Jack Larson
Larson at the 2013San Diego Comic-Con
Born	Jack Edward Larson (1928-02-08)February 8, 1928 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	September 20, 2015(2015-09-20) (aged 87) Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations	Actor, librettist, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1948–2011
Partner	James Bridges (1958–1993; Bridges' death)
Awards	Inkpot Award (2013)[1]

Jack Edward Larson (February 8, 1928 – September 20, 2015) was an American actor,librettist, screenwriter and producer best known for his portrayal of photographer/cub reporterJimmy Olsen on the television seriesAdventures of Superman from 1952 to 1958, a role he once reprised onLois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in 1996.^[2]

Larson was born on February 8, 1928^[3] inLos Angeles, the son of Anita (Calacoff), a Western Union clerk, and George Larson, a milk truck driver. His father was of English and Swedish descent and his mother was from a Jewish family (from Germany and Russia).^[4][5] He was raised inPasadena. He graduated fromMontebello High School in 1945, aged 17 and at times claimed 1933 as his birth year.^[6] His first film appearance was in junior high, in a short about ten pin bowling.^[7]

He found the role of cub reporter Jimmy Olsen onThe Adventures of Superman to be a handicap, because he became typecast as a naive young man.^[8] This caused him to do little acting after the show ended in 1958, and he turned to writing and production, with an output that included plays, alibretto, texts for classical music, and movies such asThe Baby Maker.^[9] In later years his attitude towards the Jimmy Olsen role warmed, as he focused more on the love people had for the character.^[9] Larson was always willing to sit for interviews about theSuperman series and his connection to it, and began having a number of cameos that paid subtle tribute to his character and the series, including a 1991 episode of the TV seriesSuperboy, alongsideNoel Neill, who playedLois Lane inAdventures of Superman, and an episode ofLois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as an aged Jimmy Olsen in the episode "Brutal Youth", first broadcast on October 20, 1996.

Larson had a cameo in a late-1990sAmerican Express card commercial,The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman. He and Neill provided commentary on severalAdventures of Superman episodes for the January 2006 DVD release of the 1953 season, and in 2006, he appeared inBryan Singer's filmSuperman Returns in a cameo role as "Bo the Bartender". Bo wore a bowtie, a trademark of Larson's depiction of Jimmy Olsen.^[9] Larson and Neill appeared together at the premiere ofSuperman Returns.^[10]

Larson appeared as a corporal in the first episode of the second season ofGomer Pyle - USMC in which the title character struggles to become aPFC. This was Larson’s last television appearance in a series until aLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Quickie", which aired on the NBC network on January 6, 2010.

He was interviewed extensively for the movieMaking Montgomery Clift, in which he verified the claim of Clift's nephew (director Robert Anderson Clift) that Clift was not a dark, tragically depressed figure, but someone who loved life and the people who loved him in return.

Among his other work, Larson wrote the libretto to the operaLord Byron to music byVirgil Thomson.^[11]

Larson was thelife partner of directorJames Bridges from 1958 until Bridges' death on June 6, 1993.^[12] Prior to that, he was the companion of actorMontgomery Clift.^[13]

Larson owned and resided in theFrank Lloyd Wright–designedGeorge Sturges House in theBrentwood section of Los Angeles, California, until his death.

He died on September 20, 2015, at the age of 87.^[14] His interment was atRose Hills Memorial Park inWhittier, California.^[15]

• Jack Larson atIMDb
• Superman fan site
• Jack Larson atThe Interviews: An Oral History of Television

• 1928 births
• 2015 deaths
• 20th-century American LGBTQ people
• 20th-century American male actors
• 20th-century American male writers
• 20th-century American writers
• 21st-century American LGBTQ people
• 21st-century American male actors
• American gay actors
• American male film actors
• American male screenwriters
• American male television actors
• American opera librettists
• American people of English descent
• American people of English-Jewish descent
• American people of Russian descent
• American people of Swedish descent
• American people of Swedish-Jewish descent
• Burials at Rose Hills Memorial Park
• Inkpot Award winners
• LGBTQ people from California
• Male actors from Los Angeles
• Male actors from Montebello, California
• Male actors from Pasadena, California
• People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
• Screenwriters from California
• Writers from Los Angeles

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• The Interviews name ID same as Wikidata