Was there a Traveling Batgirl at Adam and Burt's Appearances?

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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Steve Rosinski
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Re: Was there a Traveling Batgirl at Adam and Burt's Appearances?

Post by Steve Rosinski »

Karen described to me the reasoning behind her appearances as the traveling Batgirl:

"Adam and Burt thought it would be good if I acted as the travelling Batgirl to get more interest from little girls and their moms. I was traveling with them anyway. Before going to D.C. Comics they asked Yvonne how she felt about it from what I remember. She wasn't interested in traveling cause she was in her early 40's. It was really a need and great idea because the look on the young, older girls, and moms faces were just so excited. That was the Best thing about being there with them."
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Steve Rosinski
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Re: Was there a Traveling Batgirl at Adam and Burt's Appearances?

Post by Steve Rosinski »

I think there was some confusion over the rumor that Burt may have walked away from set with Yvonne's costume and that the fact his girlfriend would later appear as Batgirl in the late 70s/early 80s. I believe the lack of photos out there of Karen Whitfield in costume led to the belief that she was wearing Yvonne's outfit. A simple mistake😉

Here's ME-TV's recap of the 1973 PSA story about the Batgirl costume:

http://www.metv.com/stories/youll-never ... ostume/url
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Jackbtripper
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Re: Was there a Traveling Batgirl at Adam and Burt's Appearances?

Post by Jackbtripper »

So Yvonne never made appearances in costume after the show ended?
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Therin of Andor
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Re: Was there a Traveling Batgirl at Adam and Burt's Appearances?

Post by Therin of Andor »

West Fan wrote: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:08 pm Perhaps now we can put to bed the story that Yvonne always told that Burt "stole" a Batgirl costume from the set and did appearances with his girlfriend with it.
But supposedly Burt Ward was able to locate the missing TV Batgirl costume just in time for Yvonne to wear in the Federal Equal Pay Law public service announcement ad.
Jackbtripper wrote: Tue Jan 23, 2018 1:59 pm So Yvonne never made appearances in costume after the show ended?
Only the Federal Equal Pay Law TV ad.
"Holy nostalgia, Batman!"
Therin of Andor

(aka Ian McLean, from Sydney, Australia)
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AndyFish
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Re: Was there a Traveling Batgirl at Adam and Burt's Appearances?

Post by AndyFish »

It makes sense that Karen wouldn't want to wear Yvonne's costume-- and the fact that Burt was the one to "find" the missing suit for the PSA ad certainly adds credence to the rumor that he took or bought the costume after the show ended.

The suit that Karen wore matches the comics of the period so there was definitely an effort to make it look "right".

Amazing to think back to those car show days isn't it? Adam and Burt came to one near me but by that time I had become obsessed with Planet of the Apes and a friend who had gone earlier in the weekend had told me Adam's appearance was embarrassing because he made some lame jokes and showed his strength by lifting a chair. At the same show the traveling POTA Cornelius and Zira were there in full makeup so that's where I went.

I don't regret not meeting Adam until he was out of his costume and in regular clothes appearances.
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AndyFish
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Re: Was there a Traveling Batgirl at Adam and Burt's Appearances?

Post by AndyFish »

Speaking of Batgirl-- and at the risk of hijacking the thread-- the term reminded me of the time I bought a pile of costumes from Heritage Auctions-- the picture showed what looked like a pile of dirty laundry-- I'm not kidding-- it was all from the Ben Novack Collection. I won the lot CHEAP and when it arrived I was shocked that not only did the costume lot include Aquaman, Batman, Robin, Superman, Flash, Captain America, Spider-Man and Captain Marvel costumes but it had a Utility Belt, a Batman Cowl from 1966 (made by one of the early creators of fan costumes) and a sweet Batgirl cowl which my wife popped on along with a red wig, I think she made a pretty good Batgirl;

Image

She and I don't cosplay, so I ended up selling off most of the costumes and donating a few others to a local theater group that was going to visit kids in hospitals. But that was a nice surprise when I opened the box.
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Ben Bentley
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Re: Was there a Traveling Batgirl at Adam and Burt's Appearances?

Post by Ben Bentley »

AndyFish wrote: Wed Jan 24, 2018 10:16 am Speaking of Batgirl-- and at the risk of hijacking the thread-- the term reminded me of the time I bought a pile of costumes from Heritage Auctions-- the picture showed what looked like a pile of dirty laundry-- I'm not kidding-- it was all from the Ben Novack Collection. I won the lot CHEAP and when it arrived I was shocked that not only did the costume lot include Aquaman, Batman, Robin, Superman, Flash, Captain America, Spider-Man and Captain Marvel costumes but it had a Utility Belt, a Batman Cowl from 1966 (made by one of the early creators of fan costumes) and a sweet Batgirl cowl which my wife popped on along with a red wig, I think she made a pretty good Batgirl;

Image

She and I don't cosplay, so I ended up selling off most of the costumes and donating a few others to a local theater group that was going to visit kids in hospitals. But that was a nice surprise when I opened the box.
Your lovely wife is totally rocking it as Batgirl!
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antman67
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Re: Was there a Traveling Batgirl at Adam and Burt's Appearances?

Post by antman67 »

Her book is on Amazon "Batdriven West by Karen Whitfield" and if you search Youtube she did an interview with the Comic Collectors Guild and you can find it if you search it. She tells how she got the gig and how nice Burt and Adam were.
I'm a fan of Batman 1966 and other Batman movies too
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Jim K, Bat fan
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Re: Was there a Traveling Batgirl at Adam and Burt's Appearances?

Post by Jim K, Bat fan »

How fun to see this topic come back to life! And thanks for the heads-up on the book - I just ordered it! :D
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