Chandell turned to a life of crime after being blackmailed by his evil brother Harry. Below on the left is Harry, with Chandell being on the right. As you can see Liberace the famous pianist played both roles. Chandell’s plot was to murder both Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson then to marry Aunt Harriet so he can get his hands on the Wayne’s Foundations funds. He would then use the money to pay off his brother Harry.

Liberace

“Like some of the children, I loved the villains because they were sort of the anti-he-roes and you always wanted to see what they could do to put Batman and Robin in a predicament and then, of course, it was fun to see how they got out of it.”

According to Adam West’s book “Back to the Batcave”, Liberace was a very nice man and liked very much backstage. Adam West said “At lunch periods, he would sit at the piano and say, ‘What do you want me to play?’ He would play anything.”

Liberace was arguably the most famous celebrity that ended up appearing on the series. In the 1950’s and 1960’s he was reported to being the most paid pianist in the world. He also had his own primetime television slot in the U.S. His appearance on Batman brought the series its largest viewing figures.

Even though he lead a glamour public life as a world famous pianist, his private life however, was extremely complicated and private. He battled with his sexuality, being gay in his time was not all that socially accepted.

William Dozier – “Liberace brought his own grand piano and his own costumes. He wouldn’t trust anyone else’s piano.”

Trivia

The name Chandell is a play on one of Liberace’s trademarks, the Chandelier.