How journalist’s daughter Noel Neill became Superman’s Lois Lane
NOEL Neill became an inspiration to generations of women as the strong-willed, inquisitive journalist and love interest for Superman.
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SHE inspired generations of women to become journalists. Always immaculately attired in her no-nonsense suits, Noel Neill, playing Superman’s romantic interest Lois Lane, was for many the image of a reporter. She was a perfect blend of hard-nosed, inquisitive newswoman with a cheerful, bright and witty persona that endeared her to fans of the series.
Neill, who died on July 3, was the daughter of a journalist and had played a journalist in films before becoming the Daily Planet gun reporter. When the series ended she mostly gave up acting but re-emerged in later years for Superman cameo appearances.
Neill was born on November 25, 1920. Her father, David Neill, worked for the Minneapolis Star-Journal newspaper and wanted her to follow in his footsteps. Although she would briefly write for Women’s Wear Daily, her dancer mother, LaVere, would exert a greater influence over her choice of career.
After finishing high school in 1938 Neill and her mother took a trip to California where a relative, upon hearing Noel was a singer, organised an audition for her at a restaurant at Hotel Del Mar at the Del Mar racecourse. She got the job and met some influential contacts, including Bing Crosby, who introduced her to an agent who got her work at Paramount.
She made her screen debut in the 1940 film Mad Youth as an uncredited, unnamed teenager. At the same time she also posed for studio pin-up posters during World War II.
In 1945 she was cast by director Sam Katzman in what would become a recurring role playing teenage reporter Betty Rogers in the Teen Agers series of films. When Katzman became director of the film serial Superman he wanted Neill for the role of reporter Lois Lane.
She eagerly accepted the role but was not too fond of her Superman, Kirk Alyn, who she thought was a “little conceited”. The film serial hit the screens in 1948 and she was asked to play Lois again in the follow-up series, Atom Man Vs Superman, in 1950.
But when producers were making a pilot for a TV series Alyn declined the lead role and George Reeves donned the tights instead. Neill was overlooked in favour of Phyllis Coates, best known for the series of Joe McDoakes comedies.
Coates left after one season while the series was in limbo looking for a major sponsor but had already signed on for other projects when production resumed, so they called Neill in to pick up where she left off.
She immediately breathed more life into the character, having more on-screen chemistry with Reeves than Coates did.
While there was definitely some flirting going on, the romance between Superman and Lane was not a major part of this series, although there was one episode where Lane dreamt of marrying Superman.
The series was cancelled in 1958 but after some lobbying from Reeves, who found he couldn’t get decent roles other than Superman, Neill and other cast members were set to continue for a new Superman series that would air from 1960. However, Reeves was found dead of an apparent suicide.
Rather than try to escape typecasting, Neill gave up acting and instead took to the university talk circuit in the ’70s, talking about her time as Lois.
When Superman became a major motion picture in 1978, directed by Richard Donner starring Christopher Reeve as the caped Kryptonian, Neill was asked to do a cameo playing the mother of a young Lois Lane on a train watching Clark Kent running beside it. She also appeared in Superman Returns, playing the wife of Lex Luthor.
When the city of Metropolis, in Illinois, immortalised the character Lois Lane in bronze they based the statue on Neill, who was there for the unveiling in 2010. She was married twice but had no children
LOIS LANE BY ANOTHER NAME
● JOAN ALEXANDER: The voice of Lois on radio, first animated Superman short films and the 1960s animated series
● PHYLLIS COATES: First season of TV series The Adventures Of Superman in 1952
● MARGOT KIDDER: The 1978 film Superman and its sequels
● TERI HATCHER: Lois And Clark, TV series (1993-97)
● KATE BOSWORTH: Film, Superman Returns 2006
● ERICA DURANCE: TV series, Smallville (2004-11)
● AMY ADAMS: Film, Batman v Superman 2016
Originally published as How journalist’s daughter Noel Neill became Superman’s Lois Lane
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