• Marcelle Tagand Lear is the third wife of actor Adam West, who rose to fame playing the character Batman.
• She has a net worth of over $30 million from her late husband's success.
• She was married to an executive and aviator prior to meeting West, and the two had two children together.
• West was previously married twice before his marriage to Marcelle, which lasted until his death in 2017.
• Marcelle has no strong online presence and preferred to stay in the background during her husband's career.
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Who is Marcelle Tagand Lear?
Marcelle Tagand Lear was born in the United States of America – some sources say France – and is probably best known for being the third wife of actor Adam West. Her late husband rose to fame playing the character Batman, in the 1960s series of the same name.
The Net Worth of Marcelle Tagand Lear
How rich is Marcelle Tagand Lear? As of late-2019, sources inform us of a net worth that is over $30 million, earned through success in her various endeavors, and inherited from her husband’s success, as West earned a considerable amount during the peak of his acting career.
Life and Career
There is almost no information available regarding Marcelle’s life before her association with Adam West, as she mainly lived a life away from the spotlight. She hasn’t shared any details about her family, childhood, and education. Prior to meeting West, she had already been married, to an executive and aviator John Lear, with whom she had two children, and was living what was seemingly a normal family life.
However, upon meeting the famous actor, she fell in love and this seemed to broaden the rift in her marriage, which appeared long before she met West, which eventually lead to separation and divorce. Her former husband would later marry an actress who ran her own casting firm based in Las Vegas. Marcelle mainly stayed out of the spotlight for most of West’s career, supporting him from the background; she’s also been credited for helping her husband get past his problem with alcoholism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=becT5mgB2sU
Late Husband – Adam West
William West Anderson had previously served with the US Army, and after discharge worked as a milkman before pursuing an acting career, then moving to Hawaii. He had a sidekick role in a local television program called “The Kini Popo Show”, and realizing that his opportunities there were limited, he then moved to Hollywood where he reduced his name to Adam West. This lead to a string of film and television projects, mainly minor or guest roles., with some of the projects he worked being TV series “The Young Philadelphians”, “Colt .45”, “Laramie”, and “The Rifleman”.
He starred as the ill-fated commander in the 1964 film “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” before appearing in an episode of “Outer Limits”. After his work in the comedy “The Outlaws Is Coming”, he gained one of his biggest roles as the character Bruce Wayne and his alter ego Batman in the television series based on the DC character. He was heavily considered for the role after showing his appeal as a spy character in a commercial. The show ran for a total of two seasons, plus a television film.
Post Batman Career – Adam West
West’s high profile role inevitably resulted in being type cast, and many of his following roles were ineffective due to this association. For the next few years, he reprised his role as “Batman” for television appearances, then starting to do more films in the 1970s, including “One Dark Night”, “The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood”, and “Nevada Smith”. He also had guest roles in “Maverick”, “Alias Smith and Jones”, “Big Shamus”, “Fantasy Island”, and “The King of Queens”.
Adam still often returned to reprise his role as Batman in animated projects, and as the character in a live action television special entitled “Legends of the Superheroes”. He continued to be involved in Batman projects later on, though no longer playing the titular character due to his advancing age. He became a pop culture icon which persevered for the rest of his life. During the 1990s and the 2000s, he mainly made guest appearances in popular shows such as “The Drew Carey Show”, and “NewsRadio”. A few of his last projects included an appearance in an episode of “The Big Bang Theory”, voicing Uncle Art in “Meet the Robinsons”, and voicing Batman in “Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham”. He passed away in 2017 after a brief battle with leukemia.
Batman the elder. #happybirthdaytome pic.twitter.com/HSHfu6Z2dr
— Adam West (@therealadamwest) September 19, 2016
Personal Life and Social Media
For her personal life, it is known that Tagand Lear was married to Learjet executive John Lear and had two children with him, but they eventually divorced. The two would go on their separate ways and remarry, with Marcelle settling down with West – they married in 1970. West had already been married twice, firstly to his college girlfriend Billie Lou Yeager(1950-56), and the second was to a dancer in Hawaii, Frisbee Dawson from 1957 ‘til ’62, with whom he had two kids. His third marriage to Marcelle would last until his death, as they stayed together for more than 46 years.
One of the reasons why there is very limited information about Marcelle is due to the lack of any strong online presence. She doesn’t have accounts on any of the major social media websites – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. She preferred to be in the background during his career, as West continued to stay active with a lot of people still respecting the fame he’d achieved from portraying Batman. He was known to have attended conventions, and was a guest of honor for numerous superhero-related events even until his passing.