Jack Larson
- For the textile designer, see Jack Lenor Larsen
| Jack Larson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jack Edward Larson February 8, 1928 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer |
| Years active | 1948–2011 |
| Partner(s) | James Bridges (1958–1993; his death) |
Jack Edward Larson (February 8, 1928 – September 20, 2015) was an American actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of photographer/cub reporter Jimmy Olsen on the television series Adventures of Superman.[1]
Contents
Life and career
Larson was born on February 8, 1928[2] in Los Angeles, the son of Anita (Calicoff), a Western Union clerk, and George Larson, a milk truck driver. His father was of Swedish and English descent, and his mother was from a Jewish family (from Russia and Germany).[3][4] He was reared in Pasadena. He graduated from Montebello High School in 1945, aged 17, and at times claimed 1933 as his birth year.[5]
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.[6] This caused him to do little acting after the show ended in 1958, and instead he focused on behind-the-scenes work, such as writing and production. Larson was always willing to sit for interviews about the Superman series and his connection to it, and in recent years had a number of cameos that paid subtle tribute to his character and the series, including a 1991 episode of the TV series Superboy, alongside Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane 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 telecast on October 20, 1996.
Larson had a cameo in a late-1990s American Express card commercial with Jerry Seinfeld and an animated Superman, directed by David Kellogg. 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's film Superman Returns in a cameo role as "Bo the Bartender". Larson and Neill appeared together at the premiere of Superman Returns.[citation needed]
Larson most recently appeared in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which aired on the NBC network on January 6, 2010. In this episode, titled "Quickie", Larson portrayed "Dewey Butler", grandfather to a young suspect who was allegedly having unprotected sexual relations with women.
Among his other work, Larson wrote the libretto to the opera Lord Byron to music by Virgil Thomson.[7]
Personal life
Larson was the life partner of director James Bridges from 1958 until Bridges' death on June 6, 1993.[8] Prior to that, he was the companion of actor Montgomery Clift.[9]
Larson owned and resided in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed George Sturges House in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, California until his death.
He died on September 20, 2015 at the age of 87.[10] His interment was at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.
Filmography
Film
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Television
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References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ California Birth Index, 1905–1995. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.
- ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jack-larson-actor-who-played-jimmy-olsen-to-george-reeves-superman-but-gave-up-his-career-to-write-10517468.html-0
- ↑ Jack Edward Larson
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ New York Times, Jack Larson, a playwright better known as Jimmy Olsen in Superman dies at 87
External links
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- Articles with unsourced statements from February 2015
- Articles using Template:EmmyTVLegends name
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- Gay actors
- Male actors from Los Angeles, California
- Male actors from Pasadena, California
- American people of Swedish descent
- American people of Russian descent
- LGBT entertainers from the United States
- American opera librettists
- American male screenwriters
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- 20th-century American writers
- Writers from Los Angeles, California
- 1928 births
- 2015 deaths
- LGBT people from California
