The Only Actors Still Alive From The Cast Of Batman (1966)

The ABC primetime comic book adaptation "Batman" premiered on January 12, 1966. Producer William Dozier and writer Lorenzo Semple Jr. crafted a pop-art superhero extravaganza, campy and self-aware enough to work as a comedy for grown-ups while also delivering enough comic book hijinks that kids could enjoy it at face value. As Batman and Robin, stars Adam West and Burt Ward fought and foiled dozens of supervillains played by a cavalcade of guest stars — everyone from regulars like Burgess Meredith and Cesar Romero (as the Penguin and the Joker, respectively) to famed director Otto Preminger and Morticia Addams herself, Carolyn Jones (as Mr. Freeze and Marsha, Queen of Diamonds).

The series ended after three seasons and a spinoff film between Season 1 and Season 2, but it aired in syndication for decades, spawning generations of Bat-fans. Between animated reunion films, comics, and toys, the 1960s "Batman" is arguably as popular now, more than half a century later, as it's ever been. Or, if nothing else, it's at least the key to many, many jokes on "The Simpsons." Sadly, a lot of the show's stars are no longer with us, but a surprising number of heroes, villains, and citizens of fair Gotham are still alive, carrying the torch for those who have passed on. Here are the actors from the classic "Batman" series who are still alive, and what they're up to.

A small role as a flower delivery boy in the "Batman" Season 2 episode "The Penguin Declines" marked just the second onscreen appearance of filmmaker Rob Reiner. Son of legendary comedian Carl Reiner, he spent the late 1960s playing guest roles on "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "That Girl," as well as in several episodes of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" as a member of the countercultural comedy troupe The Committee. In 1971, he landed arguably his most famous acting role as Archie Bunker's liberal son-in-law Mike "Meathead" Stivic on "All in the Family."

Reiner's interest soon turned to directing, and after a couple of TV movies, he made his feature film directorial debut with the 1984 mockumentary classic "This Is Spinal Tap." The film kicked off an impressive run of beloved films including "Stand By Me," "The Princess Bride," "When Harry Met Sally...," "Misery," and "A Few Good Men." His winning streak came to an end with the 1994 family comedy "North," which inspired perhaps the most famous negative review of Roger Ebert ever wrote. Nevertheless, Reiner's filmmaking career soldiered on with later hits like 2007's "The Bucket List," as well as a return to Spinal Tap in a 2025 sequel. In recent years, he's also continued acting, often parodying himself on shows like "30 Rock" and "The Simpsons." In the 2010s, he played father to Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Wolf of Wall Street" and Zooey Deschanel on "New Girl." 

Actress Terry Moore plays Venus, the object of the Penguin's (Burgess Meredith) affections, in a rare triple-episode "Batman" storyline. Born Helen Luella Koford, the Los Angeles native got her start in films at an early age, appearing as a teenager in the 1944 thriller "Gaslight" and starring in the 1949 giant ape classic "Mighty Joe Young." She worked consistently in film and television throughout the '50s and '60s, including in "Peyton Place" in 1957 and in the 1962 TV western "Empire," which co-starred Ryan O'Neal and Charles Bronson. 

After taking just a few roles in the 1970s, Moore's career rebounded in the '80s and beyond with guest roles on "Knight Rider," a cameo in the 1998 "Mighty Joe Young" remake starring Charlize Theron, and even a short-lived VH1 reality series, "Old Skool with Terry and Gita," co-starring former model Gita Hall. In the 2010s, she appeared in prestige dramas like "True Detective" and "Ray Donovan," and she has several forthcoming projects in the works. Moore has been married several times, most notably to billionaire Howard Hughes in 1949, even though both were technically married to other people at the time.

Longtime stunt performer Tony Santoro was a utility player on all three seasons of "Batman," as well as in the 1966 spinoff film. Though rarely credited on screen for his work, he played dozens of henchmen and bit parts from the very first episode onward. The show often used its stunt performers over and over, creating a kind of repertory company of henchmen who bounce from villain to villain in Gotham City.

According to Santoro's charmingly retro website, he began his Hollywood journey as an extra in the James Dean classic "Rebel Without a Cause." Before "Batman," he worked as a horse rider and stuntman on TV westerns like "Bronco" and "Maverick." On film, his first credited role (per IMDb) was a small part in Hal Ashby's 1978 Vietnam drama "Coming Home." Santoro performed stunts in 1980's "The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood," which also featured "Batman" star Adam West, as well as in Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses" and the 2004 Tom Cruise thriller "Collateral." He's also appeared as a driver in many car commercials over the years for companies like Chevrolet, Ford, and Porsche. Santoro's most recent on-camera role was as a fake priest blessing a crowd in the 2018 short "The Great American Mud Wrestle."

Actress Jill St. John is notable not just for appearing on the first two episodes of "Batman" as the Riddler's (Frank Gorshin) henchwoman Molly, but also for being one of the very few onscreen deaths in the series' history. Molly, disguised as Robin, infiltrates the Batcave, but when her plan goes awry, she climbs up the hideout's nuclear reactor to escape. Batman tries to come to her aid, but he's too late, and Molly falls to her death inside the reactor.

Born Jill Oppenheim, St. John started as a child actor in the 1940s, appearing in an early television production of "A Christmas Carol" and several episodes of "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show." As an adult, she was known for her comedic work, appearing in 1963's Neil Simon adaptation "Come Blow Your Horn" (alongside Barbara Rush) and "Honeymoon Hotel" with Robert Goulet. In 1971, St. John was cast as Tiffany Case, the female lead in Sean Connery's brief return to the James Bond franchise, "Diamonds Are Forever." She began to focus less on acting in the 1980s, pivoting to other pursuits like cooking. St. John made regular appearances afterward on "Good Morning America" and released her own cookbook in 1987. What few roles she has taken in the last few decades are often alongside her fourth husband, actor Robert Wagner, such as in the 2014 holiday TV movie "Northpole," where the two played Santa and Mrs. Claus.

British actress Joan Collins took a villainous turn in the "Batman" Season 3 episode "The Wail of the Siren." As the eponymous foe, Collins uses her beauty and hypnotic ear-piercing voice to ensnare men to do her bidding, and she has millionaire Bruce Wayne in her sights. Can Batgirl and Robin save him before he gives his fortune away? Will Siren make Chief O'Hara jump into Gotham Harbor? Does she call Robin both "Batboy" and "short stuff" in quick succession? The answer may surprise you! (It's yes.)

Collins was already a star in her native United Kingdom when she made her first American splash in Howard Hawks' 1955 historical epic "Land of the Pharaohs." While sci-fi and horror fans may know her best as Captain Kirk's doomed love from the 1967 "Star Trek" episode "City on the Edge of Forever" or as the victim of a psychotic Santa Claus in the 1972 comic adaptation "Tales from the Crypt," Collins became an American icon mainly by playing the ruthless Alexis Colby on the 1980s soap opera "Dynasty." She received an Order of the British Empire in 1997 and was made a dame in 2015. Over the years, she's dedicated herself to many charitable causes. In 2021, she co-starred in an as-yet unaired miniseries about the life of St. Francis of Assisi titled "Glow and Darkness."

Actor and director James Brolin had already appeared on "Batman" twice in bit parts before playing boxer Kid Gulliver in Season 3's "Ring Around the Riddler." The Riddler has a scheme of some sort to take control of all prizefighting in Gotham. Brolin's Kid Gulliver refuses to take a dive for the supervillain, so the Riddler has him drugged and gotten rid of. The episode culminates in Batman and the Riddler boxing each other — a scene that sounds a lot cooler on paper than the story contrived to make it happen.

Brolin was just a few years into his acting career when he made his "Batman" appearances, and he'd land his first major role just two years later in 1969, playing young doctor Steven Kiley on "Marcus Welby, M.D." The show ran for 170 episodes across seven seasons and made Brolin a household name. He starred in the original "Westworld" in 1973 and the original "The Amityville Horror" in 1979. In 1985, he parodied his own square-jawed image in "Pee Wee's Big Adventure." Brolin turned to directing in the 1980s, helming episodes of his own series "Hotel" and "Pensacola: Wings of Gold," as well as several TV films in the 2010s for the Hallmark Channel. He's been married to music legend Barbra Streisand since 1998.

Perhaps the real riddle is why John Astin, the once and future Gomez Addams, replaced Frank Gorshin as the Riddler for just two episodes at the end of "Batman" Season 2. While the official explanation from Gorshin was that he had a scheduling conflict that precluded him from filming those two episodes, it has also been suggested that he and his agency were in negotiations with producer William Dozier for a larger per-episode salary. In any case, it was Astin's time to shine as the Riddler — robbing a series of banks in order to buy a disintegrating ray from a mad scientist and trapping Batman and Robin in a giant cake made of quicksand.

Astin's first major role on television is still the one he is best known for — macabre patriarch and ultimate wife guy Gomez Addams on "The Addams Family." Based on artist Charles Addams' cartoons in The New Yorker, the series only aired for two seasons, yet it lived on for decades in syndication. Astin would reprise his role in a 1977 Halloween special and voiced Gomez in the 1990s animated series inspired by the popular movie adaptations. He also had recurring roles on "Night Court" and "Murder, She Wrote" and lent his vocal talents to "Taz-Mania," "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes," and many more animated series. Astin has largely stayed away from on-camera work since 2001, when he returned to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, to teach acting and directing. In 2011, a newly renovated theater space there was named in his honor.

Actress and 1955 Miss America Lee Meriwether played Catwoman just once in the 1966 "Batman" spinoff film. Julie Newmar, the series' primary Catwoman at the time, was unable to reprise her role due to a scheduling conflict. Her loss ended up being Meriwether's gain. The film features a substantive subplot for Catwoman, in which she romances Bruce Wayne while pretending to be a Soviet journalist.

After Meriwether was crowned Miss America, she joined NBC's "Today Show" and began making guest appearances on television. In the 1960s, she had notable recurring roles on "Dr. Kildare," "The Time Tunnel," and "Mission: Impossible." She even appeared on the "Batman" series as a non-Catwoman love interest for Bruce Wayne. In the 1970s, she was a regular on "Barnaby Jones" as Betty, secretary to the eponymous private eye (Buddy Ebsen). The role earned her nominations for an Emmy and two Golden Globes. In 1988, Meriwether returned to the world of '60s genre classics as Lily Munster in the reboot series "The Munsters Today," which ran for three years. Since then, she's kept busy with guest appearances on "Don't Trust the B—- in Apartment 23" and the "Hawaii Five-O" reboot, and she's a consistent star of the convention circuit.

Actress, dancer, and style icon Julie Newmar originated the role of Catwoman in Season 1 of "Batman." While "feminine wiles" were a common tool of many of Batman's distaff foes, Newmar's Catwoman was the only one whose relationship with the Caped Crusader was powered primarily by actual attraction. Newmar and Adam West had genuine chemistry together that shone through all the masks and corny dialogue, and there was always the sense that she was on the verge of changing her ways for him, though of course, that could never happen. At the end of the day, Catwoman's going to be Catwoman.

Newmar performed with the Los Angeles Opera as prima ballerina at age 15, and her first credited part was in the classic 1954 musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (under her birth name Julie Newmeyer). Small appearances on television followed, and in 1964 she played the title role in the sci-fi rom-com series "My Living Doll" opposite Robert Cummings. After "Batman," she continued to take guest roles on shows like "Love, American Style" and "Fantasy Island," while also featuring in low-budget films like 1989's "Ghosts Can't Do It." She was name-checked in the 1995 drag comedy "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar" and in 2016 reprised her role as Catwoman in the animated film "Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders." In addition to her film and television work, Newmar is a real estate developer, an LGBTQ+ activist, and holds two lingerie patents.

When 19-year-old Burt Ward, born Bert Gervis, was cast as Robin, he'd never acted on camera before, but he was already a lifelong performer, having appeared in his father's ice skating show at age 2. As Batman's youthful partner, Ward's guileless energy was a perfect match for the self-aware tone of the show, and the series afforded him plenty of opportunities to show off his comedy skills without the mask, as in the Season 1 episode in which Robin must go undercover as a juvenile delinquent. A student of karate, Ward performed many more of his own stunts than his co-star Adam West, which resulted in a number of injuries over the series' three-season run.

Despite still being young, handsome, and charming, Ward had difficulty finding meaningful acting work after "Batman" ended. For better or worse, he was inescapably linked to Robin, and decades later, the Boy Wonder continues to be his most famous role. Ward has returned to the cape and tights many times, voicing Robin in the 1977 animated series "The New Adventures of Batman," the 2016 animated film "Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders," and its 2017 sequel. In 2019, he had a cameo in The CW's superhero series crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths," playing an adult Robin in the alternate universe "Earth-66." These days, Ward's focus is on the convention circuit and the canine charity organization he runs with his wife, Gentle Giants.