Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jan 12, 2024 | 10 comments

An ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: The Batman TV show debuted 58 years ago — and we pay tribute to the baddest women in Gotham…

By JIM BEARD

The heroes. The car. The cave. The gadgets. The villains. The music. The 1966 Batman television series had it all… including the women — and we’re not just talking Catwoman and Olga, Queen of the Cossacks. Yeah, the kids may have tuned in for all the glory of four-color flights of fancy jumping off the pages of their comic books and onto their TV screens, but as legend would have it, the show also offered something for the fathers and other red-blooded, American males in the audience.

The molls. Those “poor, deluded girls” who joined the bad guys in a life of larceny and went down in television history as some of the swingingest sights to ever grace the Sixties.

I gathered together 13 examples of my favorite Batman molls to celebrate the 58th anniversary of the show — it debuted Jan. 12, 1966 — with a special emphasis on those female accomplices who rose above the rest with brains and boldness to complement their beauty.

Stay tuned, old chums — the best is on its way, and we haven’t one… moment …to lose!

(And yes, I realize there are actually 15 here, but three of them can’t be separated.)

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Molly (Jill St. John), “Hi Diddle Riddle/Smack In The Middle.” I can’t begin this list without starting at the beginning. Molly is the touchstone of all molls, the launching pad for those who followed in her kicky, kooky footsteps. And she thought Batman shook a mean cape!

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Lisa (Diane McBain), “The Thirteenth Hat/Batman Stand’s Pat.” Lisa was one twisted lady, a full Mad Hatter fangirl who encouraged Jervis Tetch down every avenue of his madness. She was almost scary at times.

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Blaze (Myrna Fahey),  “True Or False Face/Holy Rat Race.” Ah, Blaze… her disguises were as fun and fascinating as her boss False-Face’s, and her pluck and daring are nearly unrivaled among her fellow molls. Sadly, she threw False-Face over in the end and threw in with the Caped Crusaders to join them on the straight and narrow.

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Pauline (Sherry Jackson), “Death In Slow Motion/The Riddler’s False Notion.” Some may remember her more from her turn on Star Trek, but I remember Pauline as the best of the Riddler’s molls. She deserved one whole silent movie just about her alone.

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Octavia (Leslie Perkins), “The Minstrel’s Shakedown/Barbecued Batman.” Despite the fact the show was confused about her name (she’s listed as “Amanda” in the credits), Octavia is an interesting moll to an interesting villain, the Minstrel. She, too, like others before and after her, perked up at the sound of Batman’s warm, attractive voice, but she could summon a little steel into her own when she wanted to.

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Legs (Tisha Sterling), “The Greatest Mother Of Them All/Ma Parker.” Ol’ Ma Parker wouldn’t let her dutiful daughter have all the fun alongside her brothers, but I know in my heart Legs could hold her own when taking up arms against a sea of troubles… or bats.

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Doe, Rae, and Mimi (Marilyn Hanold, Edy Williams, and Sivi Aberg), “The Devil’s Fingers/The Dead Ringers.” This triumvirate of terrifying temptresses deserves to be on this list for their clever sobriquets alone, but I’m giving them extra points for their fashion sense and their ability to put up with Liberace, too.

Aberg, Hanold and Williams

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Venus (Terry Moore), “The Zodiac Crimes/The Joker’s Hard Times/The Penguin Declines.” I think Venus is second only to Blaze in her disguise competency and diligence to her villain… but oh, wait—Venus went over to the wrong side of the law when Batman hit the scene and proved to her that crime never pays.

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Anna Gram (Deanna Lund), “Batman’s Anniversary/A Riddling Controversy.” Yes, she played second fiddle to an ersatz Riddler in a somewhat derided episode, but she was played by the delightful Deanna Lund, who just so happens to also be Valerie Scott on Land of the Giants, so shut up. It’s my list, after all.

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Josie Miller (Phyllis Douglas), “The Joker’s Last Laugh/The Joker’s Epitaph.” Do me a favor and watch her alongside the Joker and tell me she’s not only a moll, but pretty much an equal partner in the Clown Prince of Crime’s electrifying escapades. She’s top of the heap in my book.

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Undine (Sivi Aberg) “Surf’s Up! Joker’s Under!” To many a fanboy, it’s all about the swimsuit, but for me it’s the hot dog walkie-talkie… OK, no, it’s the swimsuit. Now I just have to figure out why she reminds me of Mimi…

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Lady Prudence (Lyn Peters), “The Londinium Larcenies/The Foggiest Notion/The Bloody Tower.” Dear Prudence, won’t you come out to play? The fog is up, the sky is gray, it’s dastardly and so are they… meaning your father, Lord Ffogg and his sister, Lady Penelope Peasoup. Still, you gave Robin a wicked turn, wot?

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Calamity Jan (Dina Merrill), “The Great Escape/The Great Train Robbery.” On the show, this cowgirl was Shame’s fiancée, but in real life she was Cliff Robertson’s wife. It’s no shame for me to hope Jan and her cowboy did find happiness even in the pokey.

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MORE

— The TOP 13 BATMAN ’66 Episodes Ever — RANKED. Click here.

— 13 COOL THINGS ABOUT BATMAN ’66 SEASON ONE. Click here.

— 13 COOL THINGS ABOUT BATMAN ’66 SEASON TWO. Click here.

— 13 COOL THINGS ABOUT BATMAN ’66 SEASON THREE. Click here.

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When JIM BEARD’s not editing and publishing through his two houses, Flinch Books and Becky Books, he’s pounding out adventure fiction with both original and licensed characters. In fact, he’s put words in the mouths of Luke Skywalker, Superman, Fox Mulder, Carl Kolchak, Peter Venkman and the Green Hornet… and lived to tell about it. 

Check out the most recent Batman ’66 books of essays he’s edited: Zlonk! Zok! Zowie! The Subterranean Blue Grotto Essays on Batman ’66 – Season One, Biff! Bam! Ee-Yow! The Subterranean Blue Grotto Essays on Batman ’66 – Season Two and Oooff! Boff! Splatt! The Subterranean Blue Grotto Guide to Batman ’66 – Season Three.