Following high school graduation inMinneapolis,Minnesota, Neill took up professional acting and modeling in the early 1940s before taking the role of Lois Lane.[4] She later appeared in various productions of the Superman franchise. She was cast as the parent or another relative of the main character: Neill briefly appeared in the 1978Superman feature film, the 1980s TV seriesSuperboy[5] and a featured cameo in the 2006 filmSuperman Returns.[6]
Noel Darleen Neill was born inMinneapolis,Minnesota, the daughter of journalist David Holland Neill, news editor of the Minneapolis Star Journal newspaper, and stage dancer Lavere Gorsboth.[7][2] When she was 4 years old, her parents enrolled her at a school for aspiring performers.[8] During her teen years, Neill danced, sang and even played the banjo at county fairs throughout the midwest.[8] She attendedCentral High School in Minneapolis.[9] When she graduated from high school in 1938,[10] her first job was writing articles forWomen's Wear Daily.[11]
In her teens, Neill was a popular photographic model. WhileBetty Grable's pin-up was number one amongGIs during World War II, Neill's was ranked number two.[2] After she signed a contract withParamount Pictures, it led to appearances in many of the studio's feature films and short subjects. In the mid-1940s, Neill had a leading role in one ofMonogram Pictures' wayward-youth melodramas, and she became a familiar face in Monogram features for the next several years calledTeen Agers, especially in the recurring role of Betty Rogers. She appeared in the last of the originalCharlie Chan movies,Sky Dragon (1949), and also played damsels in distress in Monogram Westerns andRepublic Pictures serials. Neill also appeared in a 1950 episode ofThe Lone Ranger. Neill sang withBob Crosby and his orchestra.[12] She also sang at the Del Mar Turf Club, which was owned byBing Crosby.[11]
In 1945, producerSam Katzman gave Neill the recurring role of Betty Rogers, an aggressive reporter for a high-school newspaper, in his series of "Teen Agers" musical comedies, beginning withJunior Prom in 1946.[13] When Katzman was casting hisSuperman serial forColumbia Pictures, he remembered Noel Neill's news-hawk portrayals and signed her to playLois Lane. She played the role in the film serialsSuperman (1948) andAtom Man vs. Superman (1950), withKirk Alyn portrayingSuperman/Clark Kent. Neill used what she saw in her father's workplace on her visits as a young girl to accurately portray a female reporter and regularly consulted with her father for further insight.
WhenAdventures of Superman came to television in 1951, veteran movie actorsGeorge Reeves andPhyllis Coates took the leading roles for the first season. By the time the series found a sponsor and a network time slot, Coates had committed herself to another production, so the producers called on Neill to reprise her role as Lois. She continued on the series for five seasons until it left the air in 1958. In 1954, she also appeared inStamp Day for Superman which was produced by Superman Inc. for the United States Department of the Treasury to promote the purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds. It was only distributed in schools to educate children about the bond program. She was scheduled to appear in the seventh season with co-starJack Larson in 1960, but after Reeves's tragic and sudden death, the seventh season was canceled, officially ending the show. While Phyllis Coates generally distanced herself from the role, Neill embraced her association with Lois Lane, giving frequent talks on college campuses during the 1970s, when interest in the series was revived, endearing herself to audiences with her warmth and humor.
Neill continued to appear inSuperman-related productions. She originated the role of Lois Lane's mother, Ellen (alternatively, Ella) Lane, in a cameo for the 1978 filmSuperman, withKirk Alyn as Lois's father,Sam Lane – as was the case in reverse with the role of Lois in 1951, Phyllis Coates would later succeed Neill in the role of Ella inLois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman;[14]Lois & Clark starTeri Hatcher continued the tradition when she made a guest appearance onSmallville as Ella Lane. In an episode of the TV seriesSuperboy, Neill appeared alongside her former castmate Jack Larson, who had playedJimmy Olsen on TV. Her personal appearance at theMetropolis, Illinois,Superman Festival was featured onThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno. As "Aunt Lois", she made a guest appearance in the independent superhero filmSurge of Power: The Stuff of Heroes, and she played Gertrude Vanderworth (the dying elderly wife ofLex Luthor) in the 2006 filmSuperman Returns.
Neill andSuperman actor Jack Larson donated their time to record commentaries for the DVD releases of theSuperman TV episodes. On the documentaryLook, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Neill remarked that a frequent question she would get from children was, "Why didn't you know that Clark Kent was Superman, just wearing a pair of those darn eyeglasses?" She replied to the children (and later to college audiences), "I don't want to lose my job!"
On June 15, 2010, the southern Illinois city ofMetropolis unveiled a statue of Lois Lane. The Lois Lane statue is modeled on Noel Neill. Neill stated that she was honored to be memorialized with the statue.[15]
In 2003, writer Larry Ward wrote an authorized biography of Neill,Truth, Justice, & The American Way: The Life And Times Of Noel Neill, The Original Lois Lane.[16] A limited-edition, expanded version of the book was released in 2006. In 2007, Ward wrote another book on Neill,Beyond Lois Lane, which focused on the actress' other acting and modeling work.
In the third season episode "Midvale" of theSupergirl TV series in November 2017,Martian Manhunter disguises himself as Supergirl's motherAlura In-Ze (Erica Durance), taking the alias of Noel Neill in reference to Neill's and Durance's past portrayals of Lois Lane.
In 1943, Neill married makeup artist Harold Lierley in Hollywood, California.[19] The marriage was annulled shortly afterward. Neill then married William Behrens in 1953 inSanta Monica, California;[20] the marriage ended in divorce in 1962. While still married to Behrens, theSuperman television program was cancelled. It was then that her acting career diminished and Neill became a homemaker, later working in the television department atUnited Artists.[8] Following her divorce from Behrens, Neill married Joel Taylor.[21] The marriage lasted seven years and ended with the couple divorcing in 1971.[22][23]
A fall at herTucson, Arizona, home in 2010 resulted in Neill suffering from a hip fracture. She was hospitalized following surgery to repair the fracture at Tucson Medical Center.[24]
Following an extended illness, Neill died in Tucson on July 3, 2016, at age 95.[25][26] Her publicist and biographer, Larry Ward, paid tribute to her role asLois Lane, as did actorMark Hamill.[27] Neill had no immediate surviving family members.[22]
^George, James (April 2015)."America in WWII Pinup: Noel Neill".America in WWII: 7. RetrievedJanuary 21, 2016. – via General OneFile(subscription required)
^"Marriages". Billboard. October 23, 1943. p. 50. RetrievedJanuary 21, 2016.
^"California, County Marriages, 1850-1952", database with images,FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K864-LF5: 28 November 2014), William John Behrens and Noel Darleen Neill, 27 Aug 1953; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 1,343,363.
^"California Marriage Index, 1960-1985", database,FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V6N1-X1L: 27 November 2014), Joel J Taylor and Noel D Neill, 09 Nov 1963; from "California, Marriage Index, 1960-1985", database and images,Ancestry(http://www.ancestry.com: 2007); citing Riverside, California, Center of Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento.
^"California Divorce Index, 1966-1984", database,FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPYH-ZQR: 15 May 2014), Noel D Neill and Joel J Taylor, Aug 1969; from "California Divorce Index, 1966-1984", database and images,Ancestry(http://www.ancestry.com: 2007); citing Los Angeles City, California, Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento.
^Salon, Libby Hill Libby Hill is a former television reporter for the Los Angeles Times Her TV analysis has appeared at; Vulture; Stone, Rolling; Hill, the New York Times; Dakota, a native of South; Cats, Has a Passel of; Books, Too Many; DVR, a perpetually full (July 11, 2016)."Noel Neill dies at 95; first actress to play Lois Lane".Los Angeles Times. RetrievedAugust 28, 2025.
