June 2006

Many men have played Superman.  How many can you name?  We’ve got the list and a little about each one of these Men of Steel.  Come on and take a peek at these actors who were faster than a speeding bullet and could leap tall buildings in a single bound.

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Bud Collyer

Perhaps best known for his role as host on game shows such as Beat the Clock and Break the Bank, Collyer also provided the voice for both Superman and Clark Kent on the radio show and the classic Fleischer Superman Cartoons and would go on to do the voice of Superman in the late 1960’s in various cartoons such as The Batman/Superman Hour, The New Adventures of Superman, and The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.

Danny Dark

Sadly Collier died in 1969 and was replaced by Dark who provided the voice for Superman on all of the various Super Friends shows in the 1970’s and early 1980’s which were made possible by the popularity of those original 60’s shows.  Dark was also known as the “voice” of NBC television for years as an announcer and did narration for comercials.

Kirk Alyn

Alyn donned the cape in 1948 in a fifteen-episode serial The Adventures of Superman and resumed the role in the sequel Atom Man vs. Superman two years later.  Some critics argue that despite lacking the size and muscularture of later actors that Alyn was the best ever cast in the role.  Alyn did several serials including Blackhawk: Fearless Champion of Freedom and guest roles in televison shows such as Naked City and the original Battlestar Galactica.  Richard Donner, in a very cool casting move, also cast him in the first Superman film in the cameo role as Lois Lane’s father (along with actress Noel Neill who played Lois Lane along side our next entry who Donner cast as Mrs. Lane).

George Reeves

Reeves became a national celebrity which led to personal appearances around the country and became a role model for millions of children.  Reeves was the first version of Superman many people saw and he became so sononomous with the role that it typecast him for years after the show ended.  His life ended tragically in an apparent suicide in 1959 just one year after the show ended though many including friends and family point to evidence that contridicts those findings.  Despite the tragic ending Reeves brought joy to millions during his life and his status as “the Superman” would persist for an entire generation until…

Christopeher Reeve

George Reeves was great, but for those of my generation there is only one Superman and his name is Christopher Reeve.  Reeve was chosen in 1978 by Richard Donner for Superman, and its success lead to one good sequel Superman II and two that we’d rather forget.  He was largely hailed for his ability to create two separate and interesting characters in Clark Kent and Superman and to this day remains the marker to which all future Supermen will be measured.  His good looks, his honest face and sense of depth and morality came across even in the silliness of the later films.  Reeve went on to star, direct, and produce many other films, and after his tragic accident became a vocal supporter for stem cell research.

John Haymes Newton & Gerard Christopher

The Superboys.  Newton was chosen for the title role in the 1988 show Superboy.  Newton left after the first season and Christopher replaced him for the final three seasons of the show.  Though the role wasn’t a breakthrough for either star, both continued acting on various TV shows in guest spots (oddly enough they both turned up in Melrose Place).

Beau Weaver

Weaver provided the voice of the Man of Steel for the short lived cartoon put out to celebrate Superman’s 50th Anniversary simply called Superman.  Weaver has worked steadily in voice acting and radio starring as the voice of Mr. Fantastic in the animated The Fantastic Four and The Silver Surfer, and providing the voice of Octane in the Transformers.

Dean Cain

A college football star whose NFL career was derailed by injury Cain popped up in various TV guest roles before he landed the coveted role of Superman in ABC’s new hour drama Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman co-staring with Teri Hatcher.  Since the show’s cancellation, after four years on the air, Cain has starred in the short lived Clubhouse and has made TV appearances in made-for-TV films such as The Perfect Husband The Laci Peterson Story and guest spots on Law & Order SVU and Hope & Faith, and also worked as the host for Ripley’s Believe it or Not. 

Tim Daly

Most remembered for his starring role as anal retentive pilot Joe Hackett on the sitcom Wings Daly has worked guest starring on several televsion shows (including a reunion of sorts with Tony Shaloub on Monk), starred in the TV remake of The Fugitive, and has worked in several films.  Daly is the younger brother of actress Tyne Daly (Cagney and Lacey).

George Newbern

When Daly was unable to do the voice for Superman on the new Justice League show Newbern took his place providing the voice of Superman for this new super team.  Newbern has worked in various films (Switching Channels, Adventures in Babysitting, Father of the Bride) and several guest roles on TV shows such as Chicago Hope, Providence, and Friends. 

Tom Welling

The only Superman on the list to never wear (or be drawn in) tights.  A construction woker turned model turned actor, Welling got his big break when he was cast to play Clark Kent on the new WB hour long drama Smallville which centers around Clark’s teen years in Kansas.  Welling has gone on to star in movies such as The Fog, Cheaper by the Dozen, and Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

Brandon Routh

The last of the Supermen (at least for this list).  A relative unknown before he was chosen by director Bryan Singer (who insisted on an unknown for the part)  for the title role in the new Superman Returns.  His early career involves an appearance in a Christina Aguilera music video and guest spots on shows such as Gilmore Girls and Will & Grace, and a short run on the daytime soap One Life to Live.  On screen Routh presents many of the qualities of the Christopher Reeve Superman including a vulnerability and earnestness that Singer believes is crucial to the character.  Routh has already signed on for two sequels; so if this Superman is a hit expect to see more of him in years to come.

Old Supes is about to hit the big screen once again, but over the years he’s been more at home on the small screen.  Let’s look back at the various incarnations of Superman in television shall we?  Indeed we shall…

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Fleischer Superman Cartoons – The original Fleischer cartoons are how many first viewed Superman.  The seventeen animated shorts were produced for Paramount Pictures in the early 1940’s; they still hold up remarkably well today.  The cost of each short was $100,000 dollars (remember that’s 1940’s cash you’re talking about) which was almost quadruple the amount of Popeye or what Disney spent on its shorts at the same time.  In terms of style and look it was vastly ahead of it’s time (and its look strongly influenced Batman: The Animated Series – half a centruy later).  In the series Superman fought an onslaught of sci-fi themed villains and creatures such as robots, dinosaurs, mad scientists, and meteors.  The last few episodes produced without Max and Dave Fleischer when Paramount took over the studio feature WWII themed stories with Superman fighting against America’s enemies.  Bud Collyer provided the voice of Superman and Joan Alexander played the voice of Lois Lane.

The Adventures of Superman and Atom Man vs. Superman – Kirk Alyn stars as Superman in this serial and it’s sequel.  In the first Superman battles the Spider Lady (Carol Forman) and in the second battles Lex Luthor (Lyle Talbot) who is using a teleportation device and holding Metropolis hostage while calling himself Atom Man.  Noel Neill plays Lois Lane, Tommy Bond is Jimmy Olsen, and Pierre Watkin plays The Daily Planet’s editor in chief Perry White.

Adventures of Superman – The popular syndicated television show brought Superman to an entire generation.  The show’s 104 half-hour episodes first premiered in 1952 and ran until 1958.  Despite a low budget, change in theme and mood of the show, and a dramatic change from black and white to color television during the series run, the show had charm and class that many enjoyed.  Geroge Reeves starred as Clark Kent and Superman, with Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen and John Hamilton as Perry White, and Phyllis Coates and Noel Neill starred as Lois Lane over the series run.  Bill Kennedy provided the narration to the famous opening sequence “Faster than a speeding bullet!  More powerful than a locomotive!  Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!  Superman.”  Of the 104 episodes a fan favorite “Panic in the Sky” (episode 38) stands out.  In fact future Superman show creators loved it so much that the plot was remade in two future shows (Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Superboy).

Superboy – The series followed young journalism students Clark Kent and Lana Lang (Stacy Haiduk) at Shuster University.  Superboy also helps out a government organization investigating unusual and parnormal disturbances while battling villains such as vampires,  Lex Luthor (Scott Wells), Metallo (Michael Callan), and Bizarro (Barry Meyers).  John Haymes Newton starred in the title role for the first season and when he left the show was replaced by Gerard Christopher.  Despite a limited budget the small syndicated show lasted four years and has earned itself a loyal following.

Superman – The short lived Saturday morning cartoon was created to coincide with Superman’s 50th Anniversary in the late 1988.  Episodes included Superman (Beau Weaver) saving the Earth from Lex Luthor (Michael Bell), aliens, robots, and helping Wonder Woman stop the Soceress of Time.  The series is notable for special “Superman Family Album” segments which chronicled Clark Kent’s life between his arrival on earth and his first appearance as Superman involving Clark Kent getting a driver’s license, a birthday party, and graduating from high school.  Ma Kent was voiced by Tess MacNeille (of Futurama fame).

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman – The ABC hour long drama starred Dean Cain as Clark Kent/Superman and Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane.  The show focused much more on Clark than Superman and delved into his career as a reporter and his relationship with Lois.  The show kept to the John Byrne revamp version of the character and even worked out a tie-in campaign where Lois and Clark were married in the comic and on the show at the same time.  Other than focusing more on Clark, a few other notable differences from other adaptions include Jonathan Kent (Eddie Jones) alive and well, Superman didn’t support his trademark hair curl, and Lex Luthor (Jonathan Shea) had a full head of hair (at least for the first season).  The show ran for four seasons.

Superman: The Animated Series – After the success of Batman the Animated Series the creators moved onto a new Superman cartoon with a similar design but a lighter and cleaner look.  Tim Daly (of Wings fame) was tapped to play Superman and Dana Delany voiced Lois Lane.  Many of Superman’s rogues gallery appeared on the show including Lex Luthor, Braniac, Darkseid, Bizarro, Parasite, Toy Man, and new villains such as Live Wire.

Smallville – A new millenium take on Clark Kent’s teenage years in Smallville, Kansas.  The show centers around Clark Kent’s (Tom Welling) life on the farm and the odd events and occureances in Smallville due to “meteor rock” contamination from the meteor shower that brought Kal-El to Earth years ago.  The show’s “No Flights, No Tights” rule was a drastic change from other Superman/Superboy shows as creators agreed Clark would never fly (though he did once on the show, oops!) or ever don the Superman suit.  The relalitonships examined on the show include the friendship between Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and Clark, Clark’s relationship to his father Jonathan Kent (John Schneider), and Clark’s love for Lana Lang (Kristin Kruek).  Though none of that got in the way of fighting all kinds of “meteor rock freaks” every week.  Recent seasons have Clark moving on to college, the introduction of Lois Lane (Erica Durance), the introduction of Jor-El (voiced by none other than Superman II bad guy Terrence Stamp), the end of the Clark/Lex friendship, and the arrival of Braniac (James Marsters) and the Fortress of Solitude.  Of interest to true Superman afecianadoes – besides Stamp, both Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder also guest starred on the show.

Super Friends & Justice League – Superman also has played prominent roles in super-team shows.  Super Friends was a 1970’s and 1980’s Saturday morning cartoon show that focused on a band of heroes (Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman) working together out of the Hall of Justice.  The shows different season sported different sidekicks such as Wendy, Marv and Wonder Dog, and later the Wonder Twins and Gleek.  Later incarnations involved the “Challenge of the Super Friends” which introduced the Legion of Doom and added heroes Green Lantern, Flash, and Hawkman.  Later shows added more multi-cultural heroes such as Samurai, Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, and El Dorado.  The final seasons introduced younger hereos such as Firestorm and Cyborg, and the villainous Darkseid.  Though often cheesy and full of bad coloring errors the show is fondly remembered for the narration provided by William Woodson and the overally campy fun of the show.  Cartoon Network’s Justice League was a much more serious teaming of heroes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Hawgirl.  The third season opened up the league to more heroes including Captain Atom, Booster Gold, Elongated Man, Green Arrow, the Question, Black Canary, Shining Knight, and the Atom.