‘Batman’ star Adam West had sex with eight women a night
By Grant Rollings, The Sun
June 12, 2017 | 2:34pm
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Adam West in 1985 AP
Originally Published By:
'Batman' and 'Family Guy' actor Adam West dead at 88
'Deadpool' actress Morena Baccarin weds 'Gotham' co-star Ben McKenzie
Heath Ledger's sister denies he was depressed as The Joker before death
Holy family viewing, Batman — it turns out the Caped Crusader’s fetching satin pants spent a lot of time on the floor.
Adam West, who died on Saturday at age 88, became a TV legend for his camped-up portrayal of the hero in the ’60s.
But behind the mask was a sex-mad actor who slept with up to eight women a night — and turned to booze when the show was axed.
He and co-star Burt Ward, who played sidekick Robin, also romped with eager groupies in their dressing rooms in between scenes.
In fact, West discovered the only limits to his bedroom batpowers were those caused by his famous costume.
The actor explained years later: “Because of the physical limitations of the costume, you gotta have quickies.”
And he had an awful lot of them, as well as dates with fellow stars including actress sisters Natalie and Lana Wood, and Raquel Welch.
West explained: “Burt and I were like kids in a candy store. It was the Swinging Sixties with free love and women threw themselves at us. I remember one night with eight different women. Orgy is a harsh word, but it was eight at one time. I’d have young female co-stars in my dressing room at 7:45 in the morning.”
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Adam WestPictureLux, PacificCoastNews
In fact, West did once turn up at what he described as an “orgy” in Hollywood with Frank Gorshin, who played “Batman” baddie The Riddler.
But they were thrown out for behaving like their TV alter-egos and making everyone laugh.
He said: “We walked in and it was an orgy. So I immediately went into the Batman character, and Frank went into the Riddler character, because we were getting the big giggles. It was so funny to us, what we walked into. And we were kicked out. We were expelled from the orgy.”
Meanwhile, trusty Boy Wonder Ward, who is now 71, claimed West was definitely the ringleader when it came to their own adventures.
He recalled decades later: “When I entered ‘Batman’ as a naive 20-year-old who had only dated a couple of girls, I met Adam West, who immediately introduced me to the wildest sexual debauchery that you can imagine. We often found that women were banging on our windows while we were bedded down with other women.”
He added: “We’re talking about wild times in the dressing rooms, on the set, between the shots, in the lunch wagon. And then of course, doing the personal appearances on the weekend, that’s where it really got wild. And I have to be honest with you, we became like sexual vampires.”
He added that the costumes seem to be part of the lure for women: “If you look at our show, you’ll see that we always stood with our legs open, our fists on hips and our bat bulges forward, which had a profound effect on women.”
West was 37 years old and twice divorced when he was offered the role that would define his life.
After years of small roles, he was deemed to be “Batman” material after bosses saw him playing an 007-type spy in a Nesquik commercial.
When the show hit screens in 1966, he and Ward became overnight sensations, in what was the most expensive show on television at the time.
It was also one of the funniest, with its surreal double entendres.
Modal Trigger
Burt Ward and Adam West as Robin and BatmanPictureLux, PacificCoastNews
In a BBC interview in tribute to his late friend, Ward said: “We were playing it on multiple levels, we were playing with our audience. For the kids it was serious hero worship, for the adults it’s the nostalgia, the comic book, and for that very difficult audience at that time to capture, the teenagers and the college kids, it was the insinuations, the double entendres, all the things that nobody had ever done with an audience.”
But in 1968, after just three seasons and 120 episodes, Batman was defeated by the most fearsome breed of arch-villains — bean counters.
The show was axed, its ratings dropped and deals with other stations fell through.
For West, being famous for wearing his underpants on the outside and for his joyous sense of kitsch did not translate into new job offers.
One exception, incredibly, was an offer in 1970 to take over from Sean Connery as the new James Bond.
But he turned down the role because he believed that the secret agent should be British.
It was a mistake. Despite a few bit parts, he soon found himself reduced to appearing in safety ads and schlepping around for paid personal appearances.
The lowest point was being shot out of a cannon at a carnival in Indiana dressed in his famous outfit.
West said later: “I was doing things I wasn’t very comfortable doing. I became very self-destructive. That came from being disillusioned and frustrated. I was bitter when I realized ‘Batman’ had caused me to lose a lot of roles afterwards.”
He turned increasingly to booze, triggering behavior so bad that he was even barred from the posh ski resort of Aspen, Colorado, for life.
Heavy drinking even almost ruined a meeting with Pope Paul VI.
West recalled the morning he was to meet the pontiff: “I woke up with the worst hangover of my life. I made it to the Vatican, and I was at the back of this line of people who each knelt down to kiss his ring. Then it was my turn. He put out his hand. I realized that, if I knelt down, I wouldn’t be able to get up again, I was so hung over.”
Rather than kneeling, he bowed his head. At this point, the starstruck pope cried: “Oh, Signor West. I have seen all of your shows.”
His fall from grace also led to depression — something that, along with alcoholism, ran in his family.
The young West, born Billy West Anderson, had a troubled upbringing in rural Walla Walla, in Washington state.
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Adam West in October 2016Getty Images
His opera singer mom, Audrey, had given up her career when she married West’s farmer dad, Otto, and regretted it.
She became an alcoholic, and when West was 12, he found her in bed with the local preacher.
One of West’s six children, daughter Nina, once said of Audrey: “There is a curse running through our family. Alcohol and manic depression. That’s what she suffered from.”
By the time West was 15, his parents had divorced and he was living in Seattle with his mother.
At 22, he wed Billie Lou Yeager, but they divorced after six years. In 1957, he wed second wife Ngahra Frisbie. That marriage ended in 1962.
It was only in 1970, when he married Marcelle Tagland Lear, that he found lasting love. They remained together until his death.
And over time, the actor, who amassed a $25 million fortune from rerun fees and personal appearances, also came to terms with being known “only” as Batman.
He even starred in a 2003 TV movie, “Return To The Batcave,” with Ward and a host of former co-stars.
He explained: “I decided that since so many people love Batman, I might as well love it too. So I began to re-engage myself with Batman. And I saw the comedy. I saw the love people had for it, and I just embraced it.”
By Grant Rollings, The Sun
June 12, 2017 | 2:34pm
Modal Trigger
Adam West in 1985 AP
Originally Published By:
'Batman' and 'Family Guy' actor Adam West dead at 88
'Deadpool' actress Morena Baccarin weds 'Gotham' co-star Ben McKenzie
Heath Ledger's sister denies he was depressed as The Joker before death
Holy family viewing, Batman — it turns out the Caped Crusader’s fetching satin pants spent a lot of time on the floor.
Adam West, who died on Saturday at age 88, became a TV legend for his camped-up portrayal of the hero in the ’60s.
But behind the mask was a sex-mad actor who slept with up to eight women a night — and turned to booze when the show was axed.
He and co-star Burt Ward, who played sidekick Robin, also romped with eager groupies in their dressing rooms in between scenes.
In fact, West discovered the only limits to his bedroom batpowers were those caused by his famous costume.
The actor explained years later: “Because of the physical limitations of the costume, you gotta have quickies.”
And he had an awful lot of them, as well as dates with fellow stars including actress sisters Natalie and Lana Wood, and Raquel Welch.
West explained: “Burt and I were like kids in a candy store. It was the Swinging Sixties with free love and women threw themselves at us. I remember one night with eight different women. Orgy is a harsh word, but it was eight at one time. I’d have young female co-stars in my dressing room at 7:45 in the morning.”
Modal Trigger
Adam WestPictureLux, PacificCoastNews
In fact, West did once turn up at what he described as an “orgy” in Hollywood with Frank Gorshin, who played “Batman” baddie The Riddler.
But they were thrown out for behaving like their TV alter-egos and making everyone laugh.
He said: “We walked in and it was an orgy. So I immediately went into the Batman character, and Frank went into the Riddler character, because we were getting the big giggles. It was so funny to us, what we walked into. And we were kicked out. We were expelled from the orgy.”
Meanwhile, trusty Boy Wonder Ward, who is now 71, claimed West was definitely the ringleader when it came to their own adventures.
He recalled decades later: “When I entered ‘Batman’ as a naive 20-year-old who had only dated a couple of girls, I met Adam West, who immediately introduced me to the wildest sexual debauchery that you can imagine. We often found that women were banging on our windows while we were bedded down with other women.”
He added: “We’re talking about wild times in the dressing rooms, on the set, between the shots, in the lunch wagon. And then of course, doing the personal appearances on the weekend, that’s where it really got wild. And I have to be honest with you, we became like sexual vampires.”
He added that the costumes seem to be part of the lure for women: “If you look at our show, you’ll see that we always stood with our legs open, our fists on hips and our bat bulges forward, which had a profound effect on women.”
West was 37 years old and twice divorced when he was offered the role that would define his life.
After years of small roles, he was deemed to be “Batman” material after bosses saw him playing an 007-type spy in a Nesquik commercial.
When the show hit screens in 1966, he and Ward became overnight sensations, in what was the most expensive show on television at the time.
It was also one of the funniest, with its surreal double entendres.
Modal Trigger
Burt Ward and Adam West as Robin and BatmanPictureLux, PacificCoastNews
In a BBC interview in tribute to his late friend, Ward said: “We were playing it on multiple levels, we were playing with our audience. For the kids it was serious hero worship, for the adults it’s the nostalgia, the comic book, and for that very difficult audience at that time to capture, the teenagers and the college kids, it was the insinuations, the double entendres, all the things that nobody had ever done with an audience.”
But in 1968, after just three seasons and 120 episodes, Batman was defeated by the most fearsome breed of arch-villains — bean counters.
The show was axed, its ratings dropped and deals with other stations fell through.
For West, being famous for wearing his underpants on the outside and for his joyous sense of kitsch did not translate into new job offers.
One exception, incredibly, was an offer in 1970 to take over from Sean Connery as the new James Bond.
But he turned down the role because he believed that the secret agent should be British.
It was a mistake. Despite a few bit parts, he soon found himself reduced to appearing in safety ads and schlepping around for paid personal appearances.
The lowest point was being shot out of a cannon at a carnival in Indiana dressed in his famous outfit.
West said later: “I was doing things I wasn’t very comfortable doing. I became very self-destructive. That came from being disillusioned and frustrated. I was bitter when I realized ‘Batman’ had caused me to lose a lot of roles afterwards.”
He turned increasingly to booze, triggering behavior so bad that he was even barred from the posh ski resort of Aspen, Colorado, for life.
Heavy drinking even almost ruined a meeting with Pope Paul VI.
West recalled the morning he was to meet the pontiff: “I woke up with the worst hangover of my life. I made it to the Vatican, and I was at the back of this line of people who each knelt down to kiss his ring. Then it was my turn. He put out his hand. I realized that, if I knelt down, I wouldn’t be able to get up again, I was so hung over.”
Rather than kneeling, he bowed his head. At this point, the starstruck pope cried: “Oh, Signor West. I have seen all of your shows.”
His fall from grace also led to depression — something that, along with alcoholism, ran in his family.
The young West, born Billy West Anderson, had a troubled upbringing in rural Walla Walla, in Washington state.
Modal Trigger
Adam West in October 2016Getty Images
His opera singer mom, Audrey, had given up her career when she married West’s farmer dad, Otto, and regretted it.
She became an alcoholic, and when West was 12, he found her in bed with the local preacher.
One of West’s six children, daughter Nina, once said of Audrey: “There is a curse running through our family. Alcohol and manic depression. That’s what she suffered from.”
By the time West was 15, his parents had divorced and he was living in Seattle with his mother.
At 22, he wed Billie Lou Yeager, but they divorced after six years. In 1957, he wed second wife Ngahra Frisbie. That marriage ended in 1962.
It was only in 1970, when he married Marcelle Tagland Lear, that he found lasting love. They remained together until his death.
And over time, the actor, who amassed a $25 million fortune from rerun fees and personal appearances, also came to terms with being known “only” as Batman.
He even starred in a 2003 TV movie, “Return To The Batcave,” with Ward and a host of former co-stars.
He explained: “I decided that since so many people love Batman, I might as well love it too. So I began to re-engage myself with Batman. And I saw the comedy. I saw the love people had for it, and I just embraced it.”