“The Mad Hatter” from TV’s ‘Batman’ Was From Michigan

One of TV’s Batman villains was from Michigan: born in Traverse City and raised in Bloomindale. That was David Wayne, an accomplished actor who played “The Mad Hatter” villain on the 1960s TV version of Batman.

He was born Wayne James McMeekan on January 30, 1914 in Traverse City...just four years later, his mother passed away. He spent the rest of his formative years, growing up in Bloomindale.

After graduating high school, Wayne was a student at Western Michigan University for a couple of years. From there, he went to Cleveland where he became a statistician. It was while he was in Cleveland that he began his acting career in 1936, becoming a member of Cleveland's Shakesperean repertory theatre.

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A few years later, he served in the army during WW2, continuing his acting career in 1948 after his discharge.

Wayne became the first actor to win a Tony Award for a supporting actor in the musical Finian’s Rainbow as Og the Leprechaun. More roles followed, but he was mostly cast as a supporting player, never a leading man. Then, in the 1960s, he garnered a whole new generation of fans.

When ABC-TV began airing Batman, it took off and became something of a campy TV phenomenon. Hollywood actors clamored to be guests on the show: as a villain or just a walk-on. Wayne was hired to play the villain “Mad Hatter” in four episodes; two in 1966 and two more in 1967.

Although he was considered an accomplished actor with various awards, it was his role on Batman that most of the Boomers and even Millennials remember him for.

David Wayne passed away on February 9, 1995 in Santa Monica, California at the age of 81. There is no grave or memorial; he was cremated and his ashes were given to either a friend or family member for safe keeping...or scattering.

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