Big Bill Finger weekend: play and dedications

On 6/28/14, I had the honor of seeing the premiere of Fathers of the Dark Knight, which is, I believe, the first play ever about Bill Finger (and the other guy).

Writer/direction Roberto Williams threw the passion of many men into the production, and it showed.

Adding to the special nature of the proceedings: Bill’s granddaughter Athena and great-grandson Ben were in attendance (along with Athena’s mom/Fred’s ex-wife Bonnie). Roberto invited Athena to say a few words before curtain:

What’s more, the venue would have been no stranger to Bill. The play was staged at his alma mater, DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. 

The seats in the auditorium look old enough to date back to the early 1930s. Maybe Bill had once sat in the same seat I did.

The last time I had been at DWC was in 2006; I’d gone there to soak up the atmosphere but mainly to try to find his yearbook photo—this before I knew that, in high school, his name was Milton Finger. (So I didn’t find the photo…on that expedition. But later I did.)

Congrats to Roberto, the spot-on cast, and the hard-working crew on an unprecedented show. When Bill (played by Ezekiel Jackson) says “You don’t call me Bill the Boy Wonder for nothing!” I was, I admit, a few degrees hotter than proud.

The cast with Athena.

 The cast doing the now-ubiquitous “Oscar selfie.” 

 Finger family portrait (Ben, Athena, Ezekiel). 

 Bill and me.

The next day, Athena, Ben, professor/Bill advocate Travis Langley, and I had Brooklyn brunch with Charles Sinclair and his wife Gayle.

After, Charles gave Athena one of only three possessions of Bill’s that he had: a sculpture Bill made of his first wife Portia in an art class in the early 1950s. 

The other two items Charles inherited from Bill: a paperweight (which he gave to me in 2006) and a desk (the one slightly visible behind them in the photo above and more visible here).

Put another way: seven years after I found both Charles and Bill’s second wife Lyn and six years after I found Athena—the Dynamic Trio to whom I dedicated Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman—the three finally met...in twos. 

By chance, the week before the play, I saw Lyn for the first time in six years. The day before the play, Athena met Lyn. The day after the play, Athena met Charles. Lyn and Charles have met but have not seen each other in around 50 years. Given that Lyn and Charles are both over 90 and live in the New York area while Athena lives in Florida, the prospect of getting all three in the same room is slim.

Oh, zooming in on the banner outside DeWitt Clinton:

Change the world indeed.

Father of “Fathers of the Dark Knight”

Roberto Williams is the director of a play debuting in May 2014 in the Bronx called Fathers of the Dark Knight. It will feature the first known theatrical portrayal of Bill Finger. The production values look exceptional.

 

 

We recently exchanged messages regarding the play and the Google doodle campaign. He kindly permitted me to share the following humbling excerpt:

I tell you, Marc, this thing has grown SOOO much larger than the simple school play I was originally planning with my students two years ago when I first was inspired by a copy of Bill the Boy Wonder…

You're been an inspiration to MANY people, Marc, with your crusade to get Bill is proper recognition.

Keep an eye here for more on the play, in particular when and where it will run.

The first live-action Bill Finger

Several Bill Finger milestones are coming your way in 2014.

It is the 100th anniversary of his birth (and the 75th of Batman's).

It is the 40th anniversary of his death (40 years ago today, in fact).

And it marks the first-ever live-action Bill Finger, played by 22-year-old Ezekiel Jackson in a New York play entitled Fathers of the Dark Knight.

Tell me a bit about yourself, including where you're from, your age, your theater background, and what else you're doing these days?

I was born in Brooklyn in 1991 and raised in the Bronx. I was adopted as a baby and I was lucky to have been adopted or I would have never gotten into the arts. My mom was a Broadway performer and she is still a singer to this day. I spent my middle school and high school years at the Theatre Arts Production Company where I studied Shakespeare, improve, and contemporary acting. I furthered my education and love of acting when I went to AMDA, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, in NY and LA. There I studied the art of acting in many forms. I graduated in June 2012 in LA. Right after I graduated, I was in a show for the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival where we did the play Macbeth. Then I worked on a few fight choreography jobs for short films and several web series. I have also done acting for short films and student films. Those experiences were amazing. Now that I am back on the east coast, I am a part of Fathers of the Dark Knight and I am auditioning and looking for the next exciting project.

How did you hear of the auditions for Fathers of the Dark Knight?

I heard about the play a year before I actually joined the cast. The director, Roberto Williams, approached me about joining the cast but at the time I was in California finishing college. Fast forward to a year later; on Facebook I stumbled across a link to the Fathers of the Dark Knight website, and I quickly wrote him telling him how cool everything looks and I discovered that he had not yet hired a fight choreographer for the production. So I saw that as a sign and took my golden opportunity and soon became the official fight choreographer for FOTDK. Then I expressed interest in being a part of the production in any other capacity and he offered me the role of Bill Finger and I was excited and said yes.

Are you a Batman fan?

I am a diehard Batman fan; been since I was a young boy. I first read Batman comic books and then, since I was a ‘90s baby, Batman: The Animated Series was on TV, and there had been the live-action movies, so the ‘90s was Batman mania to me. I love almost anything Batman-related—the world of Batman has been a big part of my life.

Had you heard of Bill Finger (or, for that matter, Bob Kane) before?

I knew of Bob Kane before I worked on FOTDK. I knew he created Batman because I used that as a reference for a paper I was writing back in middle school on how certain forms of entertainment are educational and or inspirational. I had heard of Bill Finger during my research but didn't really know how much he contributed to the creation of Batman.

How do you plan on playing Bill?

How I plan on playing Bill Finger is a tough question to answer because there isn't much information to study on him in preparation for the role. Bill Finger, from what I have researched, was a "to himself" type of guy. He didn't like confrontation, he didn't like a whole lot of attention on himself. He was a man who loved his son very much and loved to receive input from him. He was a very smart man who loved life and sadly wasn't recognized till after his death. My director and I have been discovering more about him through the rehearsal process and it’s been great to start bringing this character to life. I will be using the character Ed Norton from The Honeymooners and the character Ted Chaough from Mad Men for inspiration for Bill. With inspirations of those kind and great direction from Roberto Williams, we will bring Bill Finger to life.

How do you feel being the first person to portray the unsung co-creator of the world's most popular superhero?

I feel honored and a bit scared to be the first to play Bill Finger. I am honored to play him because I want to give Bill Finger the respect and recognition he deserves. I am scared because I want to make sure to portray Bill Finger in such a way that the audience feels like they know him and want to know more.