The sad news has broken that Adam West, the star of the classic 1960s Batman TV show, has died aged 88.
While Bat-fans will argue forever about which actor was the greatest Caped Crusader, West will always be Batman to a certain generation. Newer interpretations of the Dark Knight has cast him as a grim, troubled avenger, the brightly coloured TV series defined the character for decades, and perfectly struck a balance between genuinely exciting adventures for children, and sly parody for older audiences. A massive part of that was West’s performance, delivering ludicrous lines with completely straight-faced, which only made them even funnier. Running for three years and a movie, the show remained in circulation for decades and enjoyed by many subsequent generations.
While he will always been best remembered as Batman, in later years he embraced his cult status. He made a brilliantly cameo in one of the greatest Simpsons episodes ever, Mr Plow, and also voiced The Grey Ghost, a movie hero idolised by the young Bruce Wayne in the 90s Batman animated series.
His most notable role in recent times however was playing the mayor of Quahog in Family Guy. In a show that was already known for its random cutaways, he used his trademark deadpan delivery to drop non-sequiturs better than anyone else in the voice cast.
Rest in peace, and have a safe journey to the big Batcave in the sky.
