Who is in the Bat-suit?

[A. Pennyworth]

I assume this was a 1966 Batman movie premier event with Lee Meriwether but who is in the Batman suit in the #1 Batmobile? Hubie Kerns? Someone else?

[AndyFish]

Great question!
We can assume this is the BATMAN 1966 Movie World premiere which was held in Austin Texas (home to where the Batboat was built) on July 30, 1966.

The movie premiered at the Paramount



And most of the cast was listed as appearing-- Adam appeared in costume;



So if Adam appeared in Costume, would they have sent a double (and an extra suit-- it was a very hot and humid day as the photo shows and the newspaper states).

Could the first photo of Lee (my favorite Catwoman) happen to be with Adam? It sure doesn't look like him, but who knows?

Let's see what other folks think.

[BiffPow]

Looks to me like Hubie.

[Batfanman]

It was me!

[BiffPow]

It was me!

[Ben Bentley]

Great shots AP! I do believe that's Hubie, but I don't think this is Austin, as to my knowledge that event took place during the daylight hours, Adam was in attendance in costume and also, perhaps more importantly the Batmobile was not present in Texas for the premiere.

I need to do some more digging, but i'm thinking that this was most likely an LA event that Adam was unable to attend perhaps.

[A. Pennyworth]

In the Jean Boone interview with cast in Austin, William Dozier states the movie will open August 24 in NY, the 26th in Chicago and the 31st in LA

[rsaffle]

Great shots AP! I do believe that's Hubie, but I don't think this is Austin, as to my knowledge that event took place during the daylight hours, Adam was in attendance in costume and also, perhaps more importantly the Batmobile was not present in Texas for the premiere.

I need to. do some more digging, but i'm thinking that this was most likely an LA event that Adam was unable to attend perhaps.

The top shot with the Batmobile was the Hollywood opening. You can see the Pharmacy sign on the left and the Batmobile.
The marquee says Lee Meriweather here and the Batmobile with no mention of Adam.

[AndyFish]

You beat me to it-- you tracked down the Pharmacy which was the biggest clue.
The Austin premiere had two events that day-- one for the kiddies and one for the adults. Austin featured Adam, Burt, Lee, Cesar and Burgess, but they each arrived in a different colored convertible-- looked to be Lincolns to me.

[A. Pennyworth]

Great photo find Randy! and confirming the LA visit as Ben thought. Now why was Adam not there?

I found this, (has this been shown before?)

Interesting, A local NY paper article about Adam West and his visit for the NY Batman Movie premier. This article was written on 8/31/66 the day of the L.A. premier where Adam was not present. While in Bellmore NY (the Thursday before the 25th), it states 3,000 fans crowded his bus and he did not stop for an appearance there in Bellmore. It states early that day, 3 outfits were torn while he was touring other stops in NY. Maybe for security reasons it was decided that Adam should not continue with these appearances and did not show up for the LA premier? Just a guess?

full newspaper here
https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d& ... ----------

[Ben Bentley]

Great shots AP! I do believe that's Hubie, but I don't think this is Austin, as to my knowledge that event took place during the daylight hours, Adam was in attendance in costume and also, perhaps more importantly the Batmobile was not present in Texas for the premiere.

I need to. do some more digging, but i'm thinking that this was most likely an LA event that Adam was unable to attend perhaps.

The top shot with the Batmobile was the Hollywood opening. You can see the Pharmacy sign on the left and the Batmobile.
The marquee says Lee Meriweather here and the Batmobile with no mention of Adam.

There we go, thanks Randy!

Loving this thread and our collective detective work btw!

[Chuck Williams]

In case I haven't said it today, I love this board!

[West Fan]

You beat me to it-- you tracked down the Pharmacy which was the biggest clue.
The Austin premiere had two events that day-- one for the kiddies and one for the adults. Austin featured Adam, Burt, Lee, Cesar and Burgess, but they each arrived in a different colored convertible-- looked to be Lincolns to me.

Burt wasn't in Austin as he stayed back due to the birth of his daughter Lisa.

[AndyFish]

I didn't think he was, since there's no footage of his arriving at the theater but there is for the other four. I'm assuming the newspaper article I read was written by the PR department before the event.

I wonder if Adam wasn't at the Hollywood opening because of the New York opening? Same night?

[Ben Bentley]

I wonder if Adam wasn't at the Hollywood opening because of the New York opening? Same night?

This crossed my mind, so I went digging for dates. Here's an excerpt of a letter from Dozier to Burgess, dated July 13th, 1966.