GetWiki

{{Short description|American actor (1910–1999)}}

factoids

Oxford Township, New Jersey>Oxford, New Jersey, U.S.19991410|8}}| death_place = The Woodlands, Texas, U.S.| occupation = Actor| years_active = 1930–1988Virginia O’Brien1955|end=div}}| children = 3| partner =| website =}}Kirk Alyn (born John Feggo Jr.; October 8, 1910 – March 14, 1999) was an American actor, best known for being the first actor to play the DC Comics character Superman in live-action for the 1948 movie serial Superman and its 1950 sequel Atom Man vs. Superman, as well as fellow DC Comics characters Blackhawk from the Blackhawk movie serial in 1952, and Lois Lane’s father Sam Lane in 1978’s (Superman (1978 film)|Superman: The Movie).

Early life

Kirk Alyn was born as John Feggo Jr. on October 8, 1910, in Oxford, New Jersey, to working class parents from Austria-Hungary.NEWS, 1999-03-20, Kirk Alyn, 88, the Superman To Leap Tall Buildings First, en-US, The New York Times,www.nytimes.com/1999/03/20/arts/kirk-alyn-88-the-superman-to-leap-tall-buildings-first.html, 2023-08-15, 0362-4331, WEB, 2013-05-28, Kirk Alyn, the first Superman of cinema, was born 100 years ago {{!, Hero Complex – movies, comics, pop culture – Los Angeles Times |url=http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/kirk-alyn-the-first-superman-of-cinema-was-born-100-years-ago-friday/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528202856herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/kirk-alyn-the-first-superman-of-cinema-was-born-100-years-ago-friday/ |archive-date=2013-05-28 }}NEWS, Associated Press, Kirk Alyn, 88, the Superman To Leap Tall Buildings First,www.nytimes.com/1999/03/20/arts/kirk-alyn-88-the-superman-to-leap-tall-buildings-first.html, New York Times, March 20, 1999, NEWS,www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-kirk-alyn-1083768.html, Obituary: Kirk Alyn, Vallance, Tom, March 29, 1999, The Independent, 1 October 2011, London, In his youth he lived in Wharton, New Jersey. A plaque commemorating his life in the borough is hung in the municipal building.

Career

Alyn started as a chorus boy for Broadway plays, appearing in notable musicals such as Girl Crazy, Of Thee I Sing, and Hellzapoppin’ during the 1930s.File:The Trap (1946) - Toler Alyn.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Alyn (right) and Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan in the film The Trap (1946).]]He also worked as a singer and dancer in vaudeville before relocating to Hollywood during the early 1940s to act for feature movies, but he was successful only in gaining bit parts for low-budget movies before obtaining the role of Superman in 1948.BOOK, Katz, Ephraim, Ephraim Katz, The Film Encyclopedia, 5th Ed, New York City: HarperCollins, 2005, 32, 0-06-273089-4, registration,archive.org/details/filmencyclopedia0katz/page/32, During World War II, he served in the United States Navy.Kirk Alyn obituary: Screen’s first ‘Man of Steel’. The Guardian. Retrieved January 7, 2021.Obituary: Kirk Alyn. The Independent. Retrieved January 7, 2021.Alyn also featured in movie serials, including Federal Agents Vs. Underworld Inc. (1948), Radar Patrol Vs. Spy King (1950) and Blackhawk (1952).Alyn recalls the day producer Sam Katzman asked him to play Superman:I thought it was a publicity stunt. I didn’t think you could ever put Superman on film. They brought the people from D.C. Comics over and they said, ‘Hey, he looks just like Clark Kent.’ They said take off your shirt, so I did and flexed my muscles. Then the guy said, ‘Take off your pants’ and I said, ‘Wait a minute.’ I was 37 when I played Superman. I picked up that girl and ran up that flight of stairs like it was nothing.“Alyn played Superman for the first live-action Superman movie serial, released in 1948. The serial consisted of 15 episodes which recounted Superman’s arrival on Earth, getting a job as a reporter at the Daily Planet newspaper, and meeting Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. The main plot consisted of Superman’s battle against the arch criminal the Spider Lady.Two years later, Atom Man vs. Superman was released, featuring Lyle Talbot as Superman’s arch-villain Lex Luthor. This serial also included a sequence involving an eerie alternate dimension, not unlike the Phantom Zone, which would not appear in the comics for another 11 years.Alyn gave the Man of Steel a different portrayal to Clark Kent, adding to the element of disguise. This was in the tradition of radio’s Superman, Bud Collyer. By contrast, his successor George Reeves played the dual roles more alike, as pointed out in Gary Grossman’s book, Superman: Serial to Cereal. The character’s flight was affected by having Alyn jump up, at which point he becomes represented by an animated character by way of rotoscoping, which flew away. Alyn had tried “flying” while suspended by hidden wires for the first serial but the wires turned out to be clearly visible and that footage was scrapped.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}BOOK, Alyn, Kirk, A Job for Superman, Self-published, 1971, 12-13, )After playing Superman, he again suffered casting problems. Apart from featuring in some similar comic book-type serials, he had few roles in television series and movies, some even uncredited, until he retired.Alyn was reportedly offered the part of Superman for the television version of 1951, but refused it.NEWS,www.theguardian.com/news/1999/mar/24/guardianobituaries, Kirk Alyn obituary, Bergan, Ronald, 1999-03-24, The Guardian, 2019-04-26, en-GB, 0261-3077, In 1971, he published an autobiography entitled A Job for Superman.{{Citation needed|date=August 2017}}Alyn shared a very brief cameo with his serial co-star, Noel Neill, as Sam and Ellen Lane, the parents of the young Lois Lane for the 1978 feature movie, Superman. In a brief on-set interview, he explains his method of portraying Superman and Clark Kent, contained in a documentary narrated by Ernie Anderson, The Making of Superman: The Movie (1978).In 1981, Alyn appeared as “Pa Cant” in the parody movie Superbman: The Other Movie, a role that lasted only seconds, as Cant dies from heart failure immediately after discovering the strange visitor from the planet “Krapton”.Alyn made his final movie, the horror movie Scalps, in 1983.In 1988, he participated in the 1988 TV special Superman 50th Anniversary Special as himself. He also had a very brief appearance in a Battlestar Galactica episode.

Personal life

When he first went to Hollywood, Alyn met another performer, singer, dancer, and actress Virginia O’Brien. They were married in 1942, and had three children: daughters Terri O’Brien and Elizabeth Watkins and son John Feggo III.NEWS, Child Born to Virginia O’Brien,www.nytimes.com/1945/06/22/archives/child-born-to-virginia-obrien.html, New York Times, June 22, 1945, They were divorced in 1955.NEWS, Virginia O’Brien Wins Divorce,www.nytimes.com/1955/06/25/archives/virginia-obrien-wins-divorce.html, New York Times, June 25, 1955,

Death

Alyn died on March 14, 1999, in The Woodlands, Texas, at the age of 88 from Alzheimer’s disease.NEWS, Associated Press, Kirk Alyn, 88, the Superman To Leap Tall Buildings First,www.nytimes.com/1999/03/20/arts/kirk-alyn-88-the-superman-to-leap-tall-buildings-first.html, New York Times, March 20, 1999, NEWS, Kirk Alyn, The First Superman Of Cinema, Was Born 100 Years Ago,herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/kirk-alyn-the-first-superman-of-cinema-was-born-100-years-ago-friday/, Los Angeles Times, October 8, 2010, He was cremated. His ashes were scattered off the coast of California.

Honors

Alyn was the Grand Marshal of the Metropolis, Illinois Christmas parade and Annual Superman Celebrations several times. In 1985, DC Comics named Alyn as one of the honorees in the company’s 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great.COMIC, Marx, Barry, Joey Cavalieri, Cavalieri, Joey and Hill, Thomas, Petruccio, Steven, Marx, Barry, Kirk Alyn Superman, Matinee Idol, Fifty Who Made DC Great, 1985, DC Comics, 22, Alyn received the Inkpot Award in 1974.Inkpot Award

Filmography{| class“wikitable”

! Year! Title! Role! NotesFast and Loose (1930 film)>Fast and Loose Man Seated at Table in Speakeasy rowspan=“7” | Uncredited1942 ‘’My Sister Eileen (1942 film)’’ >| Portuguese Merchant Marine Cadet Lucky Jordan >| Pearl’s Boyfriend You Were Never Lovelier >| Julia’s Groom 1943 Aerial Gunner Officer in Canteen Action in the North Atlantic >| Brazilian Gun Captain Swing Shift Maisie >| Victory Aircraft Official The Man from the Rio Grande (1943 film)>The Man from the Rio Grande Tom Traynor - Editor The Iron Major > UncreditedIs Everybody Happy? (1943 film)>Is Everybody Happy? Larry Thew Overland Mail Robbery >|Mystery Broadcast >| UncreditedPistol Packin’ Mama (film)>Pistol Packin’ Mama J. Leslie Burton III A Guy Named Joe > Uncredited1944 Four Jills in a Jeep Pilot Broadway Rhythm >| Escort Once Upon a Time (1944 film)>Once Upon a Time Attendant Cowboy and the Senorita >| Lulubelle’s Beau Goodnight, Sweetheart (film)>Goodnight, Sweetheart Reporter Forty Thieves (film)>Forty Thieves Jerry Doyle Call of the Rockies (1944 film)>Call of the Rockies Ned Crane The Girl Who Dared >|Storm Over Lisbon >| Uncredited1946 Daughter of Don Q Cliff Roberts SerialThe Time of Their Lives >| UncreditedThe Trap (1946 film)>The Trap Police Sgt. Reynolds 1947 The Beginning or the End Scientist UncreditedLittle Miss Broadway (1947 film)>Little Miss Broadway Det. Lt. Mel O’Brien Sweet Genevieve >|1948 ‘’Superman (serial)’’ >Superman>Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman SerialThe Three Musketeers (1948 film)>The Three Musketeers Aramis’ Friend Uncredited1949 Federal Agents vs. Underworld, Inc Insp. David Worth SerialBride of Vengeance >| UncreditedRadar Patrol vs. Spy King >| Serial1950 Atom Man vs. Superman Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman SerialGambling House (film)>Gambling House FBI Man rowspan=“2” | UncreditedWhen Worlds Collide (1951 film)>When Worlds Collide Rioter Bringing Guns 1952 ‘’Blackhawk (serial)’’ >| SerialThe Savage (1952 film)>The Savage Orderly rowspan=“8” | UncreditedThe Eddy Duchin Story >| Young Man at Wadsworths’ Party 1957 ‘’Beginning of the End (film)’’ >| B-52 Pilot No Time to Be Young >| Mike, Gloria’s Date Banning (film)>Banning Bidder P.J. (film)>P.J. Supervisor The Great White Hope (film)>The Great White Hope Man in German Nightclub Superman (1978 film)>Superman Scalps (1983 film)>Scalps Professor Machen (final film role)

References

{{Reflist|40em}}

Bibliography

• BOOK, Superman: Serial to Cereal, Gary, Grossman, Popular Library, 1976, 0-445-04054-8

,

External links

{{commons category}}

• {{IMDb name|0001906}}
• {{Amg name|1276}}

{{Inkpot Award 1970s}}{{Authority control}}