My Spotlight on… series takes a look at actors with multiple characters or characters with multiple actors in the world of Batman 66. This blog post will take a look at the Joker. Now I know what you’re thinking, only Cesar Romero played The Joker! Well, you’re sort of right….
TV Series
Cesar Romero as The Joker
Cesar Romero portrays The Joker in Batman: The Movie and in 22 episodes, 3 of which are in short stings at the end of episodes pre-empting episodes of his. The Joker would team with various other villains in many of his stories.
Batman: The Movie sees him form the United Underworld with The Riddler (Frank Gorshin), The Penguin (Burgess Meredith) and Catwoman (Lee Meriwether).
Season 2 Episodes 37-39 see him reunite with The Penguin.
Season 3 Episodes 16-17 see a reunion of sorts with Catwoman, this time however the actress would be Eartha Kitt.
Season 1 Episode 5: The Joker Is Wild
Season 1 Episode 6: Batman Is Riled
Season 1 Episode 15: The Joker Goes To School
Season 1 Episode 16: He Meets His Match, The Grisly Ghoul
Season 1 Episode 25: The Joker Trumps An Ace
Season 1 Episode 26: Batman Sets The Pace
Batman: The Movie
Season 2 Episode 21: The Impractical Joker
Season 2 Episode 22: The Joker’s Provokers
Season 2 Episode 37: The Zodiac Crimes
Season 2 Episode 38: The Joker’s Hard Times
Season 2 Episode 39: The Penguin Declines
Season 2 Episode 47: The Joker’s Last Laugh
Season 2 Episode 48: The Joker’s Epitaph
Season 2 Episode 57: Pop Goes The Joker
Season 2 Episode 58: Flop Goes The Joker
Season 3 Episode 9: How To Hatch A Dinosaur (Uncredited)
Season 3 Episode 10: Surf’s Up! Joker’s Under!
Season 3 Episode 15: The Ogg Couple (Uncredited)
Season 3 Episode 16: The Funny Feline Felonies
Season 3 Episode 17: The Joke’s On Catwoman
Season 3 Episode 23: I’ll Be A Mummy’s Uncle (Uncredited)
Season 3 Episode 24: The Joker’s Flying Saucer
Dan Seymour as The Joker (disguised as The Maharajah)
Technically he was not playing the Joker, although he sort of was! Dan Seymour in these two episodes portrays the Maharajah of Nimpah visiting Gotham City. Throughout the scheme of the episode The Joker disguises himself as The Maharajah, this however is achieved with Dan Seymour playing the part on-screen, and by the end of the story it is revealed that The Maharajah never left Nimpah, so indeed throughout the entirety of the story Dan Seymour was portraying The Joker!
Season 1 Episode 25: The Joker Trumps An Ace
Season 1 Episode 26: Batman Sets The Pace
Fred Carson As The Joker
In this episode a selection of arch criminals are broken out of the “Arch Criminals Only” section of Gotham State Penitentiary to take part in Dr. Cassandra’s schemes. All are portrayed by body/stunt doubles and have no lines, in this instance Cesar Romero’s regular stunt man Fred Carson took on the role.
Another episode in which The Joker teams with others. Dr. Cassandra and Cabala break The United Underworld (The Joker, The Riddler, Catwoman and The Penguin) and King Tut and Egghead out of their cells.
Season 3 Episode 25: The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra
Jeff Bergman as The Joker
Both of these animated films released in 2016 and 2017, set in the Batman TV Series continuity, featured amongst many other villains, The Joker, this time voiced by Jeff Bergman.
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders sees The United Underworld reunited once again.
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders
Batman vs Two Face
Honourable Mentions
These episodes were based on a Joker story from the comics, so whilst Frank Gorshin is clearly not playing the Joker in these episodes, these episodes exist because of a Joker story.
The story “The Joker’s Comedy Capers” from Detective Comics 341 (collected in Batman: The TV Stories) was a Joker story that inspired 2 Riddler episodes/1 Riddler Story;
Season 1 Episode 31: Death in Slow Motion
Season 1 Episode 32: The Riddler’s False Notion
Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt
Bud Weston as Cesar Romero/The Joker
In this half-biopic/half-fictionalised story we have passing glimpses at various actors and/or villains from the TV series. In this TV movie we have Bud Weston portraying Cesar Romero and The Joker.
