Adam West was born Billy (William) West Anderson in Walla Walla, Washington, to parents Otto West Anderson and wife Audrey. At age 10, Adam had a cache of comic books, and Batman made a big impression on him—the hero was part bat-man (a la Count Dracula) and part world's greatest detective (a la Charlie Chan and Sherlock Holmes). When his mom remarried, she took Adam and his younger brother, John, to Seattle. At 14, Adam attended Lakeside School, then he went to Whitman College, where he got a degree in literature and psychology. During his last year of college he married 17-year-old Billie Lou Yeager.

Adam got a job as a DJ at a local radio station, then enrolled at Stanford for post-grad courses. Drafted into the Army, he spent the next two years starting military TV stations, first at San Luis Obispo, California, then at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Afterwards, Adam and his wife toured Europe, visiting Germany, Switzerland, and Italy's Isle of Capri. When the money ran out, he joined a childhood and college buddy, Carl Hebenstreit, who was starring in the kiddie program The Kini Popo Show in Hawaii. Adam would eventually replace Carl, but not the other star, Peaches the Chimp. In 1956, he got a divorce, and married a beautiful girl, originally from Tahiti, named Ngatokoruaimatauaia Frisbie Dawson (he called her "Nga" for short). They had a daughter, Jonelle, in 1957, and a son, Hunter, in 1958. In 1959, Adam came to Hollywood. He adopted the stage name "Adam West," which fit his roles, as he was in some Westerns.

After seven years in Tinseltown, he achieved fame in 1966, in his signature role as Batman in the wildly popular ABC TV series. Though he has over 60 movie and over 80 TV guest appearance credits, Batman is what the fans remember him for. Batman, which lasted three seasons, made him internationally famous. The movie version earned Adam the "Most Promising New Star" award in 1967. The downside was that the Batman fame was partly responsible for ruining his marriage, and he was typecast and almost unemployable for a while after the series ended (he did nothing but personal appearances for two years).

In 1972 he met and married Marcelle Tagand Lear and became stepfather to Moya and Jill. They later had two children of their own: Nina in 1976 and Perrin in 1979. You can't keep a good actor down—Adam's career took off again, and he has been in about 50 projects since then: movies, TV-movies, and sometimes voices in TV series. Adam wrote his autobiography, Back to the Batcave, in 1994. One of his most prized possessions is a drawing of Batman by Bob Kane with the inscription "To my buddy, Adam, who breathed life into my pen and ink creation."