Like many actors in the ’60s TV scene–including genre icon Sid Haig, who appeared on Batman ’66 multiple times–Meriwether would pull double duty, returning to the series after her starring role in the movie as a small side character in the second season episodes “King Tut’s Coup” and “Batman’s Waterloo.” She would later star in multiple famous TV shows including Star Trek, Murder She Wrote, and Mission: Impossible. Although the movie version of Batman ’66‘s Catwoman was arguably more high profile than Newmar’s rendition–who’d only starred in two episodes of the first season at the time of the film’s release–when the time came to shoot the second season, Newmar returned and Meriwether’s brief stint as Catwoman was over. Meriwether was far more of a serious threat to Batman than Newmar and had far less time for flirtation as she spent her time running the criminal organization known as the United Underworld. In stepped newcomer Lee Meriwether, who brought an attitude (and domino mask) all her own. The first cinematic Catwoman arrived the same year as Julie Newmar’s TV version when the actress who had first taken on the role couldn’t film the movie due to a back injury. Though she had to leave due to a scheduling conflict, she began a trend of brilliant women who would bring Catwoman to the screen, and even returned to voice her in two DC animated movies based on the classic TV series. Newmar took on the role for the first two seasons of the show, taking a more prominent role in the series’ sophomore outing. The tough talking, sometimes cruel character was pretty radical for the time as she subverted the idea of the usual good girl love interest and was far closer to the noir-soaked femme fatale archetype. That return, of course, ran alongside her first onscreen appearance in the cult Batman TV show from the 1960s, which is where we’ll start our rundown of some of the brilliant women who’ve brought Catwoman to life over the years. Luckily for fans she’s been a DC Comics stalwart since her return in 1966. The self-imposed regulations featured many strict rules, including ones that seemed to relate to the flirtatious game the Bat and Cat played: “If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity… Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates the desire for emulation… In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.” As we all know, Batman often let his lady love go free and she certainly glamorized the lifestyle of a master thief. It would be 12 years until Selina returned though it’s never been officially stated, it’s widely believed to be due to the implementation of the Comics Code Authority. ![]() ![]() It was a relationship that would remain at the core of the Batman mythos until she mysteriously disappeared from comic book pages in 1954. She was introduced to the gritty streets of Gotham City with the intention of crafting a romantic entanglement for the Bat, one that would pit the billionaire vigilante against a physical and intellectual equal who also happened to be a total fox. Gotham’s most famous femme fatale was inspired in part by Hollywood starlet Jean Harlow and, strangely, according to Kane’s biography Batman and Me, the artist’s own cousin Ruth Steel. ![]() That Bat and Cat dynamic is an enduring one, and it’s about to get a reimaging with the announcement that Zoe Kravitz will take on the role of Selina Kyle in Matt Reeves’ upcoming Batman movie, opposite Robert Pattinson’s new take on the Caped Crusader. The pair has not only been crossing proverbial swords for almost 80 years but in the wild world of DC Comics they’ve also had a (non-canon) child together, almost gotten married, and often teamed up for the better of Gotham City. Over the years Selina Kyle has become a fan favorite rogue as both an antagonist and love interest for Bruce Wayne. Ever since her first appearance under the moniker “The Cat” in 1940’s Batman #1, Catwoman has clawed her way into comic book history as one of the most memorable characters ever created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane.
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