Adam West, who played Batman on the beloved 1960s TV series, received the 2,468th star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame Thursday on Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Guinness World Records Museum.
West, who also lends his voice to Quahog's Mayor on "Family Guy," was joined at the event by guest speakers Seth McFarlane, who produces the animated TV series, and fellow voice actor Ralph Garman. The Batmobile even made an appearance at the event.
"We are thrilled to honor Adam with this prestigious award. Fans have been waiting for this special day for many years," Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President Leron Gubler, who hosted the event, said in a statement. "Adam West fired up the billion-dollar Batman franchise: the golden years and the classic Batman, the Bright Knight. He deserves his place of honor on our famed Walk of Fame."
The 83-year-old West's career has spanned more than 50 years.
WHO: Adam West
Emcee: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce,
President/CEO Leron Gubler
Guest speakers: Radio personality Ralph Garman
and Seth McFarlane
Special guest: The Batmobile
provided by Barris Kustom Ind.
WHAT: 2,468th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Category of TELEVISION
WHERE: 6764 Hollywood Boulevard in front of
*The Guinness World of Records Museum (see special factoid below)
WHEN: Thursday, April 5, 2012 at 11:30 a.m.
HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor Adam West with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, April 5, 2012 at 11:30 a.m. “We are thrilled to honor Adam with this prestigious award. Fans have been waiting for this special day for many years. Adam West fired up the billion dollar Batman franchise: the golden years and the classic Batman, the Bright Knight. He deserves his place of honor on our famed Walk of Fame,” said Leron Gubler, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO.
During the span of a 50-year career, from Batman to the voice of Quahog’s Mayor on Family Guy, Adam West has become a television icon.
Born in Walla Walla, Washington as William West Anderson , Adam began his career as a radio DJ and TV show host. He arrived in Hollywood in 1959, after landing a contract with Warner Brothers studios. That same year, he made his feature film debut opposite Paul Newman in The Young Philadelphians.
A long line of TV roles followed on shows like Maverick, Bonanza and The Outer Limits, as well as a co-starring role for a season on The Detectives.
But, in 1965, his life would change forever when producer William Dozier, impressed by Adam’s talent, looks and humor, handpicked him to take on the title role of ABC’s new TV series, BATMAN.
It’s been said the biggest pop-culture phenomena of the 1960’s can be boiled down to the “Three B’s”: Beatles, Bond, and BATMAN. In the early 1960’s, Batman was simply a cartoon character in a comic book that was close to cancellation, but Adam West’s performance in the ground-breaking TV adaptation propelled Batman into becoming one of the most-famous characters in modern fiction. West’s turn as the “classic” Batman has laid the foundation for the success of all the incarnations of the “Caped Crusader” that have followed after him. The smash success of the TV series, and the feature film that followed shortly thereafter, launched Adam West into international superstardom in 1966.
After its original run, BATMAN entered into non-stop syndication and Adam West has continued to garner new generations of fans all over the world for the past 40 years. All the while, he’s continued to work on stage, in movies and TV, and as a much sought-after voice actor.
It’s his wildly successful career as a voice actor that has brought him his most recent triumph as “Mayor Adam West” on the hugely popular, and critically-acclaimed, TV series Family Guy on the Fox network. Family Guy airs on Sunday evenings on FOX and fans can enjoy more from Family Guy with never-before-seen footage and extras when Volume 10 releases on DVD this Fall. Also this spring, fans can interact with Mr. West as he reprises his role as Family Guy’s Mayor Adam West, but this time in a virtual format in Twentieth Century Fox’s upcoming Family Guy Online game (http://www.familyguyonline.com).
For the past 50 years, Adam West has not only been an international television star, but also a devoted father and husband, philanthropist, and dedicated ambassador of goodwill for the entertainment industry as he greets hundreds of thousands of his fans during personal appearances all over the globe.
Adam West is the REAL Batman
*Special Note: Adam West has a Guinness World Record!
MOST APPEARANCES AS BATMAN:
Adam West has made 156 individual screen appearances as Batman, including 120 episodes of the 1966-68 Batman TV series and its accompanying feature film, numerous voiceover performances for animated series and TV movies, and the computer generated video short Batman: New Times' in 2005.
Kevin Conroy, who has voiced the character in animated series and films since 1993, has notched up 118 appearances, putting him in 2nd place, and Olan Soule, who provided Batman's voice during the 70s and 80s, comes in at 3rd place with 68 separate appearances."
Veteran actor Malcolm McDowell, who has appeared in such films as "A Clockwork Orange," "Star Trek Generations" and the Rob Zombie "Halloween" films, will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this Friday, March 16. See complete details below:
WHO: Malcolm McDowell
Emcee: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, President/CEO Leron Gubler
Guests will include Gary Oldman and Rob Zombie, plus Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Reed Diamond and Garcelle Beauvais from TNT's "Franklin & Bash" along with Mike Kaplan (director, Never Apologize)
WHAT: 2,465th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Category of Motion Pictures
WHERE: 6714 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of The Pig n’ Whistle British Pub
WHEN: Friday, March 16, 2012 at 11:30 a.m.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor actor Malcolm McDowell appropriately in front of the Pig n’ Whistle British Pub at 6714 Hollywood Boulevard. He joins fellow British luminaries Emma Thompson and Colin Firth on the coveted Walk of Fame.
McDowell will shortly star in “The Monster Butler” to be produced by Dark House Films which will be released theatrically and then distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
Additionally, on the evening of the star unveiling, and in honor of McDowell receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, The American Cinematheque is hosting an in-person tribute at the Egyptian Theatre showing his most iconic film, Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (a beautifully restored presentation!), as well as Nicholas Meyer’s blend of sci-fi, literary history and modern pop culture, Time After Time, in which McDowell stars as Victorian author H.G. Wells. There will be a Q&A between films with McDowell and Mary Steenburgen. The tribute continues through March 19 at the Aero Theater. For tickets and more info: http://bit.ly/ylpfLw
A Clockwork Orange 40th Anniversary Edition, O Lucky Man!, Time After Time and McDowell’s Never Apologize are available on Blu-ray and DVD from Warner Home Video. For further info: http://bit.ly/whmVGw
MORE ABOUT MALCOLM McDOWELL
Malcolm McDowell is arguably among the most dynamic and inventive of world-class actors, yet also capable of immense charm, humor and poignancy. McDowell has created a gallery of iconic characters since catapulting to the screen as Mick Travis, the rebellious upperclassman in Lindsay Anderson’s prize-winning sensation, If...
His place in movie history was subsequently secured when Stanley Kubrick cast the actor to play the gleefully amoral Alex in A Clockwork Orange; when McDowell himself conceived the idea for Mick Travis’ further adventures in Anderson’s Candide-like masterpiece, O Lucky Man!; and when he wooed Mary Steenburgen and defeated Jack the Ripper as the romantically-inquisitive H.G. Wells in Time After Time.
Those legendary roles have endured with legions of filmgoers while new fans have been won over by his tyrannical Soran (the destroyer of Capt. Kirk) in Star Trek: Generations; his Machiavellian Mr. Roarke in “Fantasy Island” and his comically-pompous professor Steve Pynchon in the critically-hailed CBS television series, “Pearl,” starring opposite Rhea Perlman.
Other of McDowell’s distinctive motion picture characterizations include Richard Lester’s Royal Flash, Paul Schrader’s Cat People, Rachel Talalay’s Tank Girl, Joseph Losey’s Figures in a Landscape, Bryan Forbes’ The Raging Moon and the Chaplinesque studio boss in Blake Edwards’ Sunset.
On television, McDowell had recurring appearances as Terence on the HBO hit series, “Entourage,” as Linderman on NBC’s “Heroes,” Darren Vogel on “CSI: Miami,” and Bret Stiles on the hit show, “The Mentalist.” Malcolm currently stars in TNT’s newest series, “Franklin & Bash,” as Stanton Infeld. “Franklin & Bash’s” debut success and high ratings resulted in a second season pick-up. That second season is scheduled to premiere in June of 2012.
In late 2011, Malcolm was seen in the year’s Oscar-winning silent film sensation, The Artist. This year, Amy Heckerling’s Vamps with Sigourney Weaver and Alicia Silverstone will follow, as will Silent Hill Revelation: 3D.
On the charity front, Malcolm is the Honorary Chair of the Ojai Film Festival Celebrity Golf Classic, raising money to support the Ojai Film Festival. He also supports Oak Grove School, and Wild Horses in Need, as well as being a contributor to several other private charities.
For more information and to view who shares a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, visit www.walkoffame.com
