Interview: Get Adam West (Batman, The Family Guy) His Hollywood Walk of Fame Star!

Left to right: Nick Langley (The Action Chick artist), Adam West (Batman, The Family Guy), Alex Langley (The Action Chick colorist), Fred Westbrook (manager). San Diego Comic-Con International. WATCH the video. JOIN the campaign. Become a producer!

Adam West – Batman, The Family Guy‘s Mayor West, and my first contest judge – doesn’t have a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?! Looking into that this weekend, I discovered the Kickstarter campaign to support the completion of a documentary on Adam and push for him to get that Star, and then I also discovered my The Action Chick webcomic artists Nick and Alex in that Kickstarter video‘s opening shot with Adam and his manager Fred.

So we went straight to the West family to learn more.

AFC: How did this campaign start?

Nina West Tooley

Nina West Tooley (Adam’s daughter): A few years ago we started thinking about the fact that our dad did not have a Star and looked into the process. Around the same time, we met Ralph Garman and he felt as strongly as we did that Adam deserved a Star. So we joined forces, got the application together, and have tried for it at least three times. A couple of years ago, we really thought we had it in the bag because among all of the letters of recommendation we had one from Seth McFarlane and one from Conan O’Brien. Apparently that didn’t sway their opinion!

James Tooley (filmmaker, son-in-law): Nina and Ralph have been trying to get Adam his star for a few years. I started working on a documentary about Adam and realized what a crime it was that he hasn’t been recognized in any official way for his years of hard work. The two projects just naturally merged into one super project to try to use the Star to tell Adam’s story and to use the film to help him get a Star.

Alex: How long have you been working on this?

Nina: On and off about 4 years – Ralph may have started earlier even.

James: We’ve been filming on and off for about three years. We’re really hopeful that this year we’ll get Adam his star and have the perfect ending to our film.

AFC: Who else is helping campaign for Adam West to get his Walk of Fame star?

Adam at KROQ. Blur on left = Ralph Garman (Family Guy, Kevin and Bean, Joe Schmo).

Nina: Well, the fans have been tremendously helpful in terms of showing their support and enthusiasm for this campaign. Ralph Garman has really been instrumental – he’s done most of the legwork and has been leading the application process. Perrin and I, and my dad’s agent Fred have all come together to try and rally celebrities and other Hollywood influencers to make phone calls or write letters. Everyone we’ve talked to has been really supportive – we haven’t run into one person who was like, “um, I’m not into it.” Most people are like “WTF? Adam doesn’t have a Star? That’s a travesty!”

James: The outpouring of support has been remarkable. Fans, friends & family are all pitching in to make this happen. The guys at KROQ have been awesome – Kevin & Bean had me on their morning show the other day to promote the project. Ralph Garman has always supported the project – in fact, he’s the one who personally submits the application each year. We just launched the campaign about two weeks ago and already we have almost 100 people who’ve already pledged on our Kickstarter page.

AFC: Most people we know who’ve met Adam, more so than with any other celebrity, comment on the things that surprise them about him. James, did Adam surprise you when you first got to know him? Does he still surprise you now?

James: The very first time I met Adam he answered the door in his underwear covered in tanning oil. He’d been out on the deck sunning himself and to make the situation even more absurd, it was the middle of winter in Idaho. Adam does things his own way and that’s what makes him so surprising to people. I think it’s this uniqueness that fuels his sense of humor. Even now that I’ve gotten to know him much better, he still surprises me regularly and always makes me laugh.

AFC (to Nina and Perrin): I imagine you and your sibs hear plenty about the ways your dad surprises people. What surprises them most?

Perrin West

Perrin West (Adam’s son): I think what surprises people most is how nice and approachable he is. He occupies this superhero or superhuman position in some people’s imaginations. I’ve seen people literally shaking with nerves before meeting him, but then in reality he turns out to be the “guy you’d like to have a beer with” – albeit an exceptionally funny guy to have a beer with. He played Batman, but he’s really more the Joker. He always comes up with the perfect hilarious off-kilter icebreaker that instantly disarms people. It continues to surprise and amaze me too, how well he can get along with anybody, no matter who they are or what their background is.

Nina: I think people are surprised by his friendliness and humor. He connects with each and every fan he meets on a personal level, really listens to them, and always tries to make them smile. I think people are a little bit taken off guard, in a good way, by how genuine he is.

Alex: When Adam did that Joker panel at Comic-Con, Nick and I showed him and Fred how to get to the room for the panel. In fact, that’s what we’re doing in the opening shot of your Kickstarter video. It took us half an hour to get through the convention center because of all the people who wanted to see Adam, say hi, shake his hand, worship him – the video shows some of that too. His love for his fans was so clear. He took time to speak with so many of them along the way. Is that typical of him?

Perrin: I think it’s probably the same with any celebrity to a degree. But what’s different with him is that he will totally stop and chat with all of them if you don’t keep him moving. He not only needs somebody to run interference, but somebody to keep him from lollygagging around as well.

AFC: How do you manage to go anywhere with him?

James: Adam can be pretty incognito when he need to be. He just pulls his hat down and blends in. However, it can get a bit overwhelming when he’s discovered in a crowd. One day we went to Hollywood Blvd. to film a bit on the Walk of Fame. Adam was just blending in and nobody seemed to notice him. At some point the word spread that we were filming Adam West and within a couple of minutes it was like the Beatles were in town….. we had to get out of there fast!

Alex: At that time, Adam told us he was only doing about three big appearances a year, but since then, he’s being doing them left and right. Does he have any spare time these days?

Documentary production still: Voicework for The Family Guy.

Nina: He is constantly busy traveling, meeting his fans, doing voice-over work and viral videos. He just did a hilarious Facebook campaign for Dolby where he read fans’ status updates, live on video, on the Dolby fan page. It’s amazing how prolific and energetic he is.

Perrin: He’s truly the bionic man. In the words of Charlie Sheen he definitely has “tiger blood” running in his veins. I don’t know how he does it at his age. It would wipe me out and he’s got 50 years on me. He does get down time though, but he always ruins it by constantly looking for chores to do.

AFC: Why is the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star important?

James: The truth is that the Star isn’t that important to Adam but it is important to those of us that care about him. Adam’s been entertaining his fans since the 60’s and he’s never received anything in the way of recognition. We just want to do something for him that we think would show him how much he means to all of us. And we want Adam to live forever in Hollywood history which he will through his work, but it would be so nice to visit his Star in 50 years and smile knowing that we all helped to strengthen his legacy.

Nina: At this point for us it’s become a challenge – it’s been so frustrating that on a personal level I just want to conquer it. Aside from that, it’s important because Adam deserves it. He’s been working in Hollywood for more than 50 years, he’s an American icon, and he is 82 years old and STILL relevant. How many other actors can you name who have accomplished that? There are very few.

Perrin: It’s important to us, as his children who have seen how incredibly hard he’s worked all these years, just grinding it out through good times and bad. We want to see all that unrelenting effort rewarded or immortalized in some way. I don’t think it means anything to him. Or at least he’d never admit it. I think he’s even a bit bashful about the whole thing, since it’s so against his personality to seek honors or awards.

AFC: How can Adam’s fans help get him that Star?

Nina: His fans can help in a few ways. First, by making a donation to Kickstarter to help us finish this film, so we can get the attention of the Chamber of Commerce and hopefully wrap up the film by showing Adam getting awarded a Star. That would be the best ending EVER. The other thing fans can do is to Like his Facebook fan page, to spread the word as much as they can, and to stay tuned for a call to action. We are figuring out our strategy for this year and it’s probably going to involve rallying the Batfans to write letters or even make an appearance in front of the Chamber of Commerce.

Kickstarter campaign: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1425501330/starring-adam-west?ref=live
Adam on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/adamwest
Homepage: http://www.adamwest.com

Facebook campaign to get him that star:
http://www.facebook.com/AdamWestStar

Calling on YOU, AFC-reading citizens!

Adam judges AFC readers' answers.

Do you have photos of yourselves with Adam? Relevant cosplay pics? How about taking a fresh pic of yourself with a note to him or something about how much he deserves that Star? If you’d him to see that in a compilation video we’ll post on YouTube, please email your pics to me this week at chick@[this website]. (Please note that by sending the pics, you’re giving permission to include the images in a YouTube video and relinquishing rights to request their removal.) We hope to include plenty of you!

Related posts:
* Adam West (@therealadamwest) Picks Worst Superpower
* Interview: Writer/Director Ray Griggs (Super Capers)
* Whose Walk of Fame Star Do YOU Want?

Friends weigh in:
* Talk Nerdy to Me Lover: #NerdsUnite let’s get therealadamwest a star!

Documentary production stills courtesy of James Tooley, Chromatic Films.