CATWOMAN on CATWOMAN

from the book "Sweethearts of 60's TV" (St. Martin's Press, 1986)

"I have yet to have the perfect explanation of why that show was so successful for me, " Julie says today. She still gets tons of fan mail from people trying to express their delight with her performance as Catwoman on Batman. She reads from one recent letter: "You've always been my favorite villainess and you'll never know how much I long to be one of your goons. You were always so nice for someone who was supposed to be evil..."

Julie doesn't have tapes of her Batman episodes. She has no Catwoman paraphernalia around the house. "No need to. I'm reminded of it every day when I go out! Sometimes it's just the gleam in the eye of a boy or now a man who says 'You brought me through puberty!'"

Amateur psychologists might note that Batman himself was in awe of her. There was no question that Catwoman was his complete equal, and that every smirk and purr unnerved him. Perhaps young fans, with good reason both to want and fear a larger-than-life symbol of female perfection, identified with Batman's delightful plight.

Catwoman's teasing of Batman was much more exciting than the occasional quasi-love scenes. "I wasn't so fond of that mushy stuff," she says, laughing. "I felt that as the villain you made yourself too vulnerable...so I would look down on sipping sodas with Batman!"

Another important part of Catwoman was the voice. At last, Julie's unique and expressive voice was used as a key to her character. It can register gently lilting calm one minute, passionate intensity the next. She could be as gleeful as a child when taunting Batman; cool and intellectual when plotting a crime; and dryly humorous in both triumph and defeat.

As Catwoman, the sheer fun Julie was having with the role made her a very special villain. She was the kind people didn't love to hate - they just loved her. Probably the only other villain on Batman with whom fans had as much fun was Vincent Price, one of the few masters of the same kind of magical "naughty good time" that Julie purveyed.

Julie's career jump-started all over again after her success on Batman. She turned up as Mother Nature on a Dutch Masters cigar commercial, first aired January 22, 1967. She played a bizarre beauty why could turn into a kind of werewolf-Afghan in the forgettable film The Maltese Bippy. She was a psychotic Indian with a gorgeous body and scarred face in Mackenna's Gold....

Since Julie was busy with Mackenna's Gold, Eartha Kitt played Catwoman in the last episodes. But, as Alan Napier (Alfred on the show) says, "Julie Newmar was the best Catwoman" - and for so many, the one and only Catwoman.