Los Angeles-born actor Jack Larson, born February 8, 1928, turns 83 today. He is best known for his portrayal of cub reporter Jimmy Olsen in the 1950s TV series “Adventures of Superman.” Larson made “Golly jeepers, Mister Kent!” a household phrase. Soon after the Superman TV series first aired in 1952, the show became as popular as “I Love Lucy.” The show lasted for six seasons, and reruns kept the show alive for many more years. Unfortunately, when George Reeves, the actor who played Superman on the TV series, committed suicide*, Larson was unable to get more acting work, because he was so linked to the role of Jimmy Olson.
Jack Larson is a writer, librettist, producer and still turns in the occasional performance as an actor. He owns and resides in the famous Frank Lloyd Wright designed George Sturges House in Brentwood, California. Larson and partner James Bridges bought the house in 1967. The home contains Wright-designed furnishings, including octagonal chairs, a pair of lamps and a table. Larson also displays Noritake china designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Jack was able to procure 24 settings of the china when the Wright designed hotel was slated for demolition in the 1960s.
*Many dispute the police verdict of suicide in the death of George Reeves. Reeves had been a kept man for seven years by a married woman, Toni Mannix, whose husband was an MGM boss with mob connections. When Reeves dropped Mannix for socialite Leonore Lemmon in 1958, Mannix became vengeful, making harassing phone calls and talking to friends about having Reeves killed. Others suspect that Lemmon herself killed Reeves, since they had been observed in a heated argument earlier in the day. All that is known is that Reeves was found sprawled naked in his bed with a bullet wound to his temple, no fingerprints were found on the gun, no powder burns were on George's head wound, no powder burns were found on his hands, and the spent shell was found underneath his body. Suicide?
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