Noel Neill Signed Original Lois Lane Superman Tv Show Autographed 8X10 Photo

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In late 1947, the same Sam Katzman that had produced the "Teenager" series, was also working on a serial for Columbia entitled Superman. Neill's agent told her about the serial, starring Kirk Alyn and she recalled that she had never read the comics and had to ask her agent, "What is Superman?" At the time, Noel Neill could not have imagined that getting the part of Lois Lane would have the impact on her life that it would. Without a doubt, it was the largest and most significant role she had up until that time, yet she admitted that she saw it as nothing more than "a month's work". Perhaps because Katzman knew her, Noel Neill got the role of Lois Lane after a very quick audition, and in a very roundabout way, Noel's father finally got his wish that she become a reporter.Kirk Alyn recalled that, "When Noel Neill and I worked together on the Superman serials, she must have had an awful lot of faith in me. I carried this girl so many times through fire, through smoke, through all kinds of danger - and she'd dangle under one arm while I did these things. But she didn't mind, she didn't wince, she didn't even say a word. She just believed that I was Superman - and so I was."Noel Neill's schedule remained full as she was loaned to Republic for two serials first playing Judy Powell in The Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (1948), which also starred Clayton Moore who would later become the Lone Ranger. She then appeared as Peg Royer in another western serial, The James Brothers of Missouri (1950). Neill would say in an interview that, "In the old days, you could get a job. It was, 'well, maybe we need a brunette or a blonde for the part'---it was simple. If you had a break in shooting, you could always do a couple of days in a western." Between these films, Noel Neil also appeared as Jane Marshall in the last Charlie Chan film, The Sky Dragon (1949).Following the success of Superman, National decided to produce a second serial in 1949. They wanted every actor to return, and Columbia arranged to have Noel Neill on loan to reprise her role as Lois Lane. Superman and the Atom Man appeared in theaters in 1950.The success of the two Superman serials made National decide to expand the character with the hopes of entering the fledgling area of television. For whatever reason, when National made the decision to make a new Superman movie, Superman and the Mole Men, and then proceed on with the Adventures of Superman television show, they omitted Noel Neill. It is not clear who made this decision. Perhaps, since Kirk Alyn had rejected the role of Superman, the producers opted for an entirely new cast of actors since not one of the stars of the Superman serials returned for the television show.Noel Neill found out about the television show in 1952, and must have felt slighted. Still, she had remained busy appearing in several movies including Abilene Trail (1951), the American student in the classic American in Paris (1951), and appeared as an airline ticket agent in Invasion USA (1952), which also featured Phyllis Coates, the "other" Lois Lane. During those years Neill was also appearing on television in The Cisco Kid ("Chain Lightning" (episode #1.7; aired 10/14/1950) and with Clayton Moore in The Lone Ranger (played Molly Niles in "Letter of the Law" (episode #2.17; aired 1/4/1951).But fate has a funny way of coming full circle. When Phyllis Coates decided not to return for the second season of The Adventures of Superman, producer Whitney Ellsworth quickly called Noel Neill and she was given the role with no audition. read more

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