Jack Larson
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Jack Edward Larson (born February 8, 1928 in Los Angeles) is an American actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer. He was raised in Pasadena, California. He is best known for his portrayal of Jimmy Olsen in the TV series Adventures of Superman.
He has said that he found the role of the cub reporter to be a handicap due to its typecasting of him. He has not done much acting since then, mostly behind-the-scenes work — writing and production.
He wrote the libretto to the opera Lord Byron to music by Virgil Thomson.
He had a recurring role as a corporal on "Gomer Pyle USMC". He was a guest actor on the series Lois and Clark as an aged Jimmy Olsen in the episode "Brutal Youth", first telecast on October 20, 1996. He had also appeared in an early episode of the TV series, Superboy.
He also had a quick cameo in an American Express Card commercial featuring Jerry Seinfeld and an animated Superman, (directed by David Kellogg).
He was the life-partner of director James Bridges. Their relationship lasted over thirty years until Bridges' death on June 6, 1993.
He and his co-star Noel Neill provided commentary on several Superman episodes for the January 2006 DVD release of the 1953 season.
Also in 2006, he appears in Bryan Singer's film Superman Returns in a cameo role as "Bo the Bartender"; it was rumored prior to the film's release that his role would actually be Suicide Slum resident and Superman fan, Bibbo Bibbowski, a supporting character from the modern Superman comics. In one of Larson's Superman Returns scenes, where characters celebrate Superman's rescue of a plane, his character is shown hugging the film's incarnation of Jimmy Olsen (played by Sam Huntington).
