Burt Ward (born Bert John Gervis, Jr. on July 6, 1945) is an American television actor. He is best known for his work as Robin, the "Boy Wonder", in the 1960s television series, "Batman." The show, which aired on ABC from 1966 to 1968, starred Ward and Adam West as the title character, also known as "The Caped Crusader."
Ward was born in Los Angeles, California. At the age of two, he was listed in the prolific magazine, Strange as it Seems, as the world's youngest professional ice skater.[citation needed] Growing up, he was an avid reader of Superman (comic), Superboy, and enjoyed the action-adventure show Adventures of Superman.[citation needed] He excelled in high school athletic activities such as football, track, wrestling, and was a member of the chess club. In addition to this, he earned a brown belt in karate.[citation needed] After graduation, he enrolled in college, while working part-time for his father's real estate company.[citation needed]
At the age of 19, he decided to audition for the part of Robin, without having ever read a Batman comic book.[citation needed] Upon meeting with executive producer William Dozier for the role, Dozier was impressed, saying "Robin just walked into my office."[citation needed] Ward and Adam West were up against Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deuel for the roles of Batman and Robin.[citation needed] During this time, the show was being planned as a campy style action-adventure show, and their screen tests consisted of staged fight scenes and, at one point, Ward chopping a set of boards with his hand. Eventually, he was selected for the role of Robin at the age of twenty, stepping onto the screen in 1966 with the debut of "Batman." Unfortunately, unlike his partner, Ward was required to act during dangerous stunt work, because his costume revealed more of his face than a stuntman could compensate for.[citation needed]
During the first months of shooting, Ward was paid $350 per week.[citation needed] By the series' end, he was earning up to $600 a week.[citation needed] According to him, in an interview, he stated that the series only lasted three seasons for a total of 120 episodes, due to the high cost of production. The show was still high in the ratings, but ABC Network was losing thousands of dollars on filming (this can be seen in the decline of the sets and constant re-use of stock footage).[citation needed] Weeks later, NBC offered to pick it up for a fourth season, but the offer was withdrawn upon realization that the sets had been bulldozed.[citation needed]
After the end of "Batman," Ward found himself hard-pressed to find other acting jobs. Ward only re-emerged on the movie scene to act in more than 30 made for television films such as Virgin High.
Although wanted by the producer, Ward wasn't given the Dustin Hoffman part in The Graduate, because the studio (20th Century Fox) didn't want to dilute his popularity and identification as Robin, the Boy Wonder.
He did, however, appear in numerous reunions with co-star Adam West. The most memorable reunions included Ward and West reprising their roles as Batman and Robin on a short-lived animated television series called The New Adventures of Batman and the 2003 television movie, Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt.
Ward also wrote a "tell-all" autobiography called "Boy Wonder: My Life in Tights" (ISBN 0-9647048-0-3), which described his life at the time that he was playing Robin. In 2001, Ward began Boy Wonder Visual Effects, Inc. Boy Wonder Visual Effects has provided visual effects for 25 studio features, for 10 independent films, and for several television series.
In 1994, Ward and his wife, Tracy Posner Ward, founded a Charitable organization called Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions, Inc. , which rescues giant breed dogs and some smaller breed dogs. Their work with the organization has been featured in such outlets as People, ASPCA Animal Watch,, Hard Copy, Inside Edition, and Entertainment Tonight.
Ward has two daughters: Lisa Ann Ward, his daughter from a previous marriage, who had a baby in 1991, and Melody Lane Ward, born on February 16, 1991 with his current wife.
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