In an announcement made by his family on social media, it was confirmed that Adam West, star of ABC’s 1966 show – ‘Batman’, has died of Leukemia. The 88 year old actor was battling with the disease for some time and succumbed to it on Friday, 9th June his family announced on his official Facebook page.
“It’s with great sadness that we are sharing this news…Adam West passed away peacefully last night after a short but brave battle with leukemia. He was a beloved father, husband, grandfather, and great-grandfather. There are no words to describe how much we’ll miss him. We know you’ll miss him too and we want you to know how much your love and support meant to him throughout the years. Hug your loved ones today,” the West family wrote on Facebook.
The family also made a brief statement on Adam’s Twitter handle, “Our beloved AW passed away last night. He was the greatest. We’ll miss him like crazy. We know you’ll miss him too – West Family.”
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Born on September 19, 1928 in Walla Walla, Washington, West started acting in films in the late 50’s – which included several brief appearances on Television and Big-Screen projects like The Young Philadelphians, Geronimo, The Outlaws is Coming, Robinson Crusoe on Mars and more.
But the actor came to prominence after playing the lead role in ABC’s live-action television show, ‘Batman’ which ran from 1966 to 1968 – following the popularity of which the very first full-length big-screen adaptation of the DC comic character was created by 20th Century Fox, starring West in his iconic portrayal of the superhero – which went on to influence several other Batman adaptations over the years.
After turning down to play James Bond in ‘Diamonds are Forever’ – stating the role should go to a British actor, West went on to star in several television and theatrical releases throughout the 1970’s and 80’s and also attempted to reprise his role of Batman in a short-lived animated series The New Adventures of Batman apart from a number of other shows like The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour, Legends of the Superheroes and more.
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Following the announcement of his death on Saturday, several Hollywood stars including Ben Affleck, Conan O’Brien, James Gunn, George Takei, Elijah Wood among others payed homage to the star.
“You’ll always be Batman to me,” Takei wrote on Twitter.