Baby boomers’ favorite young brash-but-innocent friend of Superman, the newspaper reporter on TV from the 1950s known as Jimmy Olsen, is dead.
We may still think of him as the “Gee, Mr. Kent” kid going on adventures with Clark Kent, Lois Lane and, of course, Superman. But Jimmy Olsen, or at least the actor who portrayed him on the black-and-white small screen, was 87 when he died.
Jack Larson — an actor, writer and producer best known for playing Olsen in ‘TV’s “The Adventures of Superman” — died at his home in Brentwood Sunday. He was that rarity among TV and film actors as he was a native of Los Angeles.
The Jimmy Olsen character served as a kind of sidekick to Clark Kent’s Superman, often being rescued – along with Lois Lane – at the last minute by the “Man of Steel” who could “leap tall buildings at a single bound.”
“Superman” aired from 1952 until 1958. While wildly successful across America, Larson’s Jimmy Olsen success may have type-cast him in that role. Larson found it difficult to get acting jobs and began focusing on writing. His plays included “The Candied House,” “Chuck,” and “The Astronaut’s Tale.”
Larson’s long-time partner was director James Bridges, who died in 1993.
—City News Service