film in cinemas within months of the first episode.

Which sign-off closed the cliffhanger episodes of the 1966 Batman series?

Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel! At first the promise was literal: the second half of each story aired the very next night, in the same slot.

The 1966 Batman series often films its villains at a tilt to hint that they are what?

Crooked: the tilted shots, known as Dutch angles, were used mostly in the villains' lairs, and each villain is said to have had an angle of their own.

Why did NBC reportedly drop its plan to pick up the 1966 Batman series after its cancellation?

The sets had been destroyed: in the co-star's telling, NBC was ready to take the show until it learned that rebuilding them would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The 1966 Batmobile fetched over $4 million in 2013, but what had its builder paid for the car underneath?

$1: customiser George Barris bought the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car from Ford for a token dollar, and later rebuilt it as the Batmobile in a matter of weeks.

Which horror film star played the villain Egghead in the 1966 Batman series?

Vincent Price got a villain invented just for the show. Egghead, who calls himself the world's smartest criminal, lards nearly every line with egg puns.

In the 1966 Batman series, a blow to the head makes Victor Buono's mild professor believe he is which pharaoh?

Tutankhamun: the Egyptologist was first knocked out during a student riot, and every later knock on the head flips him between King Tut and mild-mannered teacher.

Which Western-themed villain did Cliff Robertson play in the 1966 Batman series?

Shame is a send-up of Shane, hero of the classic Western, and his sidekicks Okie Annie and Calamity Jan spoof Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane.

Who played the flower-loving gangster Louie the Lilac in the 1966 Batman series?

Milton Berle had been America's "Mr. Television" in the 1950s. His Louie sets out to win control of Gotham's hippie "flower generation".

Which villain had scripts written for the 1966 Batman series but never appeared, with Clint Eastwood reportedly lined up?

Two-Face had a finished teleplay and several plot outlines in the producer's files, and would almost certainly have appeared had the show run to a fourth season.

Which future martial arts film star twice appeared as Kato in the 1966 Batman series?

Bruce Lee was new to American audiences at the time. His second visit ends with the two pairs of heroes squaring off, until the police arrive before anyone can win.

Which CBS sci-fi adventure aired directly opposite the Wednesday episodes of the 1966 Batman series?

Lost in Space was chasing the same young viewers, and after Batman's runaway success its second season turned brighter and sillier in imitation.

Who wrote "Boy Wonder, I Love You", the 1966 single recorded by the actor who played Robin?

Frank Zappa wrote and arranged the novelty single, on which Robin reads out letters from his adoring fans. It came out at the height of the show's popularity.

Which famous pianist guest-starred in the 1966 Batman series as both a concert star and his criminal twin?

Liberace played both Chandell, a concert pianist blackmailed into crime for secretly using a player piano, and Harry, the gangster twin doing the blackmailing.

In a 1992 episode of Batman: The Animated Series, the star of the 1966 show voiced which washed-up TV hero?

The Gray Ghost is the old TV show young Bruce Wayne grew up watching, so the Batman of the 1960s plays the hero who inspired the new one.

Which animated sitcom cast the star of the 1966 Batman series as its town's mayor, under his own name?

Family Guy made him the mayor of Quahog from 2000 until his death in 2017, and its creator says he deliberately kept Batman references out of the part.

In which 2019 Arrowverse crossover did the Robin of the 1966 Batman series cameo as an older Dick Grayson?

Crisis on Infinite Earths showed him walking a dog beneath a reddening sky, then revealed that the 1966 show's world, Earth-66, was among those destroyed.

Which Star Trek actor voiced the villain of the 2017 animated film that reunited the 1966 Batman cast?

William Shatner played the villain in what became its hero's farewell: the star finished recording his lines, then died four months before the film came out.

Who played Catwoman in the 1966 Batman feature film, replacing the TV show's regular?

Lee Meriwether, a former Miss America, was a last-minute replacement, announced as the start of filming slipped by ten days. She never played the part on the TV show itself.

In the 1966 Batman film, which handy spray rids Batman of the sea creature clamped to his leg?

Bat-shark repellent: one squirt and the beast drops into the sea and explodes. The Penguin is later scolded for relying on a "trained exploding shark".

In the 1966 Batman film, what does Batman run frantically around a pier trying to get rid of?

A smoking bomb: he dashes all over the docks without finding anywhere safe to throw it, prompting his weary line, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."

In the 1966 Batman film, what does the villains' stolen dehydrator do to its victims?

Turns them to dust: nine world diplomats end up as powder in test tubes, and after a sneeze mixes the piles, they are revived speaking one another's languages.

After Batman took off in 1966, its producer launched which other masked-hero series, cancelled after one season?

The Green Hornet was played straight rather than for laughs and never caught on, lasting a single season to Batman's three.