Batman's Wall Climb -
On the fantasy crime adventure BATMAN/ABC/1966-68,
crimefighter Batman (Adam West) and his sidekick Robin, the
Boy Wonder (Burt Ward) sometimes climbed up or down the face
of a building using the Bat Rope. During their ascent or
descent, an occasional visitor to Gotham City would see them
outside on the wall and open up a window to chat. This gimmick
on the show (starting with Episode 29) allowed for cameo guest appearances from some of
the famous people of the day as well as notable stars of the
past. Celebrities to pop their head out the window to greet
Batman and Robin included:
-
Jerry Lewis
(the first celebrity)
-
Dick Clark, the
host of American Bandstand.
-
Van Williams
and Bruce Lee appeared as
The Green Hornet and Kato (Batman would fight
them in a later episode.)
-
Sammy Davis, Jr.
who asked "What's up, man?"
-
Jose Jimenez,
a kindly Hispanic character played by Bill Dana who hosted his
own show THE BILL DANA SHOW from 1963-65
-
Howard Duff,
the star of FELONY SQUAD
-
Werner
Klemperer who appeared as Colonel Klink, a WWII POW Commandant
from the CBS series HOGAN'S HEROES
-
Ted Cassidy as
Lurch the Butler from THE ADDAMS FAMILY
-
Andy Devine who
appeared as Santa on a Christmas episode
-
Art Linkletter
as himself, the host of the show PEOPLE ARE FUNNY
-
Edgar G.
Robinson, a legendary film actor who played the role of many
criminal in his early film career
-
Susie Knickerbocker,
the gossip columnist who asked Batman and Robin to do an
interview ("Holy Jet Set!", Robin replied)
-
The Carpet
King, an unknown guy who got the gig because he sold carpet to
William Dozier, the show's exec-producer.

After 14 wall
climbing segments, the gimmick came to end during the third
and final seasons. They were discontinued because the
show had cut back it time from an 60 to 30 minutes and had
introduced the character of Batgirl (Yvonne Craig), so there
was just not enough time to include the wall climb segments
into the script.
TRIVIA NOTE: The trick to the
wall climb was to have Batman and Robin stand on the stage,
then bend over. As they approached, a window built into
the floor, the star standing below the set, would reach up,
open the window and begin to talk to the Caped Crusaders. To
make it appear that Batman and Robin were actually climbing up
or down, a special effects guy off camera pulled Batman's cape
taut (via clear fishing line) to create the illusion of
gravity.