Celebs, fans pay tribute
Late Batman actor West honoured at Comic-Con
There are typically a lot of Batmen at ComicCon, but only one was the subject of a star-filled tribute.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith, producer James Tucker, actors Ralph Garman and Lee Meriwether and about a thousand fans paid tribute to the late Adam West at the pop-culture convention Thursday.
West played Batman in the 1960s TV series and voiced the character of Mayor West on Family Guy. He died last month at age 88.
Smith said he was about four years old when he first saw West in Batman on a black-and-white TV.
“He defined my youth,” Smith said. “He gave me my morality. Everything I learned about being good, I learned from watching Adam West play the Bright Knight.”
Smith said that when he shared those thoughts with West during his appearance on the Fatman on Batman podcast, West said: “That doesn’t speak well of your parents.”
Meriwether said when she played Catwoman and Kitka opposite West in Batman: The Movie, she could hardly maintain her character’s accent because she was so dazzled by West.
“I had a little crush, just a little one,” the 82-year-old actress said, blushing at the memory. One of the first scenes they filmed together was a ballroom scene where the two danced.
“All I could think of was, ‘I’m dancing with Adam West,’” she said. “I probably blew one take and then I snapped out of it.”
Tucker said the whole reason he became a producer is so that one day he might be able to hire, and therefore meet, West. The first time Tucker hired him, though, West literally phoned it in. It was a voice-acting role, and the actor was able to do it by phone.
“I didn’t get to meet him, so I had to cast him again,” Tucker said.
“Whatever I’m doing in this industry is because of that show,” he said of seeing West on Batman.
“That show changed my life. It made me want to do this. It made me want to be an artist,” Tucker continued. “Meeting him and having him be exactly who you want him to be as a person ... and be genuinely friendly and genuinely there for you is amazing. I can’t say enough about him.”
Garman said, “I have a little piece of magic in my life because I got to become friends with my hero.”