Julie Newmar shot to fame playing the recurring role of Catwoman on the campy ABC "Batman" television series from 1966-67. Her often-sympathetic Catwoman would have rather dated the Dark Knight than defeat him, but he just couldn’t get past the crime thing.
Eartha Kitt pounced on the Catwoman part in the final season of "Batman." She was a sexy replacement for Newmar, but the Bat Cave closed on account of low ratings. No one on television has ever rolled an R so aggressively, with the possible exception of Mer-Man.
Scheduling conflicts prevented Newmar from playing Catwoman in the 1966 feature film version of "Batman." In her absence, model Lee Meriwether assumed the part. The movie was an overbaked mess, however, with Meriwether's Catwoman vying for screen time with Cesar Romero's Joker and Burgess Meredith's Penguin.
Annette Bening's pregnancy was the best thing that ever happened to Michelle Pfeiffer. With "The Grifters" star expecting, Pfeiffer stepped into her role as Catwoman in 1992's "Batman Returns." Pfeiffer’s Catwoman was coolly creepy, and easily the most multi-layered take on the character. As Pfeiffer memorably purred, "A kiss under the mistletoe can be deadly." Indeed.
Way to kill that Oscar-winning afterglow! Halle Berry justly earned a Golden Raspberry award for her performance as Patience Phillips/Catwoman. There was some nonsense about an evil makeup manufacturer, but mostly it just left audiences longing for Pfeiffer. Berry as Catwoman sounded like such a good idea. But nothing worked in the clawed antihero’s 2004 close-up. (Except the costume.)
Will the "Princess Diaries" star be another Pfeiffer-style stunner or a Rasp-Berry disaster? Will she go gritty, like Frank Miller’s prostitute-turned-burglar in “Batman: Year One”? Cool and kooky like Pfeiffer? Or grotesque, like Heath Ledger’s Joker? In Nolan’s hands, we just don’t meow.
Anne Hathaway may have beat out Keira Knightley and Jessica Biel for the role of Catwoman in "The Dark Knight Rises," but her real competition will be the women who have have previously slinked their way through the role.
The feline foil has been catnip for audiences in previous Batman films and television shows, proving to be an explosive performance for Michelle Pfeiffer. But as Halle Berry discovered, if you mess up in the part, there's a Razzie in your future.
TheWrap takes a look at the Catwomen who came before Hathaway.
