Updated: December 21, 2020

Adam West was born William West Anderson to Otto West Anderson and Audrey Speer Anderson and he has a brother named John. Adam West was raised on his family's farm, and as a boy he liked Batman comics. After attending Lakeside School, a prestigious high school in Seattle, he graduated with an BA, either in English or Literature and Psychology from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. At Whitman College he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He also was a graduate student at Standford University.

In 1950, he married 17 year old Billi Lou Yeager.Induction into the U.S. Army followed, thanks to the Draft. He served two years in the United States Army. He worked odd jobs as a truck driver, and cowboy; until his resonant voice got him work as a radio disc jockey. Next he travelled with his wife around Europe, where he sometimes worked as a milkman. Eventually he settled in Hawaii where he got a role on a light entertainment show called The Kini Popo Show. West was the sidekick and eventual star of The Kini-Popo Show, a local children's show co-starring a chimp.

In 1956, in Hawaii, he divorced his first wife and married a Hawaiian woman named either Ngahra Frisbie or Ngatokoruaimatauaia Frisbie Dawson; whom Adam called Nga. The couple had two children; daughter Jonells and son Hunter; before settling down in 1959 in Hollywood, where he began to appear in Westerns. In 1962, West and Frisbie divorced. 10 years later West wed his third wife, Marcelle Tagand Lear, in 1972. Together they had daughter Nina and son Perrin; as well as West helping raise two stepdaughters, Moya Lear Tsatos and Jill Lear.

Marriages & Children:

Wife: Billie Lou Yeager (b. 1933, m. 1950, div. 1956, married her when she was 17)

Wife: Nghara Frisbie (dancer, m. 1957, div. 1962, two children) Daughter: Jonelle West (b. 1957 with Frisbie) Son: Hunter West (b. 1958 with Frisbie) Wife: Marcelle Tagand Lear (m. 1971, two children) Daughter: Nina West (TV host, b. 1976 with Lear) Son: Perrin West (b. 1979 with Lear) Daughter: Moya Lear Tsatos (Lear's daughter adopted by West) Daughter: Jill Lear (artist, Lear's daughter adopted by West)

Acting Career: Batman

Adam West as BatmanIn the 1960s, various roles in films and television brought him to the attention of William Dozier, who cast him as Batman in the 1960s hit television series. West has said he was also invited to play James Bond after Sean Connery decided to give up the role, and that he was almost a majority of the three big B's of the 1960s: Bond, Batman, and The Beatles. The Batman show was internationally successful as light camp entertainment, running from 1966 to 1968 and even producing a feature film.

Post-Batman Career - Typecasting:

After the show ended, West was typecast as Batman and had trouble playing other roles; audiences identified him as Batman and no one else. Even his convincing lead performance as cynical tough guy Johnny Cain in the 1969 film The Girl Who Knew Too Much did not erode his Batman image.

He never stopped working after Batman and during the 1970s and 1980s appeared in a range of B-grade films and non-aired TV pilots, including The Happy Hooker Goes To Hollywood about the famed call girl, Xaviera Hollander.

In 1979, West returned to the role of Batman in Legends of the Super-Heroes. He returned again in 1983, this time in animated form on the Super Friends cartoon, taking over from previous Batman Olan Soule.

During the 1990s he achieved partial cult status, appearing as himself in such films as The Size of Watermelons and Drop Dead Gorgeous. West has also lent his voice to several animated television series, including The Simpsons and the animated Batman television series. In 1991, he starred in the pilot episode for Lookwell, in which he portrayed a has-been TV action hero who falsely believes he can solve crimes in real life. The pilot, written by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel, has accrued a reputation for being one of the funniest potential series not to be picked up by a network. It was later broadcast on the Trio channel. West had a cameo appearance on the Fox animated version of Batman, Batman: The Animated Series. In the episode Beware the Gray Ghost, West ironically voices an actor that used to play a hero in a TV series called "The Gray Ghost" and that has since been typecast in that role, having difficulty finding new work.

Adam West plays "Mayor Adam West" on the animated sitcom Family GuyWest makes semi-regular appearances on the animated series Family Guy, on which he plays Mayor Adam West, the near-lunatic mayor of fictional Quahog, Rhode Island

Adam West also appears on Nickelodeon's animated series The Fairly OddParents, as a cat-obsessed version of himself who is famous for playing a superhero called Catman, and who actually believes he is Catman. He also acts as the character of the Crimson Chin, though he does not believe he is this character. (The real Crimson Chin shows up later on in said episode.)

He also voiced cartoon roles on Kim Possible as Timothy North, a washed-up actor who believes he is the superhero he portrayed on television, The Fearless Ferret. He also starred on the Cartoon Network series Johnny Bravo. In The Batman, he plays the mayor of Gotham City named Marion Grange, and most recently has done voice over work for The Boondocks. He also played the voice of General Carrington in the video game XIII.

He is also a canny investor who has appeared on Fox's Cashin' In show about the stock market and investments in general.

Filmography:

Voodoo Island (1957) Ghost of the China Sea (1958) The Young Philadelphians (1959) The FBI Story (1959) (voice only) Geronimo (1962) Tammy and the Doctor (1963) Soldier in the Rain (1963) Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) The Relentless Four (1965) The Outlaws Is Coming (1965) Mara of the Wilderness (1965) Batman (1966) The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969) Hollywood Blue (1970) (documentary) The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971) Curse of the Moon Child (1972) Tactical Guerilla (1974) The Specialist (1975) Fiona (1977) Hooper (1978) (Cameo) The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (1980) One Dark Night (1983) Hellriders (1984) Young Lady Chatterly II (1985) Zombie Nightmare (1986) Night of the Kickfighters (1988) Doin' Time on Planet Earth (1988) Going Undercover (1988) Omega Cop (1990) Mad About You (1990) Return Fire (1991) Maxim Xul (1991) The Best Movie Ever Made (1994) (Cameo) The New Age (1994) Not This Part of the World (1994) Ride for Your Life (1995) (short subject) The Clinic (1995) The Size of Watermelons (1996) (Cameo) Joyride (1996) Redux Riding Hood (1997) (short subject) (voice) An American Vampire Story (1997) Behind the Sting (1999) (documentary) Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) (Cameo) family guy(2002) Seance (2001) From Heaven to Hell (2002) Baadasssss! (2003) Tales from Beyond (2004) Buckaroo (2005) Chicken Little (2005) (voice) Angels with Angles (2005) Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005) (Mayor Adam West) Batman: New Times (2005) (Batman/Bruce Wayne) Upcoming: Sexina: Popstar P.I. (2006) Frankie the Squirrel (2006) Meet The Robinsons (2007) Television Work: The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor (cast member from 1961-1962) Batman (1966-1968) Alexander the Great (1968) The Eyes of Charles Sand (1972) Poor Devil (1973) Shazam! (cast member from 1974-1975) (voice) Nevada Smith (1975) The New Adventures of Batman (1977-1978) (voice) Tarzan and the Super 7 (1978-1980) (voice) Legends of the Superheroes (1979) For the Love of It (1980) Warp Speed (1981) I Take These Men (1983) SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984) (canceled after 16 episodes) (voice) The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985) (canceled after 10 episodes) (voice) The Last Precinct (1986) (canceled after 7 episodes) Murder, She Wrote (Death Takes a Dive) (1987).... Wade Talmadge Lookwell (1991) (unsold pilot) 1775 (1992) The Simpsons (1992) (voice as himself) Danger Theatre (1993) (canceled after 7 episodes) The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1993-1996) Johnny Bravo (1997) (voice as himself) The Secret Files of the SpyDogs (1998-1999) (voice) Family Guy (1999-2002, 2005-Present) (voice as Mayor Adam West) The Drew Carey Show (2001) The Fairly OddParents (2001-2006) (voice as himself/Catman) Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003) The Boondocks (TV series) (2005) (voice) The King of Queens (Shear Torture) (2005) Video Games XIII 2003 (voice) Marc Ecko's Getting up: Contents Under Pressure 2006 (voice)