Remembering Adam West

Adam West made more of an impact on my childhood than I realised. I think the first time I heard him on TV was in The Fairly Odd Parents where he played himself as a nutty old actor who played Cat Man (a nod to West’s role as Batman on TV in the ’60s). I didn’t realise that he had played the original Batman when I first watched the show, I just thought the animators were riffing on cheesy old TV shows. When I realised that his role on Batman also gave rise to Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy on Spongebob Squarepants, I started to look at who he was and realised that he was a really interesting and prolific actor, not just some silly old guy with a cool voice. West’s appearances on Family Guy are some of my favorite moments on the show, with his over the top crazy old guy routine. He reminded me a lot of my grandfather, who was about the same age, and also liked to do over the top things to get people to laugh, and had an amazing radio voice.

Mr. West passed away today at 88, after a battle with Leukemia. We will all miss his voice in our favourite shows.