When I got the part, I tried to remember Batman as I knew him when I was a kid - with emotional recall.
— Adam West
All I know is that my fans have been really wonderful and affectionate.
Not to be able to move around or do things without thinking - that's tough. I may end up that way, but if I do, I hope to hell my intellect will take over, and I'll find some kind of joy and a way to contribute.
I love to do voiceover because, for me, if you know what you're doing, it's simple. No makeup, no costuming, none of the baloney. None of the egos - you don't have to deal with all that crap. I love voiceovers.
I've been able to reinvent myself and to keep an audience going at whatever age. This is terrific. I mean, how many actors get that chance?
The new 'Dark Knight' movies, they're wonderful in their own way.
I think our Batman had to be fun, light-hearted, funny, tongue-in-cheek... and I think that made kind of an homage to those earlier comic books, where Batman always had a quip or something.
It's a wonderful thing to be able to make fun of yourself and to do it in a way that sort of preserves your dignity but, at the same time, lets you play the theater of the absurd.
You have no idea the people I meet when I do these Comic-Cons. When I go sign autographs and say hello to people, I see everything!
I am a private person. I don't need a lot of company. And I find it really, really difficult to talk about myself.
I used to spend hours just sitting in an old wreck of a car with a stickshift; I'd just sit there and shift.
I've always tried to fit what I do professionally into my family, rather than the other way around.
Playing Batman is an actor's challenge. First, it's different; then, you have to reach a multi-level audience. The kids take it straight, but for adults, we have to project it further.
There were definitely times when I regretted ever being Batman.
The word that scares the hell out of me is 'frail.' I don't want to be frail.
Oh, it's fun to be an icon!
I think I've said I'm the luckiest actor in the world. I mean that.
To be an icon... I guess that's a privilege.
I have the curse of thinking funny!
One of the most gratifying, rewarding things is when people come up, and they tell you how the show influenced their lives in a very positive way. When I do these things like Comic Con, I get people who are lawyers, judges, plumbers, carpenters, and entire families, and it's mostly for 'Batman.' But now, amazingly, it's also for 'Family Guy.'
Life is full of ironies and absurdities.
I am a simple man, though my wife says I am complicated. I'll trust her on that one.
My grandfather and my father had wheat ranches, so we had quite a few trucks around and a lot of mules. Talk about horsepower - we had mule power.
I'm very lucky. I do voiceovers, 'Family Guy,' on and on, and quite frankly, I'm one of the luckiest actors in the world. I was able to create a character who became iconic.
Typecasting is really rampant in Hollywood, and because I played a costumed character and did it successfully, it was a real stigma.
When I was getting started, I was so busy just fighting my way through, and I was under contract at Warner Brothers. I did 40 hours of color television with the late Robert Taylor as a young cop.
When I got to Hollywood, there wasn't even a Boulevard. I'm that old. It was just a little dirt trail. I'm kidding.
Favorite Bat-gadget was probably the Batboat, because it was fun to get out on the ocean and run that thing around at high speed.
I like Christian Bale. I've heard he's a big fan of mine, but I certainly reciprocate. I think he's really very good.
Over the years, I've learned that if you can just hang in there and, regardless of what's presented to you, take it as a challenge and try to bring in something fresh, then it works.
Look at 'Batman' - that was theater of the absurd, as is 'Family Guy.'
When you go to the Sistine Chapel with Sophia Loren, it can be quite some time before your thoughts turn to the ceiling.
The Batmobile wasn't a stickshift, and it was a challenge to drive, believe me.
How many actors have a shot at being a part of something that became a part of pop culture? It's been very rewarding. I'm not getting the 20 million bucks for the new movies, but at least I'm getting warmth and recognition from people wherever I go.
