Who was first actor to play Superman in a live-action movie? You might
say George Reeves or Christopher Reeve
or -- if you've got a cultural memory
of about 10 minutes -- Brandon Routh.
But no, the first Earthling to portray the Man of Steel
on screen was Kirk Alyn,
whose birthday we note today.
"Who?" we hear you ask. Well, Alyn had a career
not unlike that of Reeves:
He was a good-if-not-great character actor with a strong
chin
and an ability to sell ludicrous dialogue, and his career was basically over
after he put on the cape and tights.
In spite of the relative shortness of his career, Alyn remains one of the few
actors to play more than one superhero: He appeared as Blackhawk
in a 1952 serial.
He shares that honor with Tom Tyler,
who starred as The Phantom
and also played the screen's first Captain Marvel -- Superman's greatest Golden Age rival.
There may be some kind of curse in being the first to play a superhero. Louis Wilson, who was
the screen's first Batman
in 1943, didn't do much afterward. And does anyone remember Howard Murphy, who
played Green Lantern,
or Dick Purcell, the first Captain America -- or, god
forbid, Ellie Wood Walker, who portrayed Wonder Woman?
(Considering that last example came from the geniuses behind the Batman
TV show, maybe she's best left forgotten.)
The second actor to play a hero has usually fared better: Robert Lowery, the second
Caped Crusader,
had some longevity. John Wesley Shipp (TV's second Flash) has managed to find work. And even
a guy named Sean Connery
(who was, yes, the second James Bond; Barry Nelson was the first) hasn't done too badly.
Does playing a superhero
mean career suicide? Perhaps;
perhaps
not. Personally, we're just hoping that
playing The Green Hornet does for Seth Rogen's
career what it did for Van Williams’s.
Suggested Sites...
- Superhero Hype - the latest news and information about superhero movies -- good and bad.
- Superman Homepage: Superman Serials - information about Alyn's two Superman serials.
- Wikipedia: Kirk Alyn - a biography as brief as his career.
- Den of Geek: Men of Steel - information about 11 actors who have played Superman.
- Wikipedia: 1940s Superman Cartoons - lest we forget the first voice of Superman: Clayton "Bud" Collyer.
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