Batman's Adam West, And The Sexy Love Life We Never Knew

His character was a virtuous do-gooder, but TV's Batman, Adam West, had a sex life that viewers could hardly have imagined. On the show, which aired from 1966-68, West played Bruce Wayne, the millionaire who was secretly the caped crusader. West himself led a double life, and off-camera he was more like Bruce Wayne than the hero Batman. Adam West's sex life only came to light soon after his death in 2017. It turns out that when he wasn’t performing as a saintly do-gooder fighting dastardly villains, just like in the comic books -- a medium for children, especially back then -- he was engaging in free love and reaping the benefits of being a Hollywood star in the Swinging Sixties. Batman might have been good clean fun suitable for all ages, but the private life of Adam West was not. 

Prior to landing the role of Batman, Adam West appeared in a number of guest roles on TV westerns and appeared in minor parts in a few movies. But it was his portrayal of Batman that got him the most attention. The series was ratings bonanza for ABC, and West captured the attention of ladies who seemed to really love a man in tights. West’s iconic Batman costume, with its body-hugging spandex, made women swoon. Soon, West found he had women lining up to be with him. 

The 1960s were a time of sensual freedom and free love. West was a willing participant in this lifestyle. According to a story published by Page Six soon after his death, West reportedly slept with as many as eight women a night and even had quickies between scenes on the set of Batman. He wasn’t the only one. Just as many women were eager to sleep with Burt Ward, who played Batman’s sidekick, Robin. The Dynamic Duo, according to the stories, did much of their extracurricular work while still wearing their iconic Batman and Robin costumes. 

West told a story about the time he and his good buddy, Frank Gorshin, who played The Riddler on TV’s Batman, went to what they thought was a party. "We walked in and it was an orgy," West said, according to Page Six. "So I immediately went into the Batman character, and Frank went into the Riddler character because we were getting the big giggles. It was so funny to us, what we walked into. And we were kicked out. We were expelled from the orgy." 

Burt Ward, Robin to Adam West’s Batman, later explained that West introduced him to the “wildest sexual debauchery that you can imagine.” Ward was an innocent twenty-year-old who had only been on a few dates when he landed the role as Batman’s sidekick, the Boy Wonder. The much older and much more experienced West very quickly opened Ward’s eyes to the fact that beautiful, promiscuous women were lining up at their doors. Both Ward and West put their on-set dressing rooms to good use, engaging in quickies between takes. 

Although West slept with random groupies in the privacy of his dressing room, when he was in public, he opted to have well-known actresses on his arm, including Jill St. John, Linda Cristal, and Laura Ward. He was linked romantically with several actresses of the sixties and even dated famous sisters. Natalie Wood and her sis Lana Wood (who was famous as Bond girl Plenty O'Toole) were both involved with West. 

By the time Adam West was cast as Batman, he had already been married and divorced twice. His first marriage was in 1950 when he wed his college sweetheart, Billie Lou Yeager. That marriage lasted only six years. After that, West moved to Hawaii to pursue a television acting career. There, he met and married a Cook Island dancer named Ngatokorua Frisbie Dawson. The couple married in 1957 and had two children. They divorced in 1962, a few years before West shot to super-stardom with Batman. 

With the wild sixties behind him, Adam West was ready to put his promiscuous ways behind him. He married his third wife, Marcelle Tagand Lear in November of 1970 and the couple remained married until West’s death in June of 2017. They raised two children and two step-children together.