'Batman': These Actors Have Played The 'Dark Knight'

Adam West was the first "Batman" to ever grace the screen on color TV. Alongside Burt Ward ("Robin"), he fought against the villains of the Batman world in the TV show that ran from 1966 until 1988 and in the movie inspired by said show that came out in 1966.

Adam West passed away in June of 2017 at the age of 88. After playing "Batman", he had starred in numerous other films, but the role of the "Batman" in the ABC series of the same name was legendary and arguably his greatest achievement.

In 1989, Michael Keaton as "Bruce Wayne/Batman" had the honor to save his hometown of Gotham from the evil "Joker" in the 1989 movie Batman. He bravely fought the mad villain, who was played by the amazing Jack Nicholson and was really popular with audiences as "Batman". He also played the role in the 1992 sequel Batman Returns.

Michael Keaton is now in his late 60's. His career took off after he starred in Batman - in the year 2015, he was even nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the film Birdman. In 2017, he played a villain for a change, when he starred opposite Tom Hollander in the blockbuster Spiderman: Homecoming.

Val Kilmer played the "Batman" in Batman Forever, which was released 1995. Nicole Kidman was the stunning woman at his side for this blockbuster in which he fought Jim Carrey as "The Riddler".

As we all know, Val Kilmer kept on acting after Batman Forever and he starred in amazing movies such as Heat, The Saint and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The now 61-year-old has two children with actress Joanne Whalley. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015 and had to have a procedure on his trachea. His voice is now reduced to a rasp.

Hollywood star George Clooney slipped into the legendary "Batman" suit in 1997. But contrary to all expectations, the film ended up being the worst of all of them. Batman & Robin was a flop with critics and audiences alike. Clooney himself says that him playing the role was a mistake.

The role of the hero who freed his hometown of crime just did not seem to fit Clooney. Otherwise, the 59-year-old actor has had success with all other projects, be it as an actor as well as a director and producer. He has been married to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin since 2014 and they have two children.

For the so-called Dark Knight trilogy, Christian Bale was chosen as the "Batman" by Christopher Nolan, who directed all three films. Over the years, Bale fought "Ra's al Ghul" (Liam Neeson), the "Joker" (Heath Ledger) and "Bane" (Tom Hardy) and had some great success as the masked vigilante.

Today, Christian Bale is 47 years old. His projects after the 'Dark Knight' trilogy included hits like Vice, in which he portrayed former Vice President of the United States, and his latest success Ford vs. Ferrari with Matt Damon.