Worst Bat Villain Cast

[Jthree]

Dear Batfans:
While I feel that most of the villains on Batman were well-cast, there were a few that I cringed at. Mainly Marsha, Queen of Diamonds. Somehow the Caped Crusader could do better than Carolyn Jones at the time. Two Questions: Are there any other Batvillains who you feel were miscast, who were they? Second Question: What sixties television actress could have done a better job playing Marsha than Miss Jones? Jill Ireland? Barbara Eden (already on I Dream of Jennie), the lady on The Farmer's Daughter? Who?

JThree

[elmrgraham]

1.The Puzzler,Marsha,Queen Of Diamonds,Colonel Gumm,and Lord Fogg,played by Rudy Vallee.2.I would say Jill Ireland.

[redbird]

1. Nora Clavicle the worst, terrible plot.
To play Marsha, queen of Diamonds...I would like to have seen Anne Francis
In that role or Leslie Parrish.

[Therin of Andor]

As a kid, I didn't repond well to Marsha. Her witchy aunt was good comic relief, but the Marsha plots didn't do much for me. I think Caroline Jones and John Astin were probably too indelible as the Addamses for my childhood brain to separate their roles. Most of the other Bat villains were unknowns to me, until I started spotting them in other roles. I think Chandel might have been my other problem; I recognised it was "just Liberace" playing a villain (or two).

Some of other faves (Dr Cassandra, Cabala and Nora) are not as popular with others, and are bound to turn up in this thread, but I did enjoy their performances very much. As a young adult, spotting Barbara Rush in "Can't Stop the Music" was such a hoot, as was learning that Ida Lupino commanded such respect as a female director in Hollywood.

[Progress Pigment]

Nora Clavicle was the worst. A stupid 'women's lib' character that was already silly & outdated by 1968. The Puzzler with his "focus on aeronautical crimes" was just idiotic. No show has ever suffered such a drop in writing/scripts from season one to two in television history! Masha was decent in her two-parter, but the Penguin/Marsha 3 parter was unbelievably bad. Just gut wrenching. Who's idea was this?!! The Archer was so badly cast. And it was the second season debut! You'd expect something special, not something just moronic. Considering the level the show the series had sunk to by season three, Dr. Cassandra was a rare treat. She was a lot of fun. Therin, did you see 'Can't Stop the Music' in the theater? If you did being in even remote contact with you is as rare as sighting a unicorn!

[chrisbcritter]

Therin, did you see 'Can't Stop the Music' in the theater? If you did being in even remote contact with you is as rare as sighting a unicorn!

Ha! I thought about going to see it when it opened, but figured I'd get beat up going out of the theatre...

Anyway, back on topic - I think Carolyn Jones did what she could with the part; she was at least well suited to the imperious attitude the Marsha character required. If only someone could have talked Liz Taylor into it! Of course if you wanted to break the needle off the camp-o-meter, there's always the first choice, Zsa Zsa Gabor - or even Eva Gabor spoofing her sister? Boy, the catfight that would have caused!

And Lord Ffogg? Should have been Terry-Thomas, not Rudy Vallee.

[Jthree]

Forgot about "Pussycat" played by Leslie Gore. I thought Judy Strangis, who appeared earlier on the series would have been and looked closer to Burt Ward's age.

Jthree

[Dr. Shimel]

The Puzzler plot--billionaire Artemus Knab "with his many monopolies" is somehow being seduced by Puzzler to invest in puzzle balloons.

[Bookworm]

I think Carolyn Jones was terrific as Marsha. She wasn't as attractive (or as young) as the other actresses people have named, but her role required an ability to dominate those around her, and her presence and voice could surely do that. Her first appearance as Marsha (particularly with its Batman Misses or Mrs. cliffhanger) is one of my favorites of the series. The only person I would consider replacing her with is Liz Taylor. I also really like the Nora Clavicle episode. It's wonderfully anachronistic and politically incorrect. It reminds me of the Dr. Janice Lester episode of Star Trek. Rudy Vallee's facial expressions were up to the role of Lord Ffogg, but he wasn't able to handle the dialogue. Terry Thomas (or Bernard Fox!) would have been better. The villains I like the least are the ones without much personality: Sandman, False Face, Clock King, and Colonel Gumm. The missing villain I would most liked to have seen would be Poison Ivy, preferably played by Ann Margaret.

[TP-6597]

The only two Ive never liked and still skip over are Black Widow (Tallulah Bankhead) and Lola Lasagne (Ethel Merman). The characters are barely tolerable and the actresses wouldn't have been my choices. I've never been a fan of Ethel Merman because she's so over the top angry and loud. I realize that was her shtick, but it didn't appeal to me as a child and it still doesn't.

Tallulah Bankhead is just painful to watch. She was so sick that she looks to be struggling to even participate. I think she was even on oxygen between takes. ?!

I don't know who I would pick in their places, but nearly anyone else would have been better.

[Dr. Shimel]

Tallulah Bankhead is just painful to watch. She was so sick that she looks to be struggling to even participate. I think she was even on oxygen between takes. ?!

Decades of smoking had caught up with her by that point--I believe she had emphysema. It made her vulnerable to respiratory illnesses, which was why she quickly went from the flu to double pneumonia and died in December 1968. She has the dubious distinction of being the first Batman villain to die.

[BATWINGED HORNET]

The only two Ive never liked and still skip over are Black Widow (Tallulah Bankhead) and Lola Lasagne (Ethel Merman). The characters are barely tolerable and the actresses wouldn't have been my choices. I've never been a fan of Ethel Merman because she's so over the top angry and loud. I realize that was her shtick, but it didn't appeal to me as a child and it still doesn't.

Same here; the Black Widow episodes were a strong sign of things to come in season three, and the party store felt & wire spiders, along with West's singing just torpedoed the episode. Bankhead was so clearly ill, and while she was an adult who made the decision to guest star, using her in such a frail condition made Dozier seem opportunistic. Failure all around.

I agree with all you said about Merman--there's nothing appealing about her in the episode, or anywhere else in her career.


Other Worst Bat Villain Cast:

Berle as Louie. Whether his appearing was part of his stint at ABC (with his failed variety show), or Dozier thought "everyone likes Milty!" he did not do the show any favors. Just growling around apeing old mafia stereotypes, and trading on his name.

[Jthree]

Can't believe I forgot Tallulah Bankhead as Black Widow. Ugh! That was the worst. Can't think of another sixties actress who could have fit that role as a substitute? Someone who could have combined beauty with some sort of creepiness.

Any other cast ideas? As the originator of this thread I can't believe I started off with Marsha, Queen of Diamonds being the worst. But now I remember Bankhead as the BW.

JThree

[Jim Akin]

Can't think of another sixties actress who could have fit that role as a substitute? Someone who could have combined beauty with some sort of creepiness.

Seems to me Carolyn Jones did a creditable job at exactly that when she played Morticia Addams. In our re-writing of bat-history, casting Jones as Black Widow would let Marsha haters reassign that role.

Cheers,

QQ

[LizardKing]

Nora Clavicle was the worst. A stupid 'women's lib' character that was already silly & outdated by 1968. The Puzzler with his "focus on aeronautical crimes" was just idiotic. No show has ever suffered such a drop in writing/scripts from season one to two in television history! Masha was decent in her two-parter, but the Penguin/Marsha 3 parter was unbelievably bad. Just gut wrenching. Who's idea was this?!! The Archer was so badly cast. And it was the second season debut! You'd expect something special, not something just moronic. Considering the level the show the series had sunk to by season three, Dr. Cassandra was a rare treat. She was a lot of fun. Therin, did you see 'Can't Stop the Music' in the theater? If you did being in even remote contact with you is as rare as sighting a unicorn!

Season 2 debut should have been a huge deal. Seems like the writing was on the wall.