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This western actor was William Dozier's first choice to play Batman
Here's how Adam West ended up winning the role.
Though he seemingly embodies the role of the Caped Crusader, Adam West was not originally the first in line to play Batman.
Batman series creator William Dozier preferred Western actor Ty Hardin. While Hardin was unavailable, Dozier was offered a more than worthy substitute.
“My first choice for Batman was Ty Hardin,” said Dozier, according to The Official Batman Batbook by Joel Eisner. “But he was shooting spaghetti westerns in Italy, so he was unavailable. His agent came in to tell me that Ty couldn’t try out, and then he showed me an eight-by-ten. He said, ‘What do you think of this guy?’ So this was a guy with a surfboard walking on the beach, who looked good...I had never seen him.”
Of course, the Beach Boy lookalike was Adam West. West had previously guest-starred in a few television shows, such as Robert Taylor and the Detectives. Though Dozier appreciated the young actor’s look, his priority was that every actor on the set of Batman understand the series. Dozier wanted to approach a level of comedy and silliness with the seriousness of a Shakespeare performance. Luckily, West understood his vision.
“He [West] came in, and I had a long talk with him,” said Dozier. “He’s very bright, Adam...He got it right away and understood what we were trying to sell.”
West won the role in the end, making superhero history.
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