Jack Edward Larson (February 8, 1928 – September 20, 2015) was an American actor,
librettist
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
, screenwriter and producer best known for his portrayal of photographer/cub reporter
Jimmy Olsen
Jimmy Olsen is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Olsen is most often portrayed as a young photojournalist working for the ''Daily Planet''. He is close friends with Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and has ...
on the television series ''
Adventures of Superman''.
Life and career
Larson was born on February 8, 1928
[California Birth Index, 1905–1995. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.] in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, the son of Anita (Calicoff), a Western Union clerk, and George Larson, a milk truck driver. His father was of English and Swedish descent and his mother was from a Jewish family (from Germany and Russia). He was raised in
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
...
. He graduated from
Montebello High School
Founded in 1909, Montebello High School is a public high school which is part of the Montebello Unified School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 2,600 students in grades 9-12. Its campus is located in Montebello, California, a subur ...
in 1945, aged 17 and at times claimed 1933 as his birth year.
Larson found the role of cub reporter Jimmy Olsen on ''The Adventures of Superman'' to be a handicap, because he became typecast as a naive young man. This caused him to do little acting after the show ended in 1958, and he turned to writing and production, with an output that included plays, a
libretto, texts for classical music, and movies such as ''
The Baby Maker
''The Baby Maker'' is a 1970 American drama film that was directed and co-written by James Bridges and released by National General Pictures.
Plot
Tish Gray is a flower child who is hired to have the baby of a middle-class couple, Suzanne and ...
''.
In later years his attitude towards the Jimmy Olsen role warmed, as he focused more on the love people had for the character.
[ Larson was always willing to sit for interviews about the ''Superman'' series and his connection to it, and began having a number of cameos that paid subtle tribute to his character and the series, including a 1991 episode of the TV series '']Superboy
Superboy is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comicbooks published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series featuring ...
'', alongside Noel Neill
Noel Darleen Neill (November 25, 1920 – July 3, 2016) was an American actress. She played Lois Lane in the film serials ''Superman'' (1948) and '' Atom Man vs. Superman'' (1950), as well as the 1950s television series '' Adventures of Superman ...
, who played Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning journalist for ...
in '' Adventures of Superman'', and an episode of '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' as an aged Jimmy Olsen in the episode "Brutal Youth", first broadcast on October 20, 1996.
Larson had a cameo in a late-1990s American Express card commercial, '' The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman''. He and Neill provided commentary on several ''Adventures of Superman'' episodes for the January 2006 DVD release of the 1953 season, and in 2006, he appeared in Bryan Singer
Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed.
After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer ...
's film ''Superman Returns
''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the sixth and fina ...
'' in a cameo role as "Bo the Bartender". Bo wore a bowtie, a trademark of Larson's depiction of Jimmy Olsen.[ Larson and Neill appeared together at the premiere of ''Superman Returns''.
Larson's last television appearance was in the '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' episode "Quickie", which aired on the NBC network on January 6, 2010.
Larson was interviewed extensively for the movie ''Making Montgomery Clift'' in which he verified Clift's nephew's (Rob Clift, Director) claim that Clift was not a dark tragically depressed figure, but someone who loved life and the people who loved him in return.
Among his other work, Larson wrote the libretto to the opera '']Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
'' to music by Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclass ...
.
Personal life
Larson was the life partner
The term significant other (SO) has different uses in psychology and in colloquial language. Colloquially, "significant other" is used as a gender-neutral term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming ...
of director James Bridges
James Bridges (February 3, 1936June 6, 1993) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer, and actor. He is a two-time Oscar nominee: once for Best Original Screenplay for '' The China Syndrome'' and once for Best Adapted Screenplay fo ...
from 1958 until Bridges' death on June 6, 1993. Prior to that, he was the companion of actor Montgomery Clift
Edward Montgomery Clift (; October 17, 1920 – July 23, 1966) was an American actor. A four-time Academy Award nominee, he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men", according to ''The New York Times''.
He is best remembered ...
.
Larson owned and resided in the Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
–designed George Sturges House
The George Sturges House is a single-family house, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built for George D. Sturges in the Brentwood Heights neighborhood of Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. Designed and built in 1939, the one-story res ...
in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, California, until his death.
He died on September 20, 2015, at the age of 87. His interment was at Rose Hills Memorial Park
Rose Hills Memorial Park is located in Whittier, California. It is currently owned and operated by Service Corporation International (formerly, Loewen Group). It claims to be the largest cemetery in North America.
Sites
; Mausoleums
* Whittier ...
in Whittier, California
Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated in ...
.[Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 26803). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.]
Filmography
Film
*1948: ''Fighter Squadron
A squadron in air force, army aviation, or naval aviation is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, dependi ...
'' – Lt. 'Shorty' Kirk
*1949: '' Flame of Youth'' – Boy (uncredited)
*1950: '' Redwood Forest Trail'' – Tommy (uncredited)
*1950: ''Trial Without Jury
''Trial Without Jury'' is a 1950 American mystery film directed by Philip Ford and starring Robert Rockwell, Barbra Fuller and Kent Taylor.Pierce p.352
The film's sets were designed by the art director Frank Hotaling
Frank Hotaling (April ...
'' – Dusty (uncredited)
*1951: '' A Wonderful Life'' (short) – Richard Wood (age 16)
*1951: ''Fighting Coast Guard
''Fighting Coast Guard'' is a 1951 American adventure film directed by Joseph Kane and written by Kenneth Gamet. The film stars Brian Donlevy, Forrest Tucker, Ella Raines, John Russell, Richard Jaeckel, William Murphy and Martin Milner. The ...
'' – Newsboy (uncredited)
*1951: '' On the Loose'' – Charleston Bit (uncredited)
*1951: ''Starlift
''Starlift'' (a.k.a. ''Operation Starlift'') is a 1951 American musical film released by Warner Bros. in directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Karl Lamb and John D. Klorer. The film stars Janice Rule, Dick Wesson, Ron Hagerthy and Ruth Ro ...
'' – Will (uncredited)
*1952: ''Kid Monk Baroni
''Kid Monk Baroni'' is a 1952 American film noir sport film directed by Harold D. Schuster. It is also known as ''Young Paul Baroni'' in the United Kingdom. It features Leonard Nimoy, later in ''Star Trek'' as Spock, in his first lead role in a ...
'' – Angelo
*1952: ''Belles on Their Toes
''Belles on Their Toes'' is a 1950 autobiographical book written by the siblings Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. It is the follow-up to their book ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' (1948), which covered the period after Frank Gil ...
'' – Packy Talbot (uncredited)
*1952: '' Battle Zone'' – Cpl. James O'Doole
*1952: '' Flat Top'' – "Scuttlebutt" Sailor
*1953: '' Star of Texas'' – Henchman John Jenkins
*1953: ''Three Sailors and a Girl
''Three Sailors and a Girl'' is a 1953 Technicolor musical film made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Devery Freeman and Roland Kibbee, based on the George S. Kaufman play '' The Butter and Egg Man''. Ray Heindorf w ...
'' – Sailor (uncredited)
*1953: ''Man Crazy
''Man Crazy'' is a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, published in 1997, that tells the story of a young girl's descent into self-harm, sexual abuse, cult brainwashing, and subsequent rescue.
Plot summary
Man Crazy is told from the point of view of a y ...
'' – Bob
*1954: '' Stamp Day for Superman'' (Short) – Jimmy Olsen
*1954: ''About Mrs. Leslie
''About Mrs. Leslie'' is a 1954 American drama film directed by Daniel Mann and starring Shirley Booth and Robert Ryan. It was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 1955.
Plot
Vivien Leslie, a Beverly Hills, California rooming house owner, reminisces i ...
'' – Buddy Boyd
*1957: ''Johnny Trouble
''Johnny Trouble'' is a 1957 American drama film directed by John H. Auer and written by Charles O'Neil and David Lord. The film stars Ethel Barrymore in her final film, Cecil Kellaway, Stuart Whitman, Carolyn Jones, Jesse White and Rand Harp ...
'' – Eddie Landis
*1981: ‘’Superman the Movie-Director’s Cut’’ - Passenger on train
*2019: ‘’ Making Montgomery Clift’’ - Himself
*2006: ''Superman Returns
''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the sixth and fina ...
'' – Bo the Bartender
*2009: ''Bob's New Suit'' – Edward McIntyre
*2016: ''Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel'' – Uncle Jimmy Williamson (Released posthumously, final film role)
Television
*1952-1958: '' Adventures of Superman'' – Jimmy Olsen
Jimmy Olsen is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Olsen is most often portrayed as a young photojournalist working for the ''Daily Planet''. He is close friends with Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and has ...
/ Collins
*1955: '' Navy Log'' – Gordon / Freddie / John Crawford / Herbie
*1960: '' The Millionaire'' – Buzz
*1965: '' Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.'' – Tommy
*1991: ''Superboy
Superboy is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comicbooks published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series featuring ...
'' – Lou Lamont
*1996: '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' – Old Jimmy Olsen
*2002: ''Teamo Supremo
''Teamo Supremo'' is an American animated television series created by Phil Walsh. Animated in the limited animation style pioneered by Jay Ward, predecessors which inspired its style, it tells of three superhero children: Captain Crandall, Skate ...
'' - B. Barry Beryllium
*2010: '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' – Dewey Butler
References
External links
*
*
Superman fan site
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Jack
American male film actors
American male television actors
American gay actors
Male actors from Los Angeles
Male actors from Pasadena, California
American people of Swedish-Jewish descent
American people of Russian descent
American opera librettists
Inkpot Award winners
American male screenwriters
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
20th-century American writers
Writers from Los Angeles
1928 births
2015 deaths
LGBT people from California
People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
Burials at Rose Hills Memorial Park
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from California
People from Montebello, California