

Ward's role on the show was largely defined by his constant amazement at Batman's crime fighting skills and logic, which he punctuated with his catch phrase, "Holy -!" with the second half of the phrase being a word related to the discussion.
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Its campy tone was personified by West's deadpan delivery as Batman, and Ward's inexperience proved to be a plus in his portrayal of Robin as a wide-eyed, easily duped young man. For his screen debut, Ward adopted his mother's maiden name as his screen surname, and changed the spelling of his first name to "Burt." Soon thereafter, the 20-year-old was cast as Robin opposite Ward's Caped Crusader in the series. His screen test with Adam West consisted of several fight scenes and a demonstration of his karate skills.
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Dugan Agency, who sent him on an audition for an ABC action series based on the venerable "Batman" comic book. He introduced Ward to Jim Moloney of the John F. Ward's father introduced him to producer Saul David, who saw a future in Hollywood for the young man. In 1965, Ward married Lindsey, who would be the first of his four wives. Upon his return to California, he studied theater at UCLA while earning his real estate license, which he hoped would provide him with financial solvency while he pursued his acting career. There, he learned the basics of stage craft and acting through observing and participating in rehearsals. He remained athletic throughout his childhood, participating in numerous high school sports and studying karate.Īt 17, Ward met Bonnie Lindsey, whose father, conductor Mort Lindsey, arranged for them to work as theater apprentices at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA. owned a traveling ice show called "Rhapsody on Ice," and by the age of two, Ward was promoted as the "World's Youngest Ice Skater" in the pages of Strange as It Seems magazine. in Los Angeles on July 6, 1945, Burt Ward was the son of Bert Gervis, Sr., and his wife, Marjorie Ward, whose maiden name would provide her son with a stage surname during his acting career.

In doing so, he preserved a degree of immortality for an aging but nevertheless faithful following.īorn Bert John Gervis, Jr. For his part, Ward took the reversal of fortune in stride, mining his past success for all it was worth. After the show's cancellation, he entered the twilight world reserved for stars who dimmed as quickly as they shone: an endless cycle of low-budget movies and convention appearances, often in costume. His lack of experienced served the golly-gee nature of the role perfectly, and for three years, he and co-star Adam West, who played the Dark Knight, were the toast of television. Actor Burt Ward rose from obscurity to the height of pop culture celebrity in the mid-1960s as Robin, the Boy Wonder on "Batman" (ABC, 1966-68).
