“Na na na na na na na na, Batman!” Neal Hefti’s theme song barely needed lyrics, and it didn’t take long before kids across America were singing it on the playground. Batman premiered on ABC on January 12, 1966, which makes 2026 the show’s 60th anniversary. For most of its run it aired twice a week. The first night left the Dynamic Duo strapped to a deathtrap, and the second night showed how they got out.
The ’60s Batman ran for 120 episodes over three seasons before ABC canceled it in 1968. Along the way it gave us the Batusi, the “POW!” and “ZAP!” title cards, and a parade of Hollywood stars begging to play villains. It also gave Robin an exclamation for every crisis, the most famous being “Holy priceless collection of Etruscan snoods!” Sixty years later, only a few of the people who made Gotham City so much fun are still with us. Here is what became of the Batman 1966 cast, saving the survivors for last.
Is Madge Blake still alive?
Madge Blake played Aunt Harriet Cooper, the sweet relative who lived at Wayne Manor and never once suspected what went on beneath the grandfather clock. She came to acting late. According to Wikipedia and the Kansas Historical Society, she did not start studying at the Pasadena Playhouse until she was about 50. Before Gotham, she was Larry Mondello’s mother on Leave It to Beaver and gossip columnist Dora Bailey in Singin’ in the Rain.
Blake appeared as Aunt Harriet in 96 episodes. Her failing health cut her role down to just two guest appearances in the third season. She died of a heart attack in Pasadena, California, on February 19, 1969, at the age of 69, less than a year after the show ended.
Is Stafford Repp still alive?
Stafford Repp played Chief Miles Clancy O’Hara, the Irish police chief who always seemed relieved to hand the case to Batman. The San Francisco native had a long résumé as a character actor before the cowl came along. He turned up in several Twilight Zone episodes, played Brink on The New Phil Silvers Show, and made guest spots on Gunsmoke, Bonanza and The Lucy Show.
Repp kept working after Batman and shot scenes for Orson Welles’ long-unfinished film The Other Side of the Wind, which was finally released in 2018. He died of a heart attack on November 5, 1974, at Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood, California. He was 56.
Is Neil Hamilton still alive?
Before he was Commissioner Gordon picking up the red Batphone, Neil Hamilton was a silent film leading man. He worked for D.W. Griffith in The White Rose in 1923 and played Digby Geste in Beau Geste in 1926. In 1932 he took top billing in Tarzan the Ape Man as Harry Holt, Jane’s fiancé.
His career had stalled by the 1940s, and he later credited his Catholic faith with getting him through the leanest years. Batman gave him a second act. He appeared as Commissioner Gordon in all 120 episodes and in the 1966 movie. Hamilton died after a severe asthma attack in Escondido, California, on September 24, 1984. He was 85 and had been married to his wife, Elsa, for 62 years.
Is Alan Napier still alive?
Alan Napier was Alfred Pennyworth, the loyal butler who kept the Batcave dusted and the secret safe. At 6 feet 6 inches, the Birmingham-born actor towered over most of his co-stars. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and had already appeared in Cat People, Random Harvest and Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie before he got the call. He was also a cousin of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
Napier admitted he had never read a Batman comic when he took the job, and he had to ask what “Batman” even was. He kept acting into his late 70s, with roles in QB VII and The Paper Chase, before retiring in 1981. He suffered a stroke in 1987 and died in Santa Monica, California, on August 8, 1988, at the age of 85.
The villains were just as important as the heroes. Some of the biggest names in Hollywood wanted a turn in Gotham.
Are Cesar Romero and Burgess Meredith still alive?
Cesar Romero had spent decades as one of Hollywood’s suave Latin leading men when he signed on to play the Joker. He famously refused to shave his trademark mustache. The makeup team simply painted the Joker’s white face right over it, and if you look closely in many episodes, you can still see it. Romero later played Peter Stavros on Falcon Crest in the 1980s. He died on January 1, 1994, in Santa Monica, from complications of a blood clot while being treated for bronchitis and pneumonia. He was 86.
Burgess Meredith waddled and squawked his way through 21 episodes as the Penguin, plus the 1966 movie. Younger fans know him better as Mickey, Rocky Balboa’s crusty trainer, a role that earned him one of his two Oscar nominations. He also starred in four Twilight Zone episodes, including the classic “Time Enough at Last.” Meredith died at his home in Malibu on September 9, 1997, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease and melanoma. He was 89.
Are Frank Gorshin and Vincent Price still alive?
Frank Gorshin’s giggling Riddler earned him an Emmy nomination. Gorshin was a gifted impressionist. His appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, came on the same night the Beatles made their American debut. Decades later, he played George Burns on Broadway in the one-man show Say Goodnight, Gracie, which earned a Tony nomination for Best Play. He died in Burbank, California, on May 17, 2005, of lung cancer complicated by emphysema and pneumonia. He was 72.
Vincent Price was already the king of horror films when he cracked egg puns as Egghead in 1966 and 1967. He went on to deliver the spooky spoken passage on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and played the kindly inventor in Edward Scissorhands, his last major film role. Away from the camera he was a respected art collector and wrote several cookbooks. Price died of lung cancer at his Los Angeles home on October 25, 1993, at the age of 82.
Is Eartha Kitt still alive?
When Julie Newmar did not return for the third season, Eartha Kitt stepped into the catsuit and made Catwoman purr in her own way. Kitt was already a star singer, best known for her 1953 holiday hit “Santa Baby.” In 1968, the same year Batman ended, she spoke out against the Vietnam War at a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson. Her American career suffered for years afterward, and she spent much of the next decade performing in Europe.
Kitt came back strong. She earned two Tony nominations, for Timbuktu! in 1978 and The Wild Party in 2000, and won an Annie Award for voicing the villain Yzma in Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove. She died of colon cancer at her home in Weston, Connecticut, on Christmas Day 2008. She was 81.
Is Yvonne Craig still alive?
Yvonne Craig roared into the third season as Barbara Gordon, the commissioner’s daughter, who became Batgirl on her purple motorcycle. Her training with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo helped her handle the fight scenes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she did all her own stunts, including the motorcycle riding. Before Gotham, she had danced with Elvis Presley in It Happened at the World’s Fair and Kissin’ Cousins. After it, she played Marta, the green-skinned Orion woman, on Star Trek.
Craig later built a successful career in real estate and wrote a memoir, From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond. She was also outspoken about her time on the show, and there was one ‘Batman’ co-star she could not stand. She died at her home in Pacific Palisades on August 17, 2015, at the age of 78. Her family’s obituary, reported by ABC News, said breast cancer had spread to her liver. She was survived by her husband, Kenneth Aldrich.
Is Adam West still alive?
Adam West played Bruce Wayne and Batman with a perfectly straight face, and that was the secret of the show. Like Burt Ward and Yvonne Craig, he struggled with typecasting once the series ended. For a while, he made his living through personal appearances in the cape and cowl.
A whole new generation found him decades later. Starting in 2000 he voiced Mayor Adam West on Family Guy, and he returned to the Batman role in animated films like Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders in 2016. He received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012. His 1994 memoir is titled Back to the Batcave.
West died in Los Angeles on June 9, 2017, after what his family called “a short but brave battle with leukemia.” He was 88. In a statement to Variety, his family said he “always saw himself as The Bright Knight.” He was married to his wife, Marcelle, for more than 46 years.
Three stars from the world of 1966 Batman are still with us today, and two of them played Catwoman.
Is Lee Meriwether still alive?
Yes. Lee Meriwether was born on May 27, 1935, and she is 91 years old. The former Miss America 1955 played Catwoman in the 1966 Batman feature film, released between the first and second seasons, because Julie Newmar was committed to another project. She also appeared in two 1967 TV episodes as Lisa Carson, a love interest for Bruce Wayne.
Meriwether told Fox News that the metal threads in her costume left her with “second degree burns on my shoulder” during outdoor filming. She still had nothing but praise for her co-stars. “Cesar Romero was heaven. Absolutely heaven,” she said. Of West, she added, “He was a sweet, nice man. A gentleman.”
Her career after Gotham was long and busy. She played Betty Jones on Barnaby Jones from 1973 to 1980, earning two Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy nomination. She also played Ruth Martin on All My Children until that soap ended in 2011. She has appeared at fan conventions for years and has long been a member of Los Angeles’ Theatre West company.
Is Julie Newmar still alive?
Yes. Julie Newmar was born on August 16, 1933, and she turned 93 this past August. The original Catwoman first slinked onto the show in “The Purr-fect Crime” in March 1966. By then she had already won a Tony Award for The Marriage-Go-Round and stopped traffic as Stupefyin’ Jones in Li’l Abner.
Newmar told The Guardian in June 2026 that she adopted two cats so she could study how they moved. As for the famous suit, she said “it was like liquorice poured over the body; it fit that well.” Later she voiced Catwoman again alongside West and Ward in Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders.
These days Newmar lives in her longtime Brentwood home with her son, John, and spends much of her time in her beloved garden. In January 2026 she made a rare public appearance at the Hollywood Show in Burbank. According to ReMind Magazine, fans lined up around the building to meet her. “I want to be a beautiful old woman,” she told The Guardian. You can read more about the life Julie Newmar chose away from Hollywood.
Is Burt Ward still alive?
Yes. Burt Ward, the Boy Wonder himself, was born on July 6, 1945, and he is 81 years old. He landed the role of Robin with no acting experience. He did many of his own stunts, and his karate skills helped him win the part. Every “Holy …” line you remember came out of his mouth.
Ward’s friendship with West lasted the rest of West’s life. “We were two peas in a pod that very first day we met,” Ward told Fox News in 2023. “I miss him so much. He should be here.” On January 9, 2020, Ward received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, placed right next to West’s.
Today Ward and his wife, Tracy Posner, run Gentle Giants Rescue, the charity for giant-breed dogs they founded in 1994. In 2024 he received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for rescuing more than 15,500 dogs, WTOP reported. He still greets fans at comic conventions. Sixty years after Batman premiered, the Boy Wonder is still out there saving lives.
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