Attendees dressed in their best "bat-attire" to celebrate the life of the original "Bright Knight".

West, who played the colourful and camp Batman in the 1960s, died last week after a short battle with leukemia at the age of 88.

The bat signal is a key feature in the Batman universe. It first made an appearance in a comic book in the 1940s as a way for the Gotham City police department to summon Batman and, since then, hasn't undergone much transformation - unlike the characters and overall tone of the superhero franchise.

LA's memorial service is a testament to the fact West was an integral part of the American pop culture zeitgeist. However, he came to be known as Gotham's caped crusader almost by accident.

He never doggedly pursued the role. Instead, he was approached by a 20th Century Fox producer after he was spotted in commercials for Nestle chocolate powder - a job he was doing simply to pay the bills.

The subsequent television show, which made its debut in America in 1966, was immensely popular. It was given countless reruns - with generations of children becoming familiar with the comic-book style exclamations like "Bam!" and "Pow!" that would flash across the television during fight scenes.

Since the 60s, Batman has morphed into a Hollywood blockbuster franchise with a much darker bent thanks to portrayals by the likes of Christian Bale and Ben Affleck (a transformation West wasn't afraid to say he disliked).

West is survived by his wife, Marcelle, along with his six children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.