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R.I.P. “Batman” Star Adam West Has Died at 88
Many actors have played Batman over the years, and we’re fairly certain that many more will do the same in the years to come. But one could argue that no actor is more synonymous with the character than Adam West, who we’ve just learned has passed away at the age of 88.
Adam West of course made the caped crusader a television icon in the original “Batman” TV series, starring alongside Burt Ward as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The series ran for 3 seasons between January 1966 and March 1968, turning West into a beloved icon whose status never waned over the years. West subsequently played the DC Comics character a handful of times throughout his career, most recently voicing Batman in the as-yet-unreleased animated film Batman vs. Two-Face.
West’s very first acting role in a feature film saw him playing an uncredited radio operator in the 1957 horror movie Voodoo Island, but he made only a few stops in the horror genre over the years. His genre roles include 1972’s Curse of the Moon Child, 1982’s One Dark Night, 1987’s Zombie Nightmare and 2004’s Monster Island. He also appeared in episodes of “The Outer Limits” and “Tales from the Crypt.”
The legendary actor was introduced to a whole new audience courtesy of “Family Guy,” wherein he humorously recurred as, well, Adam West, mayor of the fictional town of Quahog.
Adam West’s death comes after a short battle with leukemia.
All of us here at Bloody Disgusting are deeply saddened to learn that George A. Romero Foundation Founder and President Suzanne Desrocher-Romero has passed away.
GARF shared in a statement on socials, “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Suzanne Desrocher Romero. Suzanne passed away of natural causes on June 24 at her home in Toronto after a prolonged illness.”
The statement continues, “Suzanne was the fierce leader of the George A. Romero Estate and The George A. Romero Foundation. She worked tirelessly to preserve George’s legacy. Her work at the foundation will continue to inspire and live on for generations to come. The family asks for privacy at this time.”
Desrocher-Romero founded GARF in 2018, after her late husband’s passing in 2017, and has been a fierce advocate for his legacy and the arts. It was her mission to “strengthen horror as a serious field of global study,” and she was a tremendous fighter on behalf of Romero’s works and supporting new filmmakers inspired by his legacy.
It was Desrocher-Romero who spearheaded the recovery and restoration of The Amusement Park, and, as the person in charge of the George A. Romero estate, worked closely with author Daniel Kraus on completing unfinished novels like Pay the Piper and The Living Dead. She most recently celebrated the restoration of her favorite of Romero’s zombie films, Day of the Dead, and was hard at work producing the upcoming film Twilight of the Dead.
That passionate advocacy led to Suzanne Desrocher-Romero becoming family to Bloody Disgusting as well.
2023 marked the start of an ongoing partnership between Bloody FM and GARF on The Dead, a scripted audio series spanning multiple seasons that saw Desrocher-Romero working closely with the Bloody FM team and mentoring the series’s contributing writers with GARF. To say her loss will be felt internally is an understatement.
“Anytime George Romero is mentioned is good, because what we are doing is to provide a healthy legacy. We’re uplifting his legacy, we’re supporting the archive, and we’re also supporting the Horror Study Center. So, all of these three things are what the Foundation is striving to do. As far as I’m concerned, the more we say George Romero’s name, the better it is,” Desrocher-Romero recently told BD.
It’s the perfect encapsulation of her unwavering enthusiasm for supporting Romero’s legacy and the horror genre, and just a glimpse at how much she contributed to preserving it. She is, in short, an inspiration.
We send our deepest condolences to Suzanne Desrocher-Romero’s family, friends, and GARF.
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