Batman actress and Elvis Presley co-star Diane McBain dies ages 81-Mel Evans-Entertainment – Metro

Diane McBain, here in Batman, died this week aged 81 (Picture: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

Diane McBain, who starred alongside Elvis Presley in Spinout, and appeared in the Batman TV series, has died aged 81.

According to friend and writing partner Michael Gregg Michaud, McBain died on Wednesday morning.

She was a well-known star in the 60s as a Warner Bros contract actress – signed straight out of high school – and appeared as Diana St Clair alongside Presley’s race car driver and singer Mike McCoy in 1966 hit film Spinout.

As well as film, she guest-starred in four episodes of ABC’s Batman in 1967 as Pinky Pinkston, who only wore pink and had a pink dog, alongside The Green Hornet (played by Van Williams) and Kato (Bruce Lee).

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actress died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills after a battle with liver cancer.

In a tribute, Michaud said: ‘She lived a full life and experienced every opportunity that presented itself. She was very kind, thoughtful, loyal and generous, and she had a wicked sense of humour.

She starred alongside Elvis Presley in Spinout (Picture: Snap/Shutterstock)

She got one of her first roles with Surfside 6 (Picture: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

‘Despite her remarkable professional accomplishments, she was the most un-affected movie star I have ever known.’

While also calling the likes of Debbie Reynolds and Joan Crawford her co-stars, McBain previously recalled her time working alongside The King of Rock and Roll, and told Boomer Magazine what it was like to kiss Presley.

She said: ‘Women have asked me many times what it was like to kiss Elvis, and I tell them it was just as wonderful as you would imagine!

McBain was known for her role alongside Adam West in Batman (Picture: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

‘He was charming and a lovely person to work with. He didn’t come on to me, which I appreciated because so many did throughout my career.’

McBain’s first film was opposite Richard Burton in Vincent Sherman’s Ice Storm (released in 1960) and as star of TV, as well as Batman McBain appeared in the two-season crime series Surfside 6, working alongside Troy Donahue, Van Williams and Lee Patterson.

In the 60s she was on the call sheet of Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip, Burke’s Law, The Wild Wild West and The Man From U.N.C.L.E, while in the 70s, she was seen in Hawaii Five-O, Charlie’s Angels, Eight is Enough, Matt Houston and Dallas.

McBain would go on to retire from acting in 2001, with her final role credited as TV series Strong Medicine.

Admitting she wanted to play the ‘ingenue’ in her roles and not the bad girl, she said in Tom Lisanti’s 2001 book, Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema: ‘I could never understand why everyone wanted to play the bitch. Because when you go into society, people view you as they see you onscreen. It’s terrible to be thought of as this messy, horrible person when you’re not!’

Also an author, McBain published her autobiography in 2014, titled Famous Enough, a Hollywood Memoir, co-written by Michaud, and also published two novels, The Laughing Bear in 2020, and, the year after, The Color of Hope.

She is survived by her son, Evan, and her goddaughter, Mary.

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