Goodbye to Lorenzo Semple Jr.

Lorenzo Semple Jr. died this Friday of natural causes at the age of 91.  Mr. Semple was one of the main creative forces behind the scenes of the 1966 Batman TV series (also known as the greatest television series of all time).  He wrote the series bible, and he wrote or co-wrote 16 episodes of the series, and was the executive script consultant on the rest.

While his work on the Batman TV series alone is enough to make him a legend, he was also a respected screenwriter, and wrote the screenplay for Batman: The Movie, as well as a handful of cult classic film favorites of mine, such as Fathom (a groovy 1960s spy flick starring a bikini-clad Raquel Welch), Pretty Poison (Anthony Perkins' second coolest movie after Psycho) and 1980's colorful version of Flash Gordon.

Mr. Semple, your work on Batman had a profound and positive impact on me as a child, and still means a great deal to me as a grown man.  I will mourn your loss.