20 Famous People Who Guest Starred On The 1960s BATMAN TV Series - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

Home Top Ad

Post Top Ad

20 Famous People Who Guest Starred On The 1960s BATMAN TV Series

Atomic batteries to power...


Premiering on January 12th 1966, the live-action Batman series starring Adam West and Burt Ward as the Dynamic Duo of Batman & Robin has lived on far longer than its three seasons and 120 episodes, becoming a staple of 1960s pop culture. Known for its camp style, upbeat theme music and its intentionally humorous, simplistic morality, Batman championed the importance of using seat belts, doing homework, eating vegetables, and drinking milk! It also proved a ratings hit and had many a famous person queuing up to be a guest star. We've rounded up 20 of them; famous people who you no doubt know but might not realise you saw them on Batman.

Editor's Note: For the sake of this list we are not including actors who made multiple appearances as a recurring character, for instance the many villains who made up Batman's Rouges Gallery (like Cesar Romero as The Joker, Burgess Meredith as The Penguin, making 22 & 21 appearances respectively, and Vincent Price as Egghead etc). Every actor below is a proper guest star, making no more than two or three (if that, and bear in mind the first two seasons featured multi-part adventures which comprised one story) appearances in the 1960s Batman TV series...


1. Bruce Lee as Kato
Before co-starring in The Green Hornet TV series, legendary martial arts icon Bruce Lee, along with fellow Hornet actor Van Williams, popped their heads out of a window during an uncredited cameo in the 1966 episode The Spell Of Tut. The due returned to face off against the Dynamic Duo in Batman's Satisfaction/A Piece Of The Action, eventually becoming allies when they realise they are on the same side.


2. Eartha Kitt as Catwoman
Replacing original Catwoman Julie Newmar (after a back injury forced her to retire from the role) Earth Kitt's casting for the 1967 episode Catwoman's Dressed To Kill caused quite a controversy back in the day. Because of her race some of ABC's southern affiliates declared they would not broadcast the episode. The show's producers released a statement that they stood behind their decision and that they felt an actresses skin colour shouldn't be an issue. Kitt then returned The Funny Feline Felonies and The Joke's On Catwoman.


3. Lesley Gore as Pussycat
It's her party and she'll cry if she wants to! The former pop teen starlet turned actress played a henchwoman of the Catwoman's. Not that much of a stretch for Gore, she was cast as a rock singer with a crush on Robin in the 1967 episodes That Darn Catwoman/Scat! Darn Catwoman.


4. Jerry Lewis
A popular source of cameo appearances in Batman came about during the regular Batclimb segment, as Batman and Robin, supposedly, scale the side of a tall building. Many an apartment window would be opened by a celebrity for a short conversation with the Dynamic Duo. Most of these were uncredited appearances, like this one by "The King Of Comedy" Jerry Lewis appeared in the 1966 episode The Bookworm Turns.


5. Roddy McDowall as The Bookworm
Before donning the prosthetics to portray Cornelius and Caesar in the original Planet of the Apes film series, as well as Galen in the spin-off television series, Roddy McDowell guest starred in the episodes The Bookworm Turns/While Gotham City Burns.


6. Dick Clark
Another Batclimb cameo, and this one was in the 1966 episode Shoot A Crooked Arrow. Dick Clark, he of American Bandstand and Rockin' New Years Eve fame, popped his head out the window to say hello.


7. Joan Collins as The Siren
Dynasty's Joan Collins guest starred as the appropriately named The Siren a.k.a. Lorelei Circe in the 1967 episodes Ring Around The Riddler/The Wail Of The Siren.


8. Liberace as Chandell and Harry
An original character created for the episode's The Devil's Fingers/The Dead Ringers, the never knowingly underdressed piano maestro Liberace portrayed both Chandell, a pianist who is blackmailed into a life of crime as the criminal Fingers, and hi twin brother Harry who was the one behind the blackmail.


9. Sammy Davis Jr
Appearing in The Clock King's Crazy Crimes, the rat-pack member stopped by to say hello for a Batclimb cameo.


10. John Astin as The Riddler
A one-shot Riddler, filling in for Frank Gorshin for the 2-part 1967 adventure Batman's Anniversary/A Riddling Controversy, you likely know John Astin far better as Gomez in the original The Addams Family TV series.

Talking of The Addams Family...


11. Ted Cassidy
Dressed as his character Lurch from The Addams Family, Ted Cassidy appeared in the 1966 Batclimb segment of The Penguin's Nest.


12. Shelley Winters as Ma Parker
The Greatest Mother Of The All/Ma Parker are the names of the 2-part story featuring Shelley Winters. With a career spanning six decades you may have seen her in The Poseidon Adventure, Alfie, Pete's Dragon (the original) and The Diary of Anne Frank and A Patch of Blue for which she won Academy Awards for.


13. Zsa Zsa Gabor as Minerva
Minerva played by Hungarian-American actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor, was created specifically for the series. Minerva is introduced as a spa owner catering to Gotham City's wealthy, and uses a modified hair dryer to scan her client's minds to find out where they hide their fortunes.


14. Don Ho 
Saying hello in The Bat's Kow Tow was Don Ho - and that's a mouthful if ever there was one! If you're not familiar with Don Ho then you've missed out my friend. Immerse yourself in the Hawaiian's extensive music career and especially enjoy his best known song "Tiny Bubbles" from the album of the same name.


15. Michael Rennie as The Sandman a.k.a. Dr. Somnambula
Probably best remembered for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still , but with a career spanning more than 30 years, Rennie appeared in more than 50 films and in several American television series including the 2-part adventure The Sandman Commeth/The Catwoman Goeth as an international criminal who uses hypnotic sand to control sleepwalkers.


16. George Sanders as Dr. Art Schivel a.k.a Mr Freeze
The original Mr Freeze, appearing in Instant Freeze/Rats Like Cheese, George Sanders is well known for playing The Saint in the 1930s & 40s film series, as well as providing the voice of the malevolent man-hating tiger Shere Khan in Disney's The Jungle Book.


17. Werner Klemperer
Werner Klemperer appeared in character as Colonel Klink from Hogan's Heroes in the 1966 episode It's How You Play the Game.


18. Cliff Robertson as Shame
As a parody of Shane, the cowboy character was created especially for the series. played by Cliff Robertson who at the same time found himself nominated for and winning the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the film Charly, he appeared in the episodes Come Back Shame/It's How You Play The Game and The Great Escape/The Great Train Robbery. Some of you may recognise the name as some years later Cliff Robertson also played Ben Parker in the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films.


19. David Lewis as Warden Crichton
A decade before he joined General Hospital as Edward Quartermaine, a role he played for 15 years and won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Daytime Drama for, David Lewis had the unenviable job of looking after all those felons as the Warden of Gotham City Penitentiary.


20. Andy Devine as Santa Claus
For the December 22nd 1966 episode of Batman, titled The Due Is Slumming,  Santa Claus popped his head out the window to wish the Dynamic Duo a happy Christmas. Underneath the white beard was Andy Devine, most famously known as Roy Rogers sidekick Cookie.

And there you go, 20 famous people who guest starred on the 1960s Batman TV series. Did you know them all? And can you name any more? Let us know in the comments below and we'll update the list.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Post Top Ad