# Catwoman **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2006, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715 "2006-05-14T04:34:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715/21 "2006-05-15T00:48:44Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > I’d like to vote for **Lee Meriwether**. I think she was a good actress, as well as being an extraordinarily beautiful and attractive woman, and I don’t think she gets her share of nostalgic recognition and attention. I vote for [Ms. Meriwether](http://lymphocytes.741.com/lee.html) as well. She has a more classically beautiful look than Julie Newmar, and I think that she had a more feline grace about her. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715/22 "2006-05-15T04:16:45Z")
Julie Newmar was the best, followed by Lee Merriwether in the 1966 Batman movie. But to me, the perfect modern choice for Catwoman (to help redeem the awful movie) should have been Gina Gershon. It’s hard to get any sexier than her. Apparently the producers of the new cartoon series “The Batman” (not to be confused with the much-loved Batman: The Animated Series) agree, since they cast the lovely Ms Gershon as their voice actress for Catwoman. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715/23 "2006-05-15T08:06:59Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Michelle Pfeiffer, for sure! I’m surprised no one else agrees! I do. All 3 the 60s Catwomans look ridiculous to me. They may be pretty or have nice voices, but put them in that era’s Cat-suit and they just look like bad camp. Like dancers in some cat-themed rival to a Playboy club. Whereas Pfeiffer looks like someone who could claw your eyes out. I like “dangerous” in my (sometimes)villains. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715/24 "2006-05-15T16:23:03Z")
I can’t believe I had to scroll almost to the bottom to find someone who voted Pfeiffer. I see two, and I’ll add my own vote as a third. Hot, hot, hot. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715/25 "2006-05-15T16:50:49Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > But to me, the perfect modern choice for Catwoman (to help redeem the awful movie) should have been Gina Gershon. It’s hard to get any sexier than her. Oh man, that’s a fantastic idea. She’d be perfect for that. Maybe if they decide to include the Catwoman in any of the new _Batman_ movies they’ll get her. Gina Gershon in a Catwoman suit…damn. Just…damn. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Batman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@The\_Batman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Batman)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715/26 "2006-05-15T17:54:59Z")
Pfeiffer. I wasn’t around during the TV show (thank god) so my choices are limited, but still, she’s better than Berry and the suit’s sexier too. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715/27 "2006-05-15T20:11:09Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > So, the Mrs. & I were watching _Batman Returns_ on A&E this afternoon. After Michelle Pfeiffer made her first appearance in costume, the following exchange ensued: > > Me: Eh. Halle Berry was better. You’re insane, dude. Michelle walking downstairs in the backless dress in BR is one of the high points of American cinema. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715/28 "2006-05-15T20:15:14Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Few of Batman’s foes have any superpowers - he’s got a few, granted, but not many. > > Catwoman, like most of Batman’s rogues gallery, has some specialised skills, few morals, and something of a fixation. > > (Barring a couple elseworlds where she is a literal cat-woman.) Thinking of Batman’s Rogue Gallery, the only two I can think of with super-powers are Clayface (the shapeshifting version) and Killer Croc (arguably). The rest all have gimmicks. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715/29 "2006-05-15T20:33:15Z")
> [@Skald the Rhymer](#): > > Thinking of Batman’s Rogue Gallery, the only two I can think of with super-powers are Clayface (the shapeshifting version) and Killer Croc (arguably). The rest all have gimmicks. Man-Bat, arguably, since he and Clayface (at least originally) each took a serum to transform themselves. I guess by that standard, Bane might count as well. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715/30 "2006-05-15T21:07:47Z")
> [@Skald the Rhymer](#): > > Thinking of Batman’s Rogue Gallery, the only two I can think of with super-powers are Clayface (the shapeshifting version) and Killer Croc (arguably). The rest all have gimmicks. Actually, now that I think of it, Batman has a surprising number of powered enemies… Even sticking to the ones that originated in Batman, not ones he’s faced because he deals with other heroes: I’d count Blockbuster (both of them) and Orca in the same class as Croc - either superpowered, or normals right on the cusp of it. And the third Clayface was also superpowered (he melted people). I’m unfamiliar with the later Clayfaces, but I understand they’re powered, too. Poison Ivy is powered - she’s toxic to the touch naturally, she’s immune, or near immune to most toxins and diseases, and some writers give her control over plants, in continuity. Man-Bat goes without saying. That gives 9 or 10 (arguably) powered villains that I know are primarily, or originally, Batman’s. (There’s more when you include characters like Solomon Grundy and the Floronic Man who he’s dealt with several times, but are more identified with someone else.) Still a small number in relation to the size of his rogues gallery as a whole, but more than I thought I’d get for him. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715/31 "2006-05-15T22:24:42Z")
Although she didn’t actually play the part, I’d like to nominate Sean Young. Who knows. If she had gotten the part, she could have brought a method acting emotionally-unstable-just-underneath-the-surface quality that would have pushed the character in an entire other direction. Otherwise I’ll go with Eartha Kitt. That voice! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catwoman/356715.md?page=1)