Most likely you've never heard of Johnny Duncan. He passed away last week at the age of 92.
Johnny grew up near Kansas City during the great depression. He was a great dancer and would dance as an entertainer every chance he got. He even opened a tap dance school for kids and raised enough money to save the family farm from foreclosure.
Not long after that Hollywood came calling and Johnny was in the movies on a $50 a month contract. He appeared in films like 'the East Side Kids & Bowery Boys' and in 'Action in the North Atlantic' with Bogie.
He was in other movies including Ed Wood's 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' but what I would like to touch on is a role of his that makes him so memorable to me... that of "Robin, the boy wonder" in the 15 chapter cliffhanger serial 'Batman and Robin' (1949).
click on the box above to view the opening credits of the serial.
He was 26 when he got the role of Batman's kid sidekick.
The 'Batman and Robin' serial was about a villain called The Wizard who steals a scientist's remote control device that can control any type of vehicle within 50 miles. He's using the device to rob armored cars and shipments of jewels. Batman and Robin must thwart this evil-doer and also rescue Vicki Vale who has been kidnapped by the Wizard's henchmen.
Actor Robert Lowery played Batman in the serial, Lyle Talbot played Commissioner Gordon and Jane Adams was Vicki Vale.
To me, playing Robin in a Batman serial would have been a dream job.
I had the chance to email Johnny a few times and talk to him about his work on this serial. He told me about how the costumes for both Robin and Batman, even though it was black & white film, were some very weird colors... like brown and green and some very bright colors. He said that in black and white those colors contrasted the best to make certain parts of the costume stand out.
I could tell he really enjoyed those years. He spend a lot of his senior adult life attending comicons and conventions signing autographs and merchandise for fans. He even had his own website where he would sell autographed Batman and Robin merchandise.
Johnny is gone, but will never be forgotten. His name and work will live on in DVDs, books, documentaries and other media as one of the pop culture greats of the 20th century.
Check out this serial which is available on DVD and become a Johnny Duncan fan!
- Patrick Shawn Bennett
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