Julie Newmar, the 183-centimeter actress who defined 1960s Hollywood glamour and played Catwoman, built a career by turning her towering height and unique presence into distinct assets. Early in her career, filmmakers struggled to cast her because she did not fit traditional casting molds. As Newmar recalled in an interview with The Guardian, her height presented unique staging challenges, noting that dancing with the 162-centimeter Fred Astaire required careful choreography in a long skirt with bent knees.
Early Life, Ballet Training, and Broadway Breakthrough
Born into an artistic and athletic household—her father was an engineer and American football trainer, and her Swedish-French mother was a fashion designer—Newmar received training in ballet, dance, and piano. Her theatrical breakthrough arrived on Broadway when she won a Tony Award in 1959 for her role in the comedy The Marriage-Go-Round. She reprised the role in the 1961 film adaptation, playing an independent young Swedish woman who travels to an American academic and his wife with the intention of having and raising a child on her own. In one memorable line from the film, her character tells the grieving wife, “I’m younger, prettier, stronger, bigger, and smarter than you are.”
Global Fame as Catwoman on Batman
International stardom arrived when Newmar was cast as Catwoman in the cult television series Batman. Her character walked a fine line between criminal activity and flirtatious sparring with Adam West’s Batman until the introduction of Robin altered the dynamic. While viewers and media outlets frequently speculated about a real-life romance between Newmar and West, the actress dismissed those rumors with a laugh in her interview with The Guardian, stating she had no such relationship with him and attributing the show’s success primarily to strong writing rather than off-screen romance.
Personal Philosophy and Spiritual Beliefs
Newmar was raised in Christian Science, a faith tradition focusing on metaphysical questions that also shaped the childhoods of contemporaries like Ginger Rogers, Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marilyn Monroe. Over time, she developed a personal spiritual outlook incorporating elements of Buddhism and a belief in extraterrestrial protection. Guided by a philosophy of avoiding worry and refusing to criticize, humiliate, or attack others, she maintained a steadfast optimism throughout her life and career.
Motherhood and Advocacy
In August 1981, at the age of 48, Newmar gave birth to her only child, John Jewell Nuccio, following a marriage to Texas lawyer J. Holt Smith that ended in divorce. Shortly after birth, doctors diagnosed her son with Down syndrome. Despite medical advice common in the early 1980s urging parents to place disabled children in specialized institutions, Newmar firmly rejected institutionalization. Embracing her son as a profound gift, she asserted that life with Down syndrome represents a different mode of existence rather than a mistake.
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