Holy, career backlash, Batman!!!! Actor Burt Ward probably suffered one of the worst setbacks ever to befall a TV star following the end of the contrived and campy-styled antics of his "Boy Wonder" superhero on the one-time hit series Batman. Out of commission for a great amount of time, the cult star has been a frequent participant at TV nostalgia conventions over the years.

He was born Bert John Gervis, Jr, the oldest of three children. His father, Bert Sr. was the owner of a traveling ice show called "Rhapsody On Ice." By age two, young Bert was billed as the youngest professional ice skater and his name was even featured in the book Strange As It Seems, a predecessor to the popular Guinness Book of Records. Eventually Bert's family migrated to Los Angeles where his father sold real estate. Bright and athletically inclined, Bert Jr. was active on the high school track and field, wrestling, and golf teams. He was also a chess champion at school and took up karate.

Following graduation in 1963, Bert met Bonney Lindsey, whose father was the well-known musical conductor Mort Lindsey. Through Mr. Lindsey's contacts, Bert and Bonney apprenticed at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania, where he worked behind the scenes building sets and assisting with props. It was enough to pique his interest and, after attending the University of California at Santa Barbara where he worked part time as a deejay at the local college station, he transferred to UCLA and became a motion picture and theater major, supplementing his income during that time in real estate.

Following college, Bert ventured on with his work as a broker and actually made his first sale to producer Saul David who introduced the young hopeful to an agent. In 1965 ABC started its search for a "new face" to appear on an upcoming comic strip series. Bert lucked out and managed a screen test with Adam West for the role of Dick ("Robin") Grayson opposite West's caped crusader. Bert's compact build, slightly awkward sense of humor, and assured athletic skills (he was a brown belt in karate at the time) were instrumental in his winning the role. He adopted the last name of Ward for his moniker, which was his mother's last name, and changed the spelling of his first name to "Burt." Without any professional acting experience at all, Burt was suddenly thrust into the limelight big time.

Batman premiered in January of 1966 and caught on instantly. It became a ratings smash. The kitschy, tongue-in-cheek humor combined with the colorful sets, gimmicky props ("Batmobile") and heroes' catchy phrases (including Burt's "holy (whatever), Batman!") all added tremendously to the cartoon fun and triggered huge profits for ABC. Popular guest stars villains such as Frank Gorshin, Julie Newmar, Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Vincent Price, Victor Buono and even Tallulah Bankhead joined in on the outrageousness. Faithful to Bob Kane's original comic strip, fans could not get enough of the Dynamic Duo or the show. Adam and Burt made frequent personal appearances and appeared everywhere in numerous magazine articles. This, unfortunately, took its toll on Burt's young marriage to Bonney and they divorced around the beginning of the second season. He then married lovely actress Kathy Kersh whom he met when she appeared as a guest on the show. This marriage too fell apart after only a couple of years. Kersh went on to marry actor Vince Edwards.

An untried talent at the time he started the show, he made, as such, only $350 a week during the first season. He did not fare much better in the subsequent seasons ($450 for the second; $500 for the third). Moreover, by 1968 audiences lost interest and, after two-and-a-half years, his "fifteen minutes of fame" was over. Like a new dance craze, the novelty wore off and all the hoopla surrounding it disappeared. The show went into the ratings tank. Towards the end they tried adding a sexy Batgirl (Yvonne Craig) to spice up the proceedings but it didn't help. With the demise of the series, Burt had no prior acting credits and nothing sound to fall back on. Both he and Adam West, who once had a serious reputation as an actor, would pay dearly for the cardboard characters that turned them into overnight sensations. They did wind up providing the animated voices to their superheroes on Saturday morning cartoons.

From TV star to has-been, Burt put aside the acting business and used his smarts in other suitable ways. He used a bit of his savvy and organized fan clubs, seeing that all his fan mail was given responses. He also launched a fund-raising business to help schools and hospitals raise money. During the late 1980's, Burt created an early education program for children aged 3-8 that taught social values, good health and safety rules, and critical thinking skills. It was called the Early Bird Learning Program. It was through this education program that Burt met third wife Tracy Posner. They married on July 15, 1990, and had daughter Melody Lane Ward the following year. He also has an older daughter, Lisa, from his first marriage. Together Burt and Tracy organized Great Dane Rescue which rescues and finds homes for this special breed.

Unlike others who have suffered through his entertainment career predicament, Burt ventured on productively with his life. He also went on to make a game comeback of sorts in low-budget films in the late 80s with such dubious titles as Virgin High (with Tracy), Hot Under the Collar and Karate Raider leading the pack.
Batman (1966): $350/week (first season)
Runs a charity that rescues and cares for abandoned Great Dane dogs. Daughter, Lisa, born in 1966; daughter, Melody, born in 1991 Wrote an autobiography titled "Boy Wonder: My Life In Tights," in which he described his experiences on the _"Batman" (1966/II)_ TV series' set, his relationship with co-star Adam West, and his sexual escapades with his fans. When asked to give a speech at Harvard about his role on _"Batman" (1966/II)_ , he brought the original costume, said to be valued at half a million dollars. Some students came up to him dressed as security guards and told him they would keep the costume safe. Then in the middle of the speech, one student stood up and asked, "When is a costume not a costume? When it's stolen." The lights dimmed and the students grabed the costume and made off. After snapping pictures with one another in the cape, they later called Ward and gave the costume back. The ringleader of the gang? Harvard Lampoon editor, Conan O'Brien. Burt recorded a record with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. (Orange Colored Sky & Boy Wonder I Love You). Learning to speed read, Burt was tested before the American Medical Society in Beverly Hills. His highest speed: 30,000 words per minute with 90% comprehension. He was featured in an article entitled, "Will The Real Boy Wonder Please Stand Up?" and appeared on the national reading show, Read Right. Burt used a total of 352 "holy" words throughout the entire 120 episodes of Batman. The late karate movie star Bruce Lee, who also played Kato on the "Green Hornet" series was a neighbor and close friend to Burt. During his run as Robin, one influential Roman Cathoic organization was outraged by the fit of Robin's tights. He wore one and even two supporters at one point but they were still not pleased.