Adam West, the light leading man who became the hero of millions of kids when he took the role of Batman in the 1960s, has died, it has been announced. He began as a supporting player on television and occasional films, then made his mark in The Detectives, which saw his fame increase. Appearances in a Three Stooges movie, The Outer Limits and Robinson Crusoe on Mars sustained his profile, but it was as the Caped Crusader that his renown reached global level; the series, which took a spoofy approach to the comics with huge success, proved difficult to live down, but he worked steadily after it finished, including reprising the role in cartoons and TV movies. He reached a new audience as Mayor Adam West in animated comedy Family Guy, and had recently taken the lead in a couple of animated features reuniting him with Burt Ward as Batman and Robin.
