Adam West, star of the 1960s Batman TV series, has passed away at the age of 88.
The news of his death was confirmed this morning in a statement from the actor’s reps.
West reportedly passed peacefully in his sleep following a short battle with 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 statement issued moments ago.
While West’s depiction of both Batman and his alter-ego Bruce Wayne helped him achieve instant fame with the show’s debut in 1966, he would later find himself constrained and typecast by the role.
The show’s candy-colored graphics and campy storylines made it synonymous with a particularly dated brand of ’60s kitsch.
It was a tone from which West struggled to separate himself, but he would find the greatest success of his later years when he embraced his role at the clown prince of a bygone era.
Demonstrating a self-referential and self-deprecating sense of humor few actors are capable of, West turned in memorably tongue-in-cheek performances as various versions of himself on shows like The Big Bang Theory and Family Guy.
In the latter, he became a beloved series regular, portraying a deranged mayor of the fictional Quahog, whose name happened to also be Adam West.
West was sometimes critical of the darker version of Batman presented by directors Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan.
Asked about his conflicting feelings toward the character that limited his career and which later made him something of a punchline for more “serious” superhero fans, West explained that he always endeavored to find the lighter side of the Dark Knight:
“I decided that since so many people love Batman, I might as well love it too,” West said.
“Why not? So I began to reengage myself with Batman. And I saw the comedy. I saw the love people had for it, and I just embraced it.”
While many actors have portrayed Batman over the years, West’s take on the iconic figure was inarguable unique.
So it’s fitting that in his later years, fans embraced West as a gifted comic actor who offered a distinctive, era-defining take on one of pop culture’s most beloved characters.
