Holy Roman Orgies, Batman!

Many years ago when the first Batman movie came out, (that would be Tim Burton's version with Keaton and Nicholson, not the later Christopher Nolan stuff), I remember Adam West horning in front of a camera to comment on it. West went all pious and Sad Grandad, stating that it was too dark and depraved, that Batman was always intended to be a campy show upholding family values. That was a load of crap, because Bob Kane was one of the writers for that movie. Mr Kane created the original Batman character in 1939, and he responded to West's comments, saying that the movie was exactly what he'd intended: a dark, brooding vigilante in a city overrun with violent criminals.

So why am I regurgitating all this useless bat-trivia on your heads, you ask? Well, fast forward to this past Saturday when Adam West finally kicked the bucket at age 88 and we find out he wasn't a family man at all. In fact, he was a drunken lecher and sex-crazed horndog of the first order.

But behind the mask was a sex-mad actor who slept with up to eight women a night — and turned to booze when the show was axed. He and co-star Burt Ward, who played sidekick Robin, also romped with eager groupies in their dressing rooms in between scenes.

In fact, West discovered the only limits to his bedroom batpowers were those caused by his famous costume. The actor explained years later: “Because of the physical limitations of the costume, you gotta have quickies.”

West explained: “Burt and I were like kids in a candy store. It was the Swinging Sixties with free love and women threw themselves at us. I remember one night with eight different women. Orgy is a harsh word, but it was eight at one time. I’d have young female co-stars in my dressing room at 7:45 in the morning.”

I'd like to clarify something at this point. I don't care if West slept with every woman west of the Mississippi. If groupie chicks were throwing the poon at him, good for him. But when you step in front of a camera to start filming your "family values show" five minutes after your guest star finished sucking your bat-dick through your bat-tights, you don't get to go all Mr Puritan. That, you see, is called hypocrisy.