Jack Larson, 1950s TV’s Jimmy Olsen, Passes Away

According to the New York Times, Larson died on Sunday, September 20th at his home in Brentwood, California.

The late actor’s more recent work paid tribute to his Superman roots. Throughout his life he recalled it with fondness, and gave many interviews.

Larson’s longtime partner, James Bridges, passed away in 1993. He eventually said yes after his agent posited that the sponsor-less syndicated program would have a one-and-done run; Adventures of Superman premiered in 1952 and ran for 104 episodes. He also wrote librettos for operas such as Virgil Thomson’s “Lord Byron“.

Larson, left, with George Reeves.

Larson was born in 1928 in Los Angeles and made his film debut in 1948 in the movie Fighter Squadron. To a young stage actor the opportunity to be in films sounded like the chance of a lifetime, and soon after the audition, Larson signed with Warner Brothers. After a particularly upsetting encounter with the producer Mervyn LeRoy, he was advised by the actor Montgomery Clift, with whom Mr. Larson was having a romantic relationship, to stop putting himself in those casting situations.

Larson was an esteemed playwright, and his works include 1966’s “The Candied House“, 1968’s “Chuck”, 1997’s “The Hyacinth From Apollo” and 1998’s “Astronaut’s Tale”. The two men first met on the set of Johnny Trouble, the 1957 film that ended up being Ethel Barrymore’s last.

He made his final acting appearance in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2010. He would often appear in cameo roles that mentioned his time as Jimmy Olsen, including an episode of Lois & Clark, the short-lived early 90s series Superboy, and an American Express commercial with noted Superman fanatic Jerry Seinfeld. Although he swore off fan events after a 1988 incident in Cincinnati in which Sharpie-wielding autograph seekers permanently stained a white linen suit he had had made in Italy, he came to terms with and embraced the Jimmy Olsen legacy in other ways.