Jack Larson, who played Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen in original TV series, dies
Jack Larson, who played photographer Jimmy Olsen on the 1950s US television series Adventures of Superman, has died at the age of 87.
After abandoning acting out of frustration in the early 1960s, Larson went on to be a playwright, lyricist and movie producer.
But he made his most lasting impression as television's Jimmy Olsen, the enthusiastic young reporter in the bow tie at the Daily Planet newspaper, where he worked with Clark Kent, Superman's alter ego, and Lois Lane in the fictional city of Metropolis.
Larson appeared in 101 episodes of the beloved show during its run from 1952 through 1958.
His Jimmy Olsen was eager and full of good intentions and ":gee-whillickers" naivete, but also a bit of a stumblebum who provided the show's comic relief.
The actor described Olsen as "a bit dim" since he never figured out that Clark Kent was also the crime-fighting caped superhero, Superman.
Larson thought Superman would be short-lived and little noticed. He was stunned to realize it was an instant hit and he was a celebrity - a typecast one.
His Jimmy Olsen became such a popular figure that his bow tie would one day be part of a Smithsonian display.
"Everywhere I go, I get the warmest feelings from people about Jimmy," he told the Times.
"They love him and I grew to feel that I could never have done anything more special than be Jimmy Olsen."
He even got to be Jimmy again in his later years, playing an elderly Olsen in the television show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in 1996 and had a cameo in the 2006 film Superman Returns, wearing a bow tie.
Larson died on Sunday at his home in Los Angeles' Brentwood neighborhood. An autopsy is pending.\
- Reuters