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E6 Asbury Park Press Sunday, April 20, 1997 Burt Ward suffered no fallout from his 1995 sexually explicit tell-aft but did Adam West? Morse craves change a i ra mmm mm fj fhy does guitar hero Steve 1 Morse of Dixie Dregs and By MARK VOGER STAFF WRITER Judging a book by its cover! Pi hat was TV Robin Burt Ward thinking when he wrote his sexually explicit, sometimes brutal 1995 tell-all, "Boy Wonder. My Life in a 1992 interview with the Asbury Park Press, Burt Ward railed against Warnen Bros, for what he felt was the marketing of "Batman Returns" as a children's filtn. tii. hi "I was saying to the reader If you want, you can really in! I come in and see what happened behind closed doors between two i i i a Ward said he had no problem with the adult material in the film, but decried the Kansas fame keep returning to the road with his trio, the Steve Morse Band? "Part of it is keeping an element of surprise for myself," Morse says over the phone. "Being in (a bigger band) is like a comfortable pair of jeans: It just fits great when you're with your band all the time and the equipment's the same.

"But I like a little bit of challenge and heightened anticipation. In other words, I don't want it to be easy. Not because I desire things to be difficult history has shown me that I sort of need to keep changing the scenery a little. It's great for my guitar playing to play different things. It's just good for any technique to come at it from different angles." The Steve Morse Band is scheduled to play Club Bene, Route 35, Sayreville, on April 25.

(908) 727- IS 4 seemingly very straight actors (Ward and 'Batman' costar Adam 1 fast food tie-ins and spin-off toys that were aimed at children. 1 nese implied thai West) playing popular roles," Ward says. And what readers of "My Life in Tights" found behind those doors! Ward recounted he: did it "Batman Returns" was a family-friendly film. Ward reasoned. Then came Wonder My Life in Tights." Ward's 1995 tell-all featured a racy cover closeup of Robin's crotch.

Was Ward bending his own rules? We had to ask SECTION Aren't you guilty of the same crime you accused Warner Bros, of with! your cover for "My Life in For example: I was 8 years old in 1966 when "Batman" first aired. Even at 8, if I had spotted your book, I would have recognized Robin's green shorts and the words "Boy Wonder" on the cover. So I probably woijld have mistaken your book which is filled with descriptions of sex acts as a Batman 3000. book. And 1 would have wanted to read it.

WARD: How many 8-year-olds walk in with $15 cash to a book store by them-f selves? First of all, how do they get tola with eight prostitutes at once (without having to pay); did it with a 15-year-old (who withheld her age until after the deed); did it with a girlfriend while West sat nude on the bed watching, among many anecdotes. West called "world's greatest upstager" by Ward comes off as an egomaniacal, promiscuous cheapskate. All of which begs lots of questions: Do West and Ward still speak? Has the book disillusioned "Batman" fans? Does Ward regret telling all? We put these to him in a telephone interview SECTION Why did you decide to write so sexually explicit a book? WARD: I see these books on the shelves and they're so milquetoasty. They're dripping with syrup. Why not come out and tell the truth, and let the cards fall where they may? If people like it, OK.

If people don't like it, OK. At least it's the truth. So much really went on, and so much was covered up. For me, it was terrific to be able to come out and just tell it like it was. Whatever happens, happens.

But I must tell you people love this book. They love it for its honesty. SECTION You have no regrets about writing it? WARD: Oh, of course not! Believe me. SECTION You're pretty hard on your old buddy Adam West in your book. WARD: I adore Adam, but the situations were what they were, so there's not much you can do about it.

t0 1 11 0 book store by themselves? People drive them. I mean it's unlikely that a chijld went in by themselves. Do you understand what I mean? SECTION Lots of kids live close jto Vs. -ib to is malls. WARD: It could have happened.

I can't say that it couldn't happen. SECTION But also, don't you F1 SECTION Had Adam known you were about to spill all these 1 -Ml, think you were using "Robin th Boy Wonder" the visuals of it -to help sell your book? WARD: No, and let me explain why. First of all, I had a full- intimate details of somef of his sexual exploits? WARD: He didn't know exactly what was going to come out, but he had strong suspicions. Six months before the book came out, he did an interview and they asked him about my upcoming book. His answer was something to the effect of, "Burt's got some very shocking things page warning in the front of my book.

And that was theit for a reason. That was to tell parents and anyone that wfat they were about to read was sexually explicit. A warning 4 7 not to read it. Now, that's a big differ coming out. I don know what they are, but I sitting here shaking." And for good reason (laughs).

SECTION Since the book's release, has there been any fallout regarding your relationship with Adam? Are you two on speaking terms? WARD: Now, we're friendly. But he was very upset by it. But you have to understand why. Not because he read it and didn't like it. As I understand it, he read it and laughed all the way through it.

But then he had this horrible realization. Do you know what that was? ence from going into Toys Us. That's the i biggest toy store in the world. Big difference. I was in bodk stores.

I was not in children's stores. My book was an adult book, i Warner Bros, wouldn't allow me to use any pictures of me as Robin in t)ie book. And I did not violate any copyrights by the -1 if v. cover of my book. I think I entitled to do what I fK did.

Because it said "Boy Wonder" on it, or because you saw a person standing there in i cmm am SECTION WARD: He had to go home (laughs). You've got to understand that while all this was going on, he was married. And still is to the same person. So that added the spice. That notched up the whole thing.

But a lot of the stuff, he L. ereen shorts that, itself, does not make it v. I'm. I 1 Robin. The "Boy Wonder" would tie it, but I'm allowed to say "Boy Wonder." I allowed to say it to adults.

How else would an adult know what the loved. He loved that chapter, Beyond Decadence. Those were the secret words between the two of book was about? I couldn't some tie-in, or people wouldn't Cm us. He'd be with a girl, I'd be with a girl, and I'd say, "How was it, Adam?" He'd say, Ahh beyond decadence," in that voice of his. He remembers all this stuff.

This Jr XV VV I know what the book was about. SECTION No guilt over the explicitness of the act depicted on the cover a woman hand pulling down a bat's- SB) is something he knows only too well, SECTION Since the book, has a parent ever said, "I used to encourage my children to watch you as Robin, but not WARD: No. But I have had a few letters from people who say, "Throw neaa zipper WARD: I think the explicit OOI ness ot my cover did more to make it very clear to people that this wasn't a children's book. Look -1 am very children's rights. I am very strong that way.

your life to God! Abandon your earthly possessions! You have sinned in your book, and you must now beseech the mercy of the lord and suffer the consequences!" So some of the fanatics were offended by it. But at the same time, I think as long as you lay your foun dation and you say: There is material fi cud) that is legitimately for adults in this world, and there is material that is legitimately for children. It's when you try to blur the line When "Batman" (the movie) first came out (in 1989), I did an interview on a syndicated radio show. At the same time, Michael Keaton was on; they interviewed him earlier in the show. He kept talking about how this new "Batman" film was a great thing for kids.

And I came on and I just lambasted him. I said, "Look this is not for kids." Because I had seen some of the previews. I said, "I would not take my child to see it. I would go as an adult, because I think it looks terrific. But let's not mix adult material with children's material." Burt Ward is scheduled to appear at Syndicate Promotions' Toy, Music, mi4! Ik 0 I(l Ut.it Ward wants I 'J tj read his book vvpr( I But are he and i A' ccstar Board game auction ttention, toy fanatics! Auctions of over 1,100 vintage ftcharacter-based board games "The Monkees," "Partridge Family," "U.N,C.L.E.," "Underdog," "Beverly Hillbillies," etc.) are scheduled to be held 6:30 p.m.

April 26 and May 3 at Ocean Fire Co. No. 1, Point Pleasant Beach. Call: (908) 223-6938. Movie Horror Expo May 3 and 4 at the Garden State Exhibit Center, Somerset, alongside Frank Gorshin, Julie Newmar, Lou pr Hi 1S32) 4ptEjl on spasking --Jt 7 terms? Phatoa: KatltCl 4 temgno, lorn zavim ana wlw i i a i i unn pcnnn wrestlers.

(718) 351-6705. 'AW Anecdote is a riddle for actor GORSHIN: "Where the Boys Are" was a big picture for me. In fact, I was voted Most Promising Newcomer of the Year by the Motion Picture Distributors Association. I didn't know that for two years (laughs)! Somebody forgot to tell me! It was two years after that picture had been released that 1 found out and received a plaque for it But it's too bad I didn't know it at the time. I could have made some noise about it, dam West isn't the only victim of an embarrassing anecdote in a fellow "Batman" cast member's autobiography.

Frank Gorshin who played SECTION In "Back to the Batcave," Adam West wrote that you two "closed a few bars" in your time, and he related an anecdote in which you and he attended party a where, in his words, "clothes weren't welcome." He called it your "first and last Hollywood orgy." Do you remember closing bars with Adam, or the maniacal, green-clad Riddler is depicted in a compromising incident described by Adam West! "Once, we walked into a party where clothing unwelcome," West wrote in "Back to the publicity-wise. A lot of the roles I felt really good about were television roles. Guest-starring Batcave his 1994 book. "However, after Frank and I got comfortable amid the sea of Ian nnJ fait V.ttl I going to that party? GORSHIN: We'd go out and tip a few, you know (laughs). I don't remember closing any bars.

It was never that serious. SECTION You don't remember that party? roles on "Naked City" (1958-63), on "The Defenders" (1961-65). I did a lot of those. SECTION Later on, you were in Otto Preminger's infamous flop, "Skidoo" (1968). to do Batman.

Somewhere across the room, PrinV Kapqiyui tVia Pirllat on1 if- liraci or 4rliMi lous in that setting that we couldn't stop laugh 7 Preminger, of course, is a fellow "Batman" villain; he played Mr. Freeze. GORSHIN: I never saw "Skidoo." It didn't do well at all. And then it showed up on television a few years later. I never managed to catch it I ing.

We had the distinction ot being thrown out of our first and only Hollywood orgy." West also wrote that he and Gorshin "closed a few bars together." Batman and the Riddler, thrown out of an orgy? Now, that 's a riddle! Gorshin who will appear with fel-' low "Batman" stars Burt Ward and Julie Newmar in New Jersey next month (see above story) is asked about the incident, and his movie careej, in the following had a scene with Jackie Gleason; I remember that I didn't have a very big role. Nor did a GORSHIN: No. SECTION Let's move on. Before "Batman," you acted in some big movies. "Where the Boys Are" (1960), "Ring of Fire" (J lot of people.

It was, like, little vignettes. When it came outjthink it lasted for. about two days. Mark Voger.