The Bright Knight Adam West Passes Away at Age 88

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Adam West passed away peacefully at age 88 Friday night in Los Angeles, surrounded by his loving family, who released a statement earlier today confirming he was battling Leukemia.

“Our dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans’ lives. He was and always will be our hero,” his family said in a statement.

Adam West played the iconic role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in the Batman TV Series from 1966-1968, a role that not only would define his career but save the Batman comic book title as it was having low sales and almost canceled before the show premiered. Though he wasn’t the first live action version, it is the most iconic and often many fans first introduction to the character. For years the series was not released on home video due to the legal troubles of WB owning the character rights and 20Th Century Fox owning the rights to the series. Adam West even created his own Special Features DVD release called Adam West Naked!: TV’s Classic Batman Reveals All as he felt he would not be around for an official release. Thankfully that was not the case and he was able to see the series get not only a DVD release but a Blu-Ray release, which looks beautiful in HD.

For years he suffered through typecasting until he embraced his former fame and made it into a new chapter of his career. He returned to the role of Batman several times, The New Adventures of Batman, Legends of the Superheroes, SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, Batman: New Times short film & the recent Batman: The Return of the Caped Crusaders. He also voiced the 60’s version in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham video game. He also voiced the 60’s version in Robot Chicken’s DC Special Magical Friendship

His legacy as Batman also gained him some roles honoring his contribution to the world of DC comics as he played in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series as Simon Trent, an out of work actor who once played a superhero on TV but was typecast and had trouble finding new roles. On The Batman he played the voice of Mayor Grange. He played the voice of Thomas Wayne in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He also was the narrator in the NBC series Powerless.

He would also play fictional versions of himself in shows like King of Queens, Return to the Batcave: The Misdaventures of Adam West and Burt Ward and The Simpsons. He redefined his career later in his life play Mayor West in the popular adult animated series Family Guy, gaining another fan base.

Adam West signed on to voice the role of Batman for Batman Vs Two-Face co-starring Burt Ward as Robin and William Shatner as Two-Face which was announced at last years San Diego Comic Con.

Our deepest condolences goes to out to the friends of family to Adam West, The Bright Knight.

Source: Variety

Eric Curto
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