Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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BatBomba
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Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by BatBomba »

Just wondering. Was 1966 Robin a teen idol? Was he considered handsome?
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Todd Grimes
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by Todd Grimes »

I would say most definitely! Aside form all of the stories from that era, just look at him! Good looking kid.
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Riddlersgurl
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by Riddlersgurl »

I'd say more cute than handsome.
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HolyRobinFan!❤
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by HolyRobinFan!❤ »

GOSH YES! Amazing inside and out...absolutely mind-blowing! Truly a Boy Wonder! Not to mention the record he released with "Boy Wonder I Love You" and Orange Colored Sky"
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BatGirl
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by BatGirl »

Adam is handsome, Bert is cute.
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Riddlersgurl
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by Riddlersgurl »

That's two votes for cute. Any others?
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Aussie Batfan
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by Aussie Batfan »

Let's face it - I don't think anyone would have got the lead in a TV series unless they were considered attractive. From my Adam & Burt searches on EBay, Burt consistently pops up in the teenage mags of the day, so he must have been doing something right!!! :D
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Lord Death Man
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by Lord Death Man »

One more for 'cute' :D . To me handsome has an element of style and maturity to it, and even though Mr. Ward was an adult he really did look 16 or so!

My husband says that his older sister's teenage pop magazines were full of cover features and articles on Robin/Burt Ward that she shared with him, so Mr. Ward was quite the teen idol.
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SprangFan
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by SprangFan »

I think the original question wasn't so much "did YOU think he was handsome back in the day" (let alone all these years later) but rather what was the general "vibe" at the time. More specifically "was Robin a teen idol?"

Considering I was born in '65, I can't claim to have been there in "real time," but I have seen "teen idol" magazines from the era and I know he featured on some covers and inside articles. That said, it's never been clear to me how many of these "idols" (in ANY era) got that exposure due to a genuine interest among young readers and how much is "planted" or fed to the magazines via PR departments eager to promote their shows and records. For instance, I've always suspected that guys like Pat Boone and Cliff Richard figured on so many magazine covers because of a PR push from the top down, as opposed to legions of girls writing in demanding more photos. Which is not to say they weren't good-looking guys, but they hardly seem the type to get pulses racing.

My gut feeling is that the lion's share of "school girl crush" attention was going to rock stars in 1966, especially the British Invasion types but also the Monkees. Burt was undeniably a great-looking kid, but "Batman" skewed young and his on-screen image was squeaky-clean in a way that was purposely anachronistic even for 1966 (that was part of the gag); I'd guess his girl fans were more in the pre-teen category. Older girls would likely have been more interested in "bad boys" like Mick Jagger or at the very least guys with longer hair and wilder wardrobes. By 1969, the TV Dick Grayson would have stuck out awkwardly in a pack of teens like Wally Cleaver at Woodstock.

That said, I'd have been very pleased to see Burt or anyone like him considered a "teen idol" when I was growing up, instead of the androgynous, pouty-lipped pretty boys on the covers of "Tiger Beat" at the time. All the girls I knew loved Leif Garrett, Shaun Cassidy, Bobby Goldsboro and so on. And they never liked it when I said those guys all looked like girls. Just that "Young Republican" haircut alone would have made me a Burt supporter. :lol:
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LittleLouisGroovy
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by LittleLouisGroovy »

Never gave much thought to Burt Ward, in terms of attractiveness, in all the years I watched the show until this latest go-round on Me-TV. In terms of the cute vs. handsome debate, I would cast a write-in vote for "hot."
WayneGrayson
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by WayneGrayson »

Any debate on this issue is rendered moot when you see those squealing, shrieking, screaming teenage girls in the Joker episode where our heroes visit a comedians museum.

"LOOK! IT'S ROBIN THE BOY WONDER!" (WAIL!)
(I don't know how to spell a scream, so I'll just scream a spell)

Uh...Robinmania?
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Riddler 66
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by Riddler 66 »

According to my wife, yes.
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RuxieCat121
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by RuxieCat121 »

I'd say so! I started watching the series when I was four or five. Any time Burt Ward appeared on the screen, I was glued to it and anyone in the room needed to be quiet. If I was a teenage girl back then, his pictures definitely would have been plastered all over my bedroom lol.

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BatBomba
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by BatBomba »

What a great thread. I'm enjoying every minute of it. 8-)

I think Adam was in the same Roger Moore/Sean Connery department: "I'm elegantly handsome as hell", wherever Burt was in the "Good and Pretty American Boy" corner. Both had a great appearance.
Mr.Freeze
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Re: Was Burt Ward considered handsome back in his heyday?

Post by Mr.Freeze »

Maybe if he had a beard back then he'd be more handsome lol ?

Weird seeing Bruce Lee with a moustache , he looked 10 yrs older with one.
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