Why Did Lee Meriwether Replace Julie Newmar as Catwoman in the 1966 ‘Batman’ Movie?

On July 30, 1966, Batman, now commonly known as Batman: The Movie, had its world premiere at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas. The big-screen adventure reunited Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) with three of the television show’s most popular villains: the Joker (Cesar Romero), the Penguin (Burgess Meredith), and the Riddler (Frank Gorshin).

However, fans who had watched the first season of the ABC series immediately noticed that Catwoman looked different. Julie Newmar was replaced by Lee Meriwether, who made the role her own for Batman’s first feature-length theatrical adventure.