Having made his film debut in the 1950s, West starred opposite Chuck Connors in Geronimo (1962) and The Three Stooges in The Outlaws Is Coming (1965).

[2][3] His father, Otto Anderson (1903–1984) was a farmer descending from Scania in southern Sweden; and his mother, Audrey Volenne (née Speer; 1906–1969) was an opera singer and concert pianist who left her Hollywood dreams in order to care for her family.

He graduated with a bachelor's degree in literature and a minor in psychology from Whitman College,[7] where he was a member of the Gamma Zeta Chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

[4] While in Hawaii, West was picked for a role as the sidekick on a local TV program, The Kini Popo Show, which also featured a chimp named Peaches.

On three Warner Bros. Television westerns which aired on ABC—Sugarfoot, Colt .45, and Lawman—West played the role of Doc Holliday, the frontier dentist and gunfighter.

[11] West also appeared playing different characters in two episodes of Maverick opposite James Garner: "Two Tickets to Ten Strike" and "A Fellow's Brother" in 1958.

On January 10, 1961, West appeared as a young, ambitious deputy who foolishly confronts a gunfighter named Clay Jackson, portrayed by Jock Mahoney, in the episode "The Man from Kansas" of the NBC Western series Laramie.

The series was not picked up and the pilot wasn't broadcast until 1968 when it was repackaged as a TV film to capitalize on West and Shatner's later fame.

"[17][18] In 1964, West played Dr. Clayton Harris, a handsome young physician, in two episodes of the sitcom Petticoat Junction.

[19] December 10, 1964, an episode of Bewitched titled “Love is Blind” was released, in which West played Kermit, an artist who marries Gertrude.

[22] Producer William Dozier cast West as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the television series Batman, in part after seeing him perform as the James Bond-like spy Captain Q in a Nestlé Quik commercial.

[23] The popular campy show ran on ABC from 1966 to 1968; a feature-length film version directed by Leslie H. Martinson was released in 1966.

[26] In 1970, West was considered for the role of James Bond by producer Albert Broccoli for the film Diamonds Are Forever.

His lead performance against type as cynical tough guy Johnny Cain did not erode his Batman image; the film was a box office disappointment.

[28] One of West's most memorable Batman appearances, after the series had ended, was with the Memphis-based United States Wrestling Association, where he engaged in a war of words with Jerry "The King" Lawler while wearing the cowl and a tracksuit, and even name-dropping Spider-Man.

West also appeared in such television films as The Eyes of Charles Sand (1972),[33] Poor Devil (1973),[34] Nevada Smith (1975),[35] For the Love of It (1980)[36] and I Take These Men (1983).

[38] He did guest shots on the television series Maverick; Diagnosis: Murder; Love, American Style; Bonanza; The Big Valley; Night Gallery; Alias Smith and Jones; Mannix, Emergency!

West was also in an episode of Bonanza that supposedly never aired until reruns were shown and he made several guest appearances as himself on Family Feud.

[45] He co-starred with Mark Hamill, who vocally portrayed The Joker and had originally played the role on Batman: The Animated Series.

[46] In 2015, Adam West and Burt Ward announced that they would be reprising their roles as Batman and Robin (along with Julie Newmar as Catwoman) for two animated features to celebrate the oncoming 50th anniversary of the TV series.

In 1991, he starred in the pilot episode of Lookwell, in which he portrayed a has-been TV action hero who falsely believes he can solve mysteries in real life.

The pilot, written by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel in their pre-Late Night period, aired on NBC that summer, but was not picked up as a series.

[50] In 1994, West played a non-comedic role as the father of Peter Weller's character in the Michael Tolkin film The New Age.

[52] The boy hero is a comic book geek whose favorite superhero, Galloping Gazelle (West's character), is portrayed as fading and on the verge of retirement.

[59] He appears prominently in the 2006 video for California band STEFY's song "Chelsea" as "Judge Adam West", presiding over the courtroom scene.

[67] West is among the interview subjects in Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle, a three-hour documentary narrated by Liev Schreiber that premiered on PBS in October 2013.

[71][72] Having a distinctive voice, West built a career doing voice-over work on a number of animated series (often as himself), including appearances on The Simpsons,[73] Futurama,[74] Rugrats,[75] Histeria!,[75] Kim Possible,[75] and Johnny Bravo.

[77] From 2000, West made regular appearances on the animated series Family Guy, on which he played the fictional character of the same name, who was the lunatic mayor of Quahog, Rhode Island.

[78] Some of his last voice-over performances were playing the role of Uncle Art in the Disney Animation film Meet the Robinsons,[75] and voicing the young Mermaid Man (along with Burt Ward, who voiced the young Barnacle Boy) in the cartoon show SpongeBob SquarePants, in the episode "Back to the Past" in 2010.

[100] West's last public appearances were from March to April 2017 at the NorthEast ComicCon & Collectibles Extravaganza in Hanover, Massachusetts, where he was the guest of honor,[101][102][103] Fan Expo Dallas,[104] and Silicon Valley Comic Con.