Holy missed opportunity, Batman! The 1960s live-action “Batman” TV series defined the superhero genre, but the creators missed out on the chance to cast one of the biggest actors in the world as Batman’s greatest enemy, the Joker.
Starring Adam West and Burt Ward as the caped crusaders Batman and Robin, 1966’s “Batman” marked the very first television appearance of DC’s Dark Knight. The campy, colorful, comedic series not only featured Batman and the Boy Wonder, but also a whole host of villains from the heroes’ comic book rogues gallery.
Frank Gorshin’s cackling Riddler, Burgess Meredith’s squawking Penguin, and multiple purring Catwomen — including Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt — all became icons of camp villainy and went down in history as some of the best TV villains. Chief among the series’ assortment of supervillains, though, was Caesar Romero’s clown prince of crime. Romero was lucky to land the role, given that Hollywood sensation Frank Sinatra originally had his sights set on it.
In “Truth and Rumours: The Reality Behind TV’s Most Famous Myths” by Bill Brioux (via Far Out), Robin actor Burt Ward recalled being told about Sinatra’s “Batman” ambitions. “From what I understand, Frank Sinatra was very upset because he couldn’t play the Joker,” Ward said. “Cesar Romero had already been signed.”
Batman writer Stanley Ralph Ross recalled Frank Sinatra’s love of the series
Ward wasn’t the only person who worked on “Batman” to have heard about the legendary Sinatra’s Joker dreams. Writer Stanley Ralph Ross, whose writing credits on the show included the episode “The Lady and the Tiger,” which introduced Catwoman, spoke about Sinatra in an interview with the Television Academy.
Ross acted with Sinatra in the movie “Tony Rome.” While working on the film, Ross was writing an episode of “Batman.” Ross said Sinatra realized he was a writer after hearing his typewriter in the night and asked what he was writing. “I said ‘Batman,'” the writer recalled. “‘Oh, I love Batman,’ he said, ‘I wanted to be the Joker.'”
Ross also spoke about the high turnover of villain actors on the series. “Batman” featured three different actors as Mr. Freeze, as well as multiple Catwomen. The show recast Gorshin’s Riddler with John Astin for an episode when Gorshin asked for more money. Unfortunately for Sinatra, Romero never stepped down from the role of the Joker and was the only actor to play the part throughout the entire TV series’ run.
Following Romero’s turn in the role, the Joker was later played by Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman” movie before Mark Hamill voiced the DC supervillain in “Batman: The Animated Series.” More recently, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, Joaquin Phoenix, and Barry Keoghan have all played what has become one of the most coveted comic book villain roles.
