Billion Dollar Batman

by Bruce Scivally

  The next episode saw the return of Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, aided in his villainy by the Siren, a character created for the show. The next episode telecast featured a solo turn by the sultry Siren, aka chanteuse Lorelei Circe, portrayed by British actress Joan Collins. The episode ended with a shot of Batgirl on her Batgirlcycle, while “The Batgirl Theme,” composed by Billy May and Willy Mack, was heard on the soundtrack:

  Where do you come from? Where do you go?

  What is your scene? Baby, we just gotta know!

  Are you a chick who fell in from outer space,

  or are you real with a tender warm embrace?

  Yeah, whose baby are you? Batgirl, Batgirl!

  Unlike the Batman theme, Batgirl’s theme was never released on a record.

  By the third season, the writers and producers had entirely stopped relying on the comic books for fresh villains, instead falling into a pattern of casting the guest villain and then creating a criminal persona specifically for them. The result was villains who lacked the spark of the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin and Catwoman. When the Penguin returned for the season’s fourth and fifth episodes (the season’s first two-parter), he was joined by Ethel Merman as Lola Lasagne. Merman, a Tony Award-winning Broadway legend famed for playing Mother Rose in Gypsy, was an outsized personality playing a minor scale villain—a childhood friend of the Penguin’s. After a King Tut episode, Milton Berle turned up as Louie the Lilac, who sought to control Gotham City’s flower children by cornering the flower market. Berle had previously made a cameo in a second season episode, as Lefty, a prison inmate, popping up during a Batclimb. As Louie the Lilac, Berle toned down his manic comic persona so much that he seemed practically comatose, turning in a performance that had a soporific effect on viewers.

  In a time when many TV series tried to boost their ratings by filming episodes in London, Batman did a three part adventure set in Londinium, a low-budget backlot London filmed on the 20th Century Fox stages. Rudy Vallee, the megaphone-wielding singing sensation of the 1920s, played Lord Fogg, who could conjure up man-made fog to aid in his criminal activities. Apparently, none of the main cast enjoyed working with the legendary crooner. ”Crabby old Rudy Vallee was an absolute curmudgeon!” said Yvonne Craig. “What made it worse was that it was a three-episode shoot, so we had him around for a long time. He was so cranky, especially when you compare him to a wonderful guest like Vincent Price!”366

  When Catwoman reappeared, she was no longer played by Julie Newmar, who was busy co-starring with Gregory Peck in Mackenna’s Gold (1969), but rather by sultry songstress Eartha Kitt, whom no less an authority than Orson Welles once called, “the most exciting woman in the world.”367 With her pixie-ish singing style, the cabaret vocalist scored a hit in 1953 with the song “Santa Baby.” While Kitt had a more smoldering sensuality as Catwoman than Newmar, the playful, sexually teasing banter between Catwoman and Batman that had been a hallmark of Newmar’s appearances was absent. Though it was innovative and groundbreaking in 1967 to cast a black actress in a leading role on television, it was still taboo to suggest the possibility of any sexual liaison between a black character and a white character. Nonetheless, Kitt seemed to have fun in the skin-tight spandex, and Yvonne Craig appreciated that she was less statuesque than her predecessor. “Eartha Kitt was a marvelous Catwoman,” said Craig. “Julie would have been too tall for me.”368 Even Julie Newmar approved of the casting, saying, “I think Eartha had absolutely the best voice of all. When she said ‘Purrrrfect,’ it was wonderful.”369

  As the season wound down, Barbara Rush turned up as Nora Clavicle, who convinces Mayor Linseed (a spoof of New York mayor John Lindsay) to make her police commissioner and turns the Gotham police force into an all-female organization. She then robs the Gotham City National Bank, after disposing of Batman, Robin and Batgirl in a rather kinky way by tying them into a Siamese human knot.

  After episodes featuring returning villains the Penguin, Shame, King Tut and the Joker, the acting duo of Ida Lupino and Howard Duff popped up as Dr. Cassandra Spellcraft and her accomplice, Cabala. Writer Stanley Ralph Ross’s initial script for the episode called the villains’ weapon, a ray gun that removed the third dimension from people and turned them into cardboard cutouts, a “Ronald Ray-gun.” Since Ronald Reagan was then the governor of California, Ross was pressured to come up with a different name. He settled on the Alvino Ray-gun; Alvino Rey was a 1940’s swing-era bandleader.370

  Zsa Zsa Gabor, who had been considered for the roles of Olga, the Queen of the Bessarovian Cossacks and Marsha, Queen of Diamonds, finally got her chance at Batman villainy in the series’ final episode. As Minerva, who ran a mineral spa catering to millionaires, she hoped to use her Deepest Secret Extractor—which looked like an ordinary, everyday hair dryer—to get the combination to the Wayne Foundation vault. In Back to the Batcave, Adam West wrote of Gabor, “I understood how Zsa Zsa had managed to dazzle so many men over the years. It wasn’t just her face and figure, which were impressive. When she talked to you, she had a way of making you feel like Adam, the first and only man and the one who was most important to her.”371 Producers William Dozier and Howie Horwitz appeared as themselves at the beginning of the final episode. As clients of Minerva, Dozier reveals that he keeps securities in a grandfather clock, while “millionaire producer” Horwitz claims to keep his cash in a TV set.372

  At the beginning of 1968, Adam West traveled to London at the behest of Margaret Thatcher, then a Minister of Parliament representing Finchley. She asked West to appear in a traffic safety film for schoolchildren. West obliged, in full Batman garb. After shooting the safety film, he had dinner with producer Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli and Broccoli’s wife, Dana. When the subject of the 1943 Batman serial came up, West said, “That’s the one we call the baggy pants Batman.” Dana Broccoli replied, “Well, that was my first husband.”373 Despite putting his foot in his mouth, West made a good impression on the Broccolis; before dinner was over, Cubby, who was the co-producer of the James Bond films, asked West if he would like to take over the role of 007, which Sean Connery had just vacated. Though flattered, West said he felt that Bond should be played by an Englishman, and thus declined the opportunity to be seriously considered to star in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.374

  West returned to the U.S. amid talks of extending Batman to a fourth season, but only if the budgets could be cut, which would entail losing cast members. The network suggested losing Robin and making Batgirl Batman’s partner in crime-solving, but West felt that would be unfair to Burt Ward; he suggested alternating Robin and Batgirl as a compromise. In the end, Dozier apparently decided that he didn’t want to do a bare-bones version of the show, and threw in the towel. “Batman Axed,” read the headline in the January 18, 1968 Daily Variety; it was such a non- story that the trade paper printed it not on page 1 but rather on page 14.375

  A week later, Dozier received a call from a reporter from The New York Times who was checking to see if the Variety story was true. The reporter had just spoken to a representative from ABC, who said no decision had yet been made on the series. Speaking afterward to Daily Variety, Dozier said, “ABC didn’t order repeats of our show starting March 21, which means it automatically lost its position on the show, which is tantamount to cancellation. Why ABC chose to play this cozy game— especially with the Times—undoubtedly means the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing, or it is to lull thousands of youngsters into believing the show will remain on, knowing they will be disappointed. More so than this youngster.” Dozier said he had called Adam West’s agent to notify him of ABC’s actions.376

  Meanwhile, Howie Horwitz was giving a rather conflicting story to The Los Angeles Times, saying, “My own boss, Bill Dozier, has signed a deal with Warners-Seven Arts to make pictures. We will have nothing on TV next season unless Batman is picked up again, and that we won’t know until April.”377 In fact, the very next day, The New York Times ran the headline, “Curses!!! ‘Ba
tman’ Meets His Master: Television’s Ratings.” In the accompanying article, Dozier said that the network had notified him that Batman would not be back the following season. “They ordered 26 shows for this season and that should take them through the end of March,” he said. “Repeats and preemptions should carry them through June. But there will be no Batman next season, whatever the network tells you.” Leonard Goldberg, the vice-president of programming at ABC, said that in fact the network had reached no decision on the program, saying, “Mr. Dozier had not been told the program would not be renewed,” but adding that Dozier “probably came to that conclusion after looking at the ratings.” By that point, the series had dropped from the top ten of the Nielsen ratings down to the 48th position.378

  By the end of February, after a couple of episodes featuring Cliff Robertson as Shame had aired, it had dropped to 75th place.379 Lorenzo Semple, who called the show “a one-trick pony at heart,”380 felt that ultimately, “It got too silly. They tried Batgirl, Batcycle, all those things, but it just wasn’t right. It was a very delicate mix of things, I think, the original series.”381 Howie Horwitz told The Los Angeles Times he had no regrets, saying, “I make no apologies for the show—I’m proud of it.”382

  According to Adam West, NBC expressed interest in picking up the show, but by the time they came forward with an offer, the Batcave set had been destroyed and the other standing sets dismantled. Unwilling to spend the money to rebuild them, NBC withdrew their offer, and the series was over. “There were definitely bittersweet feelings about leaving the show behind,” wrote Adam West. “I felt like the Thief of Baghdad rolling away the magic carpet that had taken me to so many interesting places, creatively as well as physically.” A month after the series ended, there was a cast and crew farewell party at the Sand and Sea Beach Club, and then everyone went their separate ways.383

  After Batman ended, Vanessa Brown of The Los Angeles Times asked William Dozier what was meaningful about the program. “I didn’t feel there was anything meaningful about Batman,” answered Dozier (with vehemence, according to Brown), adding, “Batman wasn’t intended to be meaningful.” So why, she asked, did he do it? “I’m in business, too,” he responded, “the same as the networks. I don’t feel that every television show has to be meaningful. They couldn’t possibly be. There must be a variety. Batman was designed primarily and totally to entertain, and it did. It didn’t demean its audience. Children didn’t learn anything bad from Batman. They learned a few very high moral principles.”384

  AFTER BATMAN

  The three seasons of Batman yielded plenty enough episodes for syndication, with a total of 120 half-hour shows completed. During the middle of the third season, it was sold into syndication, quickly racking up $2 million in gross bookings in 18 markets, including stations in Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Philadelphia. The stations planned to start running the show the following September, at the beginning of a new TV season.385

  Dozier set about working on film projects, leaving television behind. He told Daily Variety’s Dave Kaufman, “I got very lucky with Batman, which financially was a jackpot. You don’t do that very often—most people don’t do it once. Also, I suddenly found myself referred to everywhere I went as ‘the producer of Batman.’ I said should I be hit by a truck The New York Times would say, ‘Batman producer killed;’ The New York News would say ‘Joan Fontaine’s ex killed.’ I would just not like to wind up having those labels my only recognition. So I figured if I don’t do any TV, good or bad, I can at least insulate myself from the Batman image. I’m proud of what we did on Batman, but I don’t want it to be my only memorable contribution.”386

  For the next four decades, Batman would remain an almost constant presence on TV, from after-school airings in the 1970s to cable’s TVLand in the 1990s. ”I really didn’t think we were making Gone With the Wind—just an episodic TV series that would be over when it was over and then it would never rerun again,” said Yvonne Craig. “I’ve been told that Batman has apparently never stopped rerunning somewhere in the world. That blows my mind!”387

  In 1974, the U.S. Department of Labor called on Batman, Robin and Batgirl to do a public service announcement for equal pay for women. Yvonne Craig and Burt Ward agreed—as did William Dozier, who provided the voice-over—but West declined. “Adam wanted nothing to do with Batman at that time,” said Craig, “and so he wouldn’t do it. I teased him that it had nothing to do with Batman—he just didn’t want equal pay for women! Burt came back as Robin, though, and they got Dick Gautier to do Batman—and he imitated Adam’s cadences perfectly.” Gautier, a comic actor, was best-known for his role as Hymie the robot on the TV series Get Smart (1966-68).

  Madge Blake (Aunt Harriet) died a year after the show ended, on February 19, 1969, after suffering a heart attack at her home in Pasadena.388 Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), who had become wealthy after investing in car washes, continued acting in guest roles on numerous TV series until passing away on November 5, 1974 after suffering a fatal heart attack at the Hollywood Park racetrack. On June 25, 1976, producer Howie Horwitz, who had gone on to produce episodes of the TV series Banacek (1972-1974) and Baretta (1975-76), was on vacation with his family at June Lake, California. Climbing up on a rock to admire the view, he lost his balance and died from injuries sustained in the fall. Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon) retired from acting in the early 1970s, and passed away at age 85 in Escondido, California on September 24, 1984 from complications from asthma. Alan Napier (Alfred) remained busy in television until retiring in 1981. He died at the age of 85 on August 8, 1988 after suffering a stroke in Santa Monica, California.

  After Batman ended, William Dozier produced the 1969 film The Big Bounce, starring Ryan O’Neal, then turned from producing to acting with bit parts in several TV and film productions. In 1972, he appeared with his wife Ann Rutherford in a segment of Love, American Style titled “Love and the Impossible Gift,” which was directed by Sam Strangis, who had been unit production chief on Batman, and produced by Charles FitzSimons, one of Batman’s producers.389 Later, he had a high- profile film role playing the lawyer of Lauren Hutton’s character in American Gigolo (1980). “I was his agent for a while,” said Deborah Dozier Potter, “and he did a few acting jobs, and he was wonderful.” Dozier also became a book reviewer contributing to The Los Angeles Times. “You know, the series didn’t make any money for him until right before he died,” said Potter. “Fox didn’t show any profit on the books until literally the month before he died, they sent him a check. He thought it was completely worthless and it was only after he died that it had any residual value at all, which is very sad. I’m so sorry he didn’t live to see that. It’s not like it’s making a fortune, but to see its continued popularity, to see it in black and white like that.” William Dozier died in Santa Monica at age 83 on April 23, 1991. “All I can say is most memories of my father are wonderful,” said Potter. “My father loved me very much and I always felt that. Even though he was a very busy man, his actions always showed to me that he loved me and cared about me and that my opinion was important to him.”390

  William Dozier and his daughter, Deborah (© Deborah Dozier Potter).

  Among the guest villains, Cesar Romero remained busy with film and TV work, including a role as Peter Stavros in the popular nighttime soap Falcon Crest from 1985 to 1988. He died peacefully on January 1, 1994 in Santa Monica. Frank Gorshin also kept busy with numerous TV guest-starring roles up until 2005, including reuniting with Adam West in a 1995 episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, in which Gorshin played a lawyer and West a newscaster. In 2002, he opened on Broadway in the one-man show Say Goodnight, Gracie, playing George Burns. He toured with the show until May 16, 2005, when after a performance in Memphis, he boarded a plane for Los Angeles. Immediately upon landing, he was rushed to the hospital, where he died three weeks later from complications from lung cancer, emphysema and pneumonia. He was 72. Eartha Kitt remained active as a cabaret
performer and TV and film actress, including giving a sexy, manic performance that managed to upstage even Grace Jones in the 1992 Eddie Murphy film Boomerang. She died on Christmas Day, 2008, at her home in Weston, Connecticut from colon cancer.