Burt Wardthe actor who played Robin in the 60s classics Batman series alongside Adam Westhe seemed to have had a very sparing relationship with the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee. One of the most memorable Batman episodes is when Ward had to fight Lee and in this case, the two actually fought each other and didn’t use a body double.
You might think it would be terrifying for Ward to fight someone like Bruce Lee, but he’s fought him so much already, that it was something he was looking forward to. Ward had really good, solid fighting skills! The actor said on The Jim and Sam Show in 2017:
“I loved the fight scenes because I’m a black belt in karate and I was just inducted into the International Karate and Kickboxing Hall of Fame, which was a great honor. I started in 1959, the same year I came to the United States. I was in my first year [when] Karate has arrived in the United States.
So how did Ward and Lee end up meeting and training? Well, they lived in the same apartment building and eventually became good friends:
“I lived in the same complex that Bruce Lee lived in. We trained together. In fact, while I was filming Batman, I had met him [and] his wife Linda, his son Brandon at the time, was six months old. We would go to Chinatown and order the most authentic food. Because he lived in China or Hong Kong for 10 years.”
It was in 1967 that Lee appeared in Batman as his Green Hornet character, Kato. The episode is titled “Batman’s Satisfaction” and sees Kato and Robin face off in an epic battle. Ward believed the scene was the starting point of Lee’s Hollywood career, saying:
“Bruce Lee’s first filmed fight scene in his career was against me in Batman, and from there he became the most famous cinematic martial artist in the world.”
Ward went on to talk about the kind of person Lee was and how she was very kind to him:
“I saw him often and he trained eight hours a day. He was arrogant, but he’s also a very nice guy and he was very intelligent – he was a really great guy and very nice to me. And he had a wonderful sense of humor. He’s just a really nice guy.
It’s interesting and great to come across information like this that I never knew before!
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
