And maybe Burt Ward, too.
Here are comparisons of screentests for Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deyell/Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin for the 1960s television show. While I prefer the darker, faux realism on modern Batman stories, there's a lot of room in the world for different interpretations of the character. As great as Christian Bale is as Batman, Adam West was equally great, though for different reasons. I'm not suggesting he was Brando, but West was a charismatic actor who was capable of more than he was ever allowed to do.
Unfortunately, he came up in a time when comicbooks were only a rung or two higher than horror and porn on the entertainment social ladder.Today he's kind of like William Shater's less-ironic cousin. And he deserved better.
While I've never been a particular fan of Burt Ward, it's clear he's still the best actor to play Robin on screen (this will likely be the case for many years to come, given that Warner Bros has even less interest in Dick Grayson than DC Comics.) If you watch the video above you'll see that Peter Deyell certainly looks more like the youthful Robin as depicted in the comics ... but he lacks screen presence.
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