What '60s Batman Star Julie Newmar Looks Like Now
Before Zoë Kravitz, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Halle Berry (who famously hated the role), there was Julie Newmar as Catwoman. Indeed, she was the very first actor to portray the iconic DC Comics femme fatale in live action, starring opposite the late Adam West in the first two seasons of the campy 1966 "Batman" TV show. Obviously, a lot has happened since then — both in terms of Catwoman's onscreen history and Julie Newmar's personal life, which has plenty of tragic details. Nevertheless, she's still going strong today.
At the time of writing, one of Newmar's most recent public appearances came at a Hollywood Show event in January 2026, where she headlined a 60th anniversary reunion featuring several major "Batman" cast members. After the fact, Newmar — who celebrated her 92nd birthday five months earlier, in August 2025 — took to Instagram to share photos of herself posing alongside fans she met at the event. The actor also reposted a pic she took with filmmaker Sam Irvin, who directed her in the 1994 space western film "Oblivion" and its 1996 sequel.
"To Julie Newmar, Thanks for everything! [...] I saw her today at the Hollywood Show in Burbank! She's forever faaaabulous at the feisty young age of 92!" Irvin wrote in the original Instagram caption. He also commented on Newmar's post, writing, "I love you madly, dahling! Soooooo much fun directing you in OBLIVION and BACKLASH: OBLIVION 2!"
The legacy of the 1960s Catwoman
It's worth noting that the hilarious way Zoë Kravitz got into character for her role in "The Batman" took a page out of Julie Newmar's book. During an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in 2022, Kravitz confessed that she went full Method, and even started drinking milk out of a bowl the way a cat would. Her predecessor famously described a similar method of finding her groove as Catwoman during a 2013 episode of "Pioneers of Television," an uncut version of which was posted to YouTube in 2022. "I probably wasn't very good in the first show. By the third show, I had adopted some cats," Newmar quipped. "And then, you know, you just pick up all that, kind of, movement that cats do, of how they charm you, you know? So, it became a lot easier."
Of course, the living legend wasn't the only actor to play Catwoman opposite Adam West's fan favorite Caped Crusader. She starred in the first two seasons of "Batman," from 1966 to 1967. However, owing to reported scheduling conflicts, Newmar did not appear in the 1966 film adaptation based on the show, which was released in between seasons. Instead, Lee Meriwether played Catwoman in the movie, making her the first actor to do so in a live-action feature. Newmar was also unable to return for the third and final season of the beloved TV show, which aired in 1968, with the late, great Eartha Kitt taking over the role for those episodes. Prior to Kitt's death in 2008, all three '60s Catwomen were memorably photographed together at the 2004 TV Land Awards in Los Angeles.