Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman Page #5

well, ail I can say is, if it weren't

for Superman, I wouldn't be here.

And it was like breaking

the fourth wall. We know.

Nobody else knows, just us.

And when I tell you to look, you Look.

You're going to see

your favorite television star.

Look, Superman.

But Lois Lane wasn't the only redhead

in Superman's life.

In 1957, George Reeves

guest-starred...

...on America's number one

prime-time show, I Love Lucy.

well, Superman, that was

a wonderful thing you did.

Oh, Ricky, it was my pleasure.

I'm only sorry I didn't get to meet Lucy.

-I've heard so much about her.

-Yeah, well I don't know.

Where is Lucy, Ethel?

Oh, she? I be here in a minute.

She's out on the edge.

-Out on the edge!

-Out on the edge!

By the end of the 1950s,

Reeves was desperate to move on...

,,,from the role that had made him

a household name.

Of ail the crazy things that you've done

in the 15 years that we've been married.

Ricardo, you mean to say that

you've been married to her for 15 years.

Yeah, 15 years.

And they call me Superman.

George was typed-playing Superman

and he could get another job...

. . .except on I Love Lucy

playing Superman.

And it was awful for him.

Reeves was also frustrated

by Superman's...

...unorthodox production schedule...

... which had the actors waiting months

or even a year between episodes.

But in May of 1959,

the actors seemed upbeat...

... when told that cast and crew

would be reunited...

... to film a seventh season.

George was happy as a bug

and looking forward to working.

''No'' he said,

''I'm going to try directing. . .

... because I'm getting a little old

to be running around in my underwear. ''

well, three days later,

this girl called and said:

''Did you hear

what happened to George?''

On the morning

of June 16, 1959...

...a nation awoke

to read a shocking headline.

Superman had killed himself.

I was in Europe at the time. . .

. . .and there were headlines

from all over the world.

people sent me all this stuff

saying George had committed suicide.

I believed it.

I still believe it.

I said, ''Oh, no, no, no. ''

And I called Mr. Ellsworth immediately.

And he said, ''well, he's dead. ''

The headline said,

''Superman kills self. ''

How? Why? You know,

we've seen him in so many episodes.

The bullets bounce off him.

At that age, you're trying

to figure out, you know, death. . .

. . .what does it mean?

I didn't know anybody who died.

It was just wrenching beyond belief.

The story I'd heard

was that he was murdered.

Shot or something.

And then the story changed.

And I'd heard that he tried to fly one day

and flew out the window and then died.

On the day he died,

Reeves had been drinking heavily.

But according to reports,

no fingerprints...

...not even his own,

were found on the gun.

Throughout the decades

that followed...

... the circumstances

of the 45-year-old actor's death...

,,,have remained one of Hollywood's

most morbid mysteries.

Nevertheless, one detail was certain.

For millions of fans,

Superman was dead.

With the death of George Reeves,

the fate of the entire Superman empire...

...seemed at risk

for the first time in its history.

A new series focusing

on Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen...

... was considered, but abandoned.

producer Whitney Ellsworth

also tried to create a kid-friendly...

...and actor-safe spin-off in the form of

The Adventures of Super Pup.

Faster than the speediest jet.

More powerful

than the mightiest rocket.

Abide to fey around the world faster

than you can say ''Super Pup. ''

And only you and I know

that Super Pup is really Bark Bent. . .

. . .star reporter for the Daily Bugle.

Filmed on the sets

of the George Reeves series...

... this strange premise

featured the Superman characters...

,,,as dogs and other animals

played by little people wearing masks.

I just wanted to tell you what a fine

job I think you and Pamela did. . .

...in helping the police

put professor Sheep-dip in jail.

We could never have done it

without the help of Super Pup.

Oh, it was nothing.

Why are you taking the bow. . .

-. . .if you think you're no Super Pup?

-Me?

well, anyway, it'll be a long time before

professor Sheep-dip gets out of jail.

Not surprisingly, the concept

never got beyond this rarely-seen pilot...

... which was never broadcast.

-Take one.

-Hello there.

A Superboy pilot starring John Rockwell

as the teenage Clark Kent...

... was also attempted

but never found a sponsor.

B1 take two.

You know, it's a funny thing.

Whenever you're around,

Clark seems to, well, vanish.

What's funny about that?

I guess he's got problems of his own.

And I don't suppose

it's remotely possible. . .

. . .that there could be any close

connection between you and Mr. Kent.

Look, Lana, if you want to persist

in some ridiculous idea. . .

. . .that I'm Clark Kent,

well, that's your business.

Now, I don't have time to discuss it.

Now will you or won't you

do as I ask?

Of course I will, Superboy.

Fortunately for DC Comics,

the death of George Reeves,,,

...had little impact

on Superman's comic-book sales...

...partly because the comics were

different from the television show.

Thank God for the comic books.

I kept reading them.

I still had Superman.

I just didn't have this flesh-and-blood

guy I could look up to anymore.

Throughout the 1950s,

DC editor Mort Weisinger and his staff,,,

,,,began creating a vast mythology

for the Man of Steel.

By 1958, there were seven

different Superman titles,,,

...collectively selling

nearly four million copies a month.

Mort Weisinger really built

the breadth of the mythology.

He was the one who wanted us to know

stories about Superman's robot. . .

. . .stories about the return to Krypton. . .

. . .so you would learn

Superman's ancestors.

Readers learned of Kryptonian villains

released from the Phantom Zone.

The Kryptonian city of Candor,

shrunken by the alien Brainiac.

And the cube-shaped planet

of the Bizarros.

There was Beppo, the Super-Monkey.

Comet, the Super-Horse,

Krypto, the Super-Dog.

It seemed like every month or so. . .

. . .there were just new concepts

being introduced.

Green Kryptonite.

Red Kryptonite.

Blue, White, Jewel Kryptonite.

There was Superman's mermaid

ex-girlfriend...

...and even a teenage cousin,

Supergirl.

''Great guns, it's a flying girl.

It must be an illusion. ''

''No, Superman, it's me,

and I have all your powers. ''

Action Comics #252.

In the comics, Superman

was now so all-powerful...

...so invincible that writers struggled

to create stories for him.

I mean, at one point, he blew out a star

like you blow out a candle.

well, if a guy can do that. . .

. . .how are you going to get conflict

into the story, exactly?

One solution was to make

Superman's conflicts...

...less physical

and more emotional.

can you get married?

can you have children?

can you have any kind of normal Life?

It just breaks my heart to think

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