2. Julie Newmar
Appeared in: Batman (seasons 1 – 2)
It’s hard to find the words to sum up just how iconic Julie Newmar’s interpretation of Catwoman was. The first to portray the comic book character, she was responsible for catapulting the feline into superstardom – and all you have to do is watch her performance to see why.
She had this aura around her when she performed, and it was impossible to look away from her as she did so. Yes, she was beautiful, but there was just something so engaging and charismatic about her performance that you wanted to root for her in spite of her cataclysmic capers.
Her character was also one of the few to actually develop over the two seasons that she appeared, as Catwoman grew closer and closer to Batman, eventually finding herself unable to kill him because of her feelings for him. And Newmar thrived when bringing this to life, as her first couple of villainous performances had a tint of ice in them before she softened a little – turning Catwoman into the anti-hero that she is today.
Furthermore, she had real chemistry with Adam West, with the pair’s adorable conversation about the art of kissing remaining one of the show’s standout moments – ensuring that one of the first live-action depictions of the Batman/Catwoman relationship was a worthy one.
Being the first isn’t easy… unless your Julie Newmar. With her strong on-screen presence, stunning figure and attention-grabbing purrs, the original Catwoman transformed the character into a pop-culture icon and, in the process, set a standard so high that it has only been equaled and/or exceeded once in the fifty years that followed.