Adam West, actor best known as TV’s Batman, died suddenly in Los Angeles in 2017 after a short battle with leukemia. He was 88.
“I’ve been looking at Adam’s lifestyle to find evidence of what may have contributed to his leukemia,” says series expert, Dr. Michael Hunter, “including his smoking and drinking and the depression he suffered when the Batman series was scrapped.”
The actor struggled to find work after his campy superhero series was canceled in 1968, but he rebounded with voiceover gigs, including recurring roles on the animated hits Family Guy and The Simpsons.
In his final years, West was a fixture at pop culture conventions. At the events he signed autographs and posed for photos with a new generation of fans.
“I didn’t know there was anything wrong with him and I saw him six weeks before he passed,” says Gary Sohmers, a longtime friend and producer of Comic Con.
In a new REELZ documentary, it’s revealed that West had been keeping news of his illness private before he passed.
“His superhero stature as Batman preceded his ability to be vulnerable and human, so he couldn’t let us know he was suffering,” West’s former publicist, Hal Lifson, notes in the special.
For more, watch Autopsy: The Last Hours of Adam West on REELZ on Sunday, June 14 at 8 p.m. ET.
Watch REELZ on DIRECTV 238, Dish Network 299, Verizon FiOS 692, AT&T U-verse 1799 and in HD on cable systems and streaming services nationwide. Find REELZ on your local cable or satellite provider at www.reelz.com
