And finally, I couldn't do this without a shot of George Reeves, every baby boomer's Superman.
This may be colorized, but I don't really care because he looks great. Did y'all know that he he had a bit part in Gone With the Wind as Stuart Tarleton, half of a set of twins wooing Scarlet?
As a native Atlantan (no we don't have gills) we were pretty much required know that. The photo is the first I've seen that even hints George had some equipment down there. Thank you .
ReplyDeleteJack Larson (Jimmy Olsen the role that killed his acting career) looked quite good in a swim suit in The Adventures of Superman episode "The Golden Vulture". It is truly wonderful Jack lived his life as he wished as an out and proud gay man.
Never knew that about Jack Larson. Impressive for the 50s for sure. He did look good in a swim suit.
DeleteI lived in Atlanta for 19 years, so GWTW came second only to Giant on my classic movie list. I had heard that Jack Larson was gay, but did not know he was that open about it. Nice to learn.
DeleteOh, funny you should mention Jack Larson. Back in the 80s, DC wanted to give a character HIV, and their choice was Jimmy Olsen. But then Jack Larson came out and it was suddenly problematique to give him AIDS, so instead they had a vote. The new Robin, Jason Todd, won, but then they noticed every ballot for him was in Jim Starlin's handwriting. (Starlin notoriously hated the idea of Robin, and would go on to blow him up anyway. That was actually my first comic, beyond Harvey and Disney stuff.) So they just stopped it there.
DeleteYears later, Green Arrow would create Mia Dearden, a former child prostitute with HIV, as the new Speedy, so I guess they did get their HIV-positive character in the end.
My comic book career never got beyond Little Lulu and Baby Huey.
DeleteYeah, you'd be surprised. There's actually a whole queer history of comics.
DeleteQuite an accomplishment for the 1950's.
ReplyDeleteThey still had him on Nick at Nite.
DeleteWhy no Superman '55 miniseries, DC? There's Batman '66, Wonder Woman '77.
The last two seasons (at least) of the TV series were in color, which I did not know until the early 1980s-DeeExx
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that until now.
DeleteAs a boomer, I remember him as my first encounter of Superman. Funny as the name «Reeves» came back years later to personify another time Superman. For me Christopher Reeves IS the best Superman ever.
ReplyDeleteChristopher was certainly iconic in that role.
DeleteThere is an interesting book on George called Hollywood Kryptonite which eludes to the fact he might have been murdered. That is one of the theories in the 2006 film Hollywoodland with Ben Affleck playing George.
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall a wild party with a lot of confusion the night of George Reeves' death.
DeleteThe book describes it as a small gathering as does the movie. It is still debated as to it being a suicide, murder on the orders of Eddie Mannix or an accidental shooting by Reeve's girlfriend Leanore Lemmon. Alan Ladd, Gig Young and Rory Calhoun have all said no one in Hollywood believed it was suicide.
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