Monday night’s second episode of “Gotham” on Fox gave us a better look at Selina Kyle, the girl who will eventually grow up to be Catwoman — Batman’s nemesis, ally and lover.
Camren Bicondova nails the part with her combination of sass and toughness, and she looks like she has the potential to slink with the best of them — but she has some awfully big high heels to fill.
Here’s a rundown of her predecessors in the role: the good, the bad but never the ugly.
Julie Newmar, ‘Batman’ TV show (1966-1967)
The first real-life Catwoman has still never been topped. In spite of censors and the campy attitude of the “Batman” series, the purring former dancer and musical-theater actress defined Catwoman as a woman who will rub up against you, but scratch out your eyes if you rub her the wrong way.
Is there anyone who grew up watching the show in the ’60s or on reruns who didn’t develop a crush on Newmar? She was the kitty everyone wants to find on the doorstep.
Michelle Pfeiffer, ‘Batman Returns’ (1992)
The most unhinged and catlike Catwoman yet, Pfeiffer made Michael Keaton’s heart race in “Batman Returns,” even as she teamed up with Danny DeVito’s disgusting Penguin and, at one point, actually swallowed a canary.
The cat o’ nine tails she carried, and the vinyl costume into which she was literally sewn, gave a whole generation of little boys funny feelings and a generation of little girls an interest in BDSM-wear. Meow!
Eartha Kitt, ‘Batman’ TV show (1967-1968)
From her playful growl to her sexy cat eyes (and perfect stage name), Eartha Kitt was born to be Catwoman, and she played the part with catlike grace. The political and social mores of the time never gave her the chance to be a full-on seductress to Adam West’s white-bread Batman, but she still gave audiences cat-scratch fever, nearly making them forget predecessor Julie Newmar.
Her impact is still felt now, as Jada Pinkett-Smith is clearly doing her best Kitt impression in “Gotham.”
Anne Hathaway, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (2012)
The always-perky, always-princessy Hathaway faced low expectations when she was cast as Selina Kyle in the third installment of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy, but she proved herself by transforming into one badass Feline Fatale.
The bike and goggles didn’t hurt at all — unfortunately, there wasn’t really a whole lot of “cat” in her performance. It’s too bad Nolan never really let her out of the bag.
Lee Meriwether, ‘Batman: The Movie’ (1966)
Lee Meriwether, a former beauty queen (crowned Miss America in 1955), only had one outing as the Kitten of Crime, in a 1966 movie that was spun off from the hit TV show.
Nothing was really wrong with her performance, but next to Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt, the bland Meriwether couldn’t help looking like stale 9Lives.
Halle Berry, ‘Catwoman’ (2004)
Someone call the ASPCA! Halle Berry had the sex appeal, the body and the charisma to be the perfect Catwoman in the 2004 movie that finally gave her a chance to solo without the Caped Crusader. So how did everything go so wrong? From a bondage-inspired costume to a ridiculous plot — and a performance that showed she wanted to be anywhere but in this terrible movie — Berry was a Catwoman in name only.
Berry had already set the bar for bad comic-book performances playing Storm in 2000 and 2003’s “X-Men” movies, but she proved she could be even worse in this mess, rightly considered one of the worst comic-book movies of all time. Please, Halle, stick to playing real humans from now on!