Walla Walla's Adam West Day Features Robin

Adam West Day in Walla Walla seems to be thriving and my actually be getting bigger.  The celebration which takes place in West's native town around the time of the late TV star's birthday in mid September.  Super Fan Jonathan Grant along with like minded friends set up the celebration to honor the star who played the iconic role of Batman in the mid 60's TV show of the same name in the months after West's death from leukemia in 2017.
This year, the celebration featured Burt Ward, who played Robin and his alter ego Dick Grayson.  Ward and his wife, Tracy, appeared by videoconference.   Ward told stories about working with Adam West.  Although he appeared invincible on TV, in reality, the first few days of shooting the show would land him in the emergency room frequently.   The Batmobile, the Batcopter, and a number of characters related to the show also made an appearance according to the Walla Walla U-B.

Holy Blue Mountain It's Adam West Way In Walla Walla

The late Adam West, who grew up in Walla Walla, has an honorary street named after him there.  Adam West Way is in the Northeast part of town near the actor's boyhood home.
The city has planned it's third annual Adam West Day this September 21st.
Perhaps the city will eventually have a Drew Bledsoe Way,  honoring the former Wa-Hi quarterback, who went on to star for the New England Patriots.

West Statue Design Revealed

A miniature version of  a statue of Adam West was unveiled on the second annual Adam West Day in Walla Walla, according to Jonathan Grant one of a group of  local residents who have worked on honoring the memory of the late actor who achieved TV fame playing Batman.

Ruben Procopio is the designer of the statue.  The location of the proposed statue has not been determined according to Grant. 

West, whose real name was Bill Anderson, was a native of Walla Walla.

Trio Of Adam West Fans Want To Rename A Walla Walla Park

 

Jonathan Grant, Adam Lore, and Don Roff, Adam West super fans who were behind establishing a day in his honor, are now moving to change the name of a Walla Walla park.  Menlo Park is not far from the house on Alvarado Terrace where West, then known as Bill Anderson lived with his family as a child.
West, who died last year, would go on to play one of TV's most iconic characters, Batman.
The three fans have been researching the history of the park tucked away in an eastside residential area.
So far, they have found no historical significance to the Menlo Park name.  

Walla Walla Adam West Celebration This Week

Walla Walla's celebration of hometown hero Adam West will be tomorrow (Tuesday, September 19th).  A whole days events are planned and can be seen by clicking here.  West, who died from Leukemia earlier this year, grew up in Walla Walla, and is revered in the town where he was known by his real name, Bill Anderson.  West became a pop culture icon by playing Batman in the mid 60s TV series.

Adam West Day Has Facebook Page

Adam West Day in Walla Walla will take place on September 19th of this year.  The day, an idea of Walla Walla residents Jonathan Grant and Adam Lore now has a page on facebook. Clink here  The day was set up to honor West in his home town. 
West, whose real name is Bill Anderson, grew up with his family on a wheat farm near Walla Walla.
He gained international acclaim as TV's Batman.

Move To Honor Adam West In Walla Walla

Adam West could join Marcus Whitman as a statue in Walla Walla.    There is a petition online to place a statue in the hometown of West, whose birth name is Bill Anderson.  A statue of the late actor, who in recent years has become something of a cult hero, could significantly boost tourism for the town.  West died on June 9th after a short bout with Leukemia.

Adam West From Decades Ago

Walla Walla Historian Joe Drazan paid tribute to the late Adam West with this picture from the early '50s of then Bill Anderson (West's real name) and his wife visiting Whitman College, his alma mater.  West, of course, was a native of Walla Walla and there is talk of a movement to get a statue built in his honor.
You can find memorable Walla Walla pictures at the Bygone Walla Walla blog.

Walla Walla And The World Mourn West

This weekend, the world stopped to mourn a Walla Walla guy.  Like the iconic character he played, Adam West had an alter ego, a true identity, if you will.  When Bill Anderson landed in Hollywood, there was a well known singer that also had that name,  according to his dad, Otto Anderson.  In the early 70s, I accompanied my parents to a Little Theatre cast party at the senior Mr. Anderson's house and he was more than happy to explain the name change.  Mr. Anderson said Adam took the "West" from his own middle name. 
As I was growing up in Walla Walla, West was well loved.  He was a seemingly isolated town's connection to Hollywood.  I have heard that he visited his home town often.   As I have said, the only time that I met him in person was at a cocktail party in San Diego.
 You can probably say that he was the most famous person to hail from Walla Walla.  Drew Bledsoe, is the other famous Walla Wallan. Bledsoe achieved national fame as quarterback for the Walla Walla High School Blue Devils and the WSU Cougars.  As a first draft choice in the NFL in 1993. he enjoyed a stellar career with the New England Patriots.
After the Batman series,  West would suffer from typecasting, being denied roles because viewers would only see him as Batman.  However, West found a way to make a comeback leveraging his fame playing the character, along with America's appetite for nostalgia.  He was also able to use social networking to his advantage. 
West did a voiceover for himself in The Simpson's and did a guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory.  He eventually was casted as the voice for Mayor Adam West in the Family Guy cartoon series.
Adam West's passing started a love fest on Twitter, Facebook, and traditional media.
 Probably, very few of his fans knew he was from Walla Walla.  Probably even fewer knew his real name was William West Anderson, but West touched  the heart of his hometown where he will be remembered forever as Bill Anderson, a Walla Wallan

Caped Crusader Walla Walla Native Adam West Dies

Adam West, one of  the most famous natives of my hometown of Walla Walla, has died.  West, was born William West Anderson in Walla Walla. His portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman on ABC TV in the mid 60s became a worldwide cultural phenomenon.
The somewhat comical portrayal of Batman would differ from later movies of the super hero which were darker in nature.
Batman was a must-watch for me as a child. It was unique in that it was done in two parts.  At the end of the first episode, Batman and Robin (his youthful ward) would be caught in a dangerous situation and the next night he would somehow escape and solve the crime
I met West briefly at a cocktail party in San Diego.  My brother was attending Comic-Com and my dad and I went along for the ride.   West recognized my dad in the hotel lobby from his Walla Walla High School days and invited him to a reception.  West introduced himself to me as both Adam West and Bill Anderson.  Not knowing what to say, I asked him how he and Robin were able to get on a pole in suits and arrive  on the bottom in costume, I knew it was a film splice. 
West worked in Walla Walla radio and was a graduate of Whitman College.  His family says he died after a short bout of leukemia.  He was 88.

Starring Adam West - Official Trailer

Adam West, a Walla Walla native who shot to stardom in the 1960s, faced the perils of typecasting after the run of Batman.  He alludes to his Hollywood journey in this video.

Old Walla Walla Radio Remembered Part 2

When thought of as a radio market, the city of Walla Walla is not only mostly overlooked, it can be the subject of ridicule  However, a closer look at radio history for the town reveals an impressive roster of talent, some who grew up there and some who used their experience at the area's stations as a stepping stone to bigger things.
At the head of the list is Walter Brattain, whom is  co credited with the invention of the transistor. Transistor radios were definitely the rage in the 60s and 70s.  Brattain was a professor of physics at Whitman College in the town.  Bill Yeend, Burl Barer (my cousin), Dale Unruh, and Bob Larson were Walla Wallans who succeeded in the Seattle market.  Kent Phillips was a Whitman Student who spent his out of class hours spinning wax at KUJ, before becoming one of Seattle's longest running morning jocks at 101.5.  Dana Wagner had just graduated WSU when he took a $400 a month gig at XT-97 on his way to being a Las Vegas morning weatherman . Danny Murphy was on KTEL before becoming a children's show TV host on Spokane's KXLY. Bill Anderson would leave his name behind and become Adam West, Television's iconic Batman.   
Walla Walla native Edward P. Morgan was an ABC radio news anchor from 1955-1969, winning the George Foster Peabody award.  I remember listening to Morgan while at the family dinner  table and being shocked to find out he was from the town that I had lived in.
Last, but not least, national reporter Bob Garred grew up in Walla Walla.  He is pictured in the article above.  He grew up in the Palouse Street house that his parents sold to mine in the mid 1960s.  I can not find out much about him, but heard that he died at a very young age.  I had thought that he worked at Mutual Radio, however, all that I could find from the few articles on the Internet was that he worked for CBS. His father was the owner of Walla Walla Drug.   I want to thank Joe Drazan for the information on Mr. Garred.  He also found out the correct way to spell his name.   Joe also has this poster on his blog from the late 1970s version of KUJ

This became a pretty big hit on facebook.   I was also inspired by Sara Van Donge's article in the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

Congratulations To Adam West!

The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reports that Pop Culture Icon Adam West will get a star today on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.  West, who brought the comic book character Batman to life from 1966-1968 on ABC TV, is a native of Walla Walla and would be on any list for most famous figures to hail from there.  He graduated from Lakeside High here in the Seattle area, then graduated from Whitman College.  The Wikipedia reports that West's star will be at 6764 Hollywood Blvd.

Adam West Has Growing Facebook Page

He is a native Walla Wallan and a graduate of Whitman College. He is also without a doubt a television icon. Adam West, who played Batman in the 1960s, is held in high esteem in the Eastern Washington town that I grew up in. He apparently has staying power worldwide, a Facebook fan page where West frequently contributes has almost 50,000 participants.
Here is the description of West on his page..
"Adam West is a true American icon whose career in entertainment has spanned half a century. He is most well-known for his role as TV's classic Batman and for his work as Mayor West on Family Guy."
Last year, a page wanting Betty White to host SNL went viral and earned White an invitation to host the show, perhaps Adam West will be the next star of yesteryear to do so.