Remembering That Time I Met Batman Actor Adam West in Boston

The online scuffle on "Twilight" star Robert Pattison being cast as the next silver screen "Batman" has been both interesting and ridiculous.

Some love the idea of "RPatz," as his fans call him for the role, as both on screen and in life he tends to appear brooding and serious much like the famed Dark Knight; criticism has ranged from the argument he's a British actor playing an iconic American hero to his lacking the muscular build for the part.

All this chatter got me thinking about about the actors we've seen play Batman on screen:

Does anyone remember Robert Lowery or Lewis Wilson as the Caped Crusader in the 1940s movie serials?

Michael Keaton?

Val Kilmer?

George Clooney?

Kevin Conroy? (OK, he just voiced the character but did it so brilliantly in "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" and the animated TV series)

Christian Bale?

Ben Affleck?

For me, while I have many favs on the above list, the seminal "Batman" has got to be the venerable Adam West who starred in the 1966 Batman movie and its companion TV show that ran on ABC from 1966-1968 originally and has aired in syndication pretty much ever since.

I first saw Adam and Burt Ward as Boy Wonder Robin on TV in reruns as a kid and was such a fan that when my father caught a listing in the paper that West would be meeting fans in Boston, we took the drive into town.

Memorably, as I got close to my turn at a picture/autograph with Bruce Wayne himself, an older lady stepped in front of me essentially pushing me out of the way! Before my parents or I could say a word about it, West in his most earnest "Batman" delivery said "maddam, one moment please...certainly you'll want to be a model citizen and allow this young man who was here first his chance to say hello, hi there young chum!"

Adam West was everything you wanted him to be as the iconic, classic mid-century super hero, and that will remain a cherished childhood memory of my life.