Relatives were rare on TAOS. Both of Clark Kent's set of parents were dead and there were no siblings. Unlike her comic book counterpart, Lois Lane had no sisters or brothers and seemed to have been raised by a Miss Taisey in a place called Clifton by the Sea that would figure in the first year adventure The Deserted Village. Jimmy Olsen had a mother who he lived with but no brothers or sisters that we know of while Inspector Henderson had a son named Ray (The Talking Clue). It was Daily Planet Editor Perry White who seemed to have the most family, a globe-trotting sister named Kate (Drums of Death) and a nephew named Chris who showed up in the second season adventure Jet Ace.

Chris White had first been introduced on the Superman radio series. It is unclear due to insufficient data on certain lost episodes if he appeared more than once on the airwaves. On TV, however, it was just a single occasion. It was also one of the show's more interesting casting selections. Even as a kid, seeing the episode for the first time, I recall finding it odd if not a bit jarring that the actor picked to play the youthful test pilot was Lane Bradford. I was not familiar with his name at this juncture but I certainly knew his face, one trademarked with a broken nose, lantern jaw and receding hairline. Anyone who watched TV, even infrequently, did.

In looking over Bradford's professional resume one finds an absolutely staggering amount of film and television appearances with the vast majority of them being in westerns. Examining this list of credits it is hard to believe that the actor ever had a day off during the so-called Golden Age of Television.

His TV work includes Wild Bill Hickok, Craig Kennedy, Sky King, Cowboy G-Men, Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Stories of the Century, Rocky Jones, Lineup, Father Knows Best, Gene Autry, Adventures of Champion, Judge Roy Bean, The Cisco Kid, Buffalo Bill Jr., State Trooper, Adventures of Jim Bowie, Annie Oakley, Rin Tin Tin, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, Adventures of Charlie Chan, Sugarfoot, Richard Diamond, Zorro, The Grey Ghost, The Lone Ranger, Broken Arrow, Jefferson Drum, Yancy Derringer, Mike Hammer, Rough Riders, Bronco, Have Gun Will Travel, The Restless Gun, 26 Men, Colt .45, Bourbon Street Beat, Dick Powell, The Plainsman, Black Saddle, Bat Masterson, The Texan, Johnny Ringo, Tate, Lawman, Rifleman, Wyatt Earp, Tall Man, Maverick, Klondike, Sea Hunt, Wells Fargo, Thriller, Rawhide, The Untouchables, Cheyenne, Laramie, Ripcord, Ben Casey, The Fugitive, My Favorite Martian, Wagon Train, Perry Mason, Branded, Daniel Boone, Girl From U.N.C.L.E., Lost in Space, Bat Masterson, Larado, Lassie, The Virginian, Dragnet, It Takes A Thief, High Chaparel, Bonanza, Gunsmoke,, Cannon and Marcus Welby. His favorite role was that of the famed California Indian Chief Sequoia on an episode of Death Valley Days.

He was born Myrtland La Varre Jr. in New York in 1922. His father was the actor John Merton, himself a veteran of hundreds of B movies, many of them westerns, action films and serials including a performance on the Adventures of Superman (Man in the Lead Mask).

Lane began his career in the film industry working as an extra earning $7.50 a day. This in time led to a stint as a stuntman specializing in work with horses. Not long afterwards his acting career kicked in, most of his early roles being uncredited, but his resume continued to grow, mostly in B westerns and more often than not as a villain making things bad for some of the most popular western heroes of the period including Tim McCoy (Frontier Crusader), Charles Starrett (Riders of the Badlands), Wild Bill Elliot (North From Lone Star), Bob Steele (Thundering Trails), Bob Livingston (Death Riders of the Plains), Buster Crabbe (Terror On Horseback) Johnnie Mack Brown (Shadow On The Range) and Alan Lane (Bandit King of Texas). He occasionally found himself in non-genre roles in such films as Hangmen Also Die, The Immortal Sergeant and Ten Men From West Point but these were rare and it was on a saddle and clutching a six shooter that was responsible for most of his bread and butter. He also showed up in a number of cliffhangers including Jack Armstrong, The Vigilante, The Adventures of Frank and Jesse James and, in his most offbeat role, as the lead Martian in Zombies of the Stratosphere.

In addition to playing Chris White in Jet Ace where he tangles with spies and thanks to Superman's help comes out on top, he was also featured in two other episodes of the series, The Phantom Ring where he was one member of a gang of criminals capable of turning themselves invisible and in Test of A Warrior in the role of an unidentified Indian disguised as a bear out to harm Jimmy.

Despite his looks and villainous resume Lane Bradford is reported to have been one of the nicest guys in the business. This writer has been told by film historian and makeup artist Michael Blake that his father Larry Blake, who played opposite the actor in Jet Ace, found him to be extremely friendly and impressive to work with.

Next to acting, Lane's great love was sailing. After retiring from the screen he moved to Hawaii where on June 7, 1973 he died aboard his boat. He was only fifty-one years old.

Bruce - December 07, 2009

Frank Richards looked like he'd had about a hundred bar fights and lost 99% of them. For the many bad guys he played both on the big and small screens, however, his puffy and misshapen mug, accompanied by a rough, muffled, sometimes barely inarticulate style of speech, served him well. Frank never won a beauty contest, but he did win a lot of roles. Born in New York City in 1909 his early acting work was on the stage but he soon gravitated towards Hollywood.

Frank appeared three times on the Adventures of Superman but his most famous moment was not in any of the original scripts, not exactly anyway. In the first season's A Night of Terror, as a sadistic hoodlum named Solley who is trying to prevent Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates) from leaving a crime scene, he not only fends off a purse unleashed in his direction by the spunky and resilient reporter but fires back with a most ungentlemanly punch of his own. Problem was actress Coates somehow got off her mark and went down faster than a shot of tequila in a biker bar. For Coates this was the most memorable moment on the show at least the one she recalls most vividly. Being the pro she is she has always taken full responsibility for the screw-up. More than fifty years later she still recalls with laughter how they revived her and began shooting again as soon as possible so her jaw wouldn't swell up in front of the cameras. Frank was reportedly horrified about the incident. But that's show biz.

Frank's other appearances in TAOS weren't quite as memorable, either on camera or behind the scenes, but he was always interesting to watch. In the second season's Shot In The Dark he's one of criminal mastermind John Eldredge's two henchmen who almost succeed in crashing a subway train. Similarly in Tin Hero, he is part of Big Jack's (Jack Lomas) mob.

Frank had a long run in films, nearly thirty five years. His tough and beleaguered features lent themselves to villainous roles but also played his share of blue collar everyman types. His entry was Before I Hang in 1940. The years following this were filled with all manner of walk-ons, uncredited parts, bits and occasionally a meatier character role. Some of these films include The Corsican Brothers, Reap The Wild Wind, Alias Boston Blackie, The House on 92nd Street, The Setup, Tough Assignment, The Threat, Carbine Williams, Across the Wide Missouri, A Double Life, Appointment Murder, Destry, Father of the Bride, The Atomic Kid, I, The Jury, Guys and Dolls, Teacher's Pet, From the Terrace, and finally, his last film, A Woman under The Influence in 1974.

He also kept busy in TV managing to appear in all the major shows of the era, again usually as a bad guy. Just a few of these include Racket Squad, Sky King, Ramar of the Jungle, The Lone Ranger, Stories of the Century, Death Valley Days, Medic, Jungle Jim, Annie Oakley, M Squad, The Restless Gun, 26 Men, Ozzie and Harriet and The Twilight Zone.

Tough, menacing, always watchable Frank Richards died in 1992.

October 26, 2009 - Bruce

Sometimes "over-acting" gets a bad rap. While excessive chewing of the scenery by a particular actor can often destroy the effectiveness of a scene if not on occasion an entire production, certain practitioners of over-the-top theatrics and excessively ripe deliveries have not only done quite well for themselves but have been very popular with the public. The trick is to know how far is far enough.

Vincent Price was a master at this. His histrionics in his later horror films, particularly the Edgar Allen Poe adaptations produced by Roger Corman, were not only tolerated but embraced with great affection by fans. John Carradine and Basil Rathbone could also be capable of pushing the envelope when the right moment called for it, and on the distaff side of things, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis were not exactly shrinking violets in the scene-stealing departments. A great favorite of mine was Richard Boone who must have kept a tweezers with him to remove the shards of wood that stuck in his gums after some of his performances. But I loved the guy.

Maurice Cass, who would appear on two episodes of The Adventures of Superman, was of this school and makes the most of his appearances. In The Mystery of the Broken Statues, from the first season, his role is a small one, simply the proprietor of a curio shop who watches with devilish satisfaction and delight as some cheap figurines he is only too happy to part with are smashed right in front of him by a couple of suspicious customers. This role, however, was just a warm-up for his most memorable contribution to TAOS, namely that of Meldini, the rogue scientist genius and cohort of gangster Happy King (Peter Mamakos) from the second season's The Defeat of Superman. It is Meldini who puts a very dangerous two and two together and comes up with the theory that an element from Superman's home planet Krypton (don't ask how anyone, Superman included, knows where he originally came from) might prove to be dangerous to the Man of Steel. When this is confirmed, King and Meldini hatch a scheme to lure Superman to his death using Lois and Jimmy as bait and a brick of Kryptonite to destroy him.

If anything, Cass's gleeful, maniacal, scene-stealing performance as Meldini eclipses in enthusiasm his earlier stint as the antique dealer. He is obviously relishing this juicy part and director Tommy Carr doesn't just let him run with it, he allows him to go at a full gallop. His scenes with Mamakos are particularly wonderful as he goads and teases his less intelligent boss. Cass was nearing the end of his life when he did his turn as Meldini. It was, in fact, one of his last performances before passing away from a heart attack on June 8, 1954. Because of his advanced age he didn't have a chance to do much TV work although there were a few credits such as The Mickey Rooney Show and Fireside Theatre. He received the most attention on the small screen from his nine appearances on the series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger where he played Professor Newton, the wise old scientist quite adept at spouting scientific goblilgook that sounded most impressive to the kids watching the show. Cass died in harness, making Rocky when he died.
The diminutive actor was born October 12, 1884 in Lithuania.

Coming to America he decided on an acting career and worked on the stage for years before entering films in 1932. Because of his small stature, bird-like features and the pince-nez he never seemed without he was often cast as educated and brainy characters who a writer once described as projecting a "slightly absent-minded aloofness."

Cass made over 120 films in which he was often not credited. Some of these include The Skull Murder Mystery, The Man Who Broke The Bank Of Monte Carlo, Pigskin Parade, Charlie Chan At The Opera, Woman of Glamour, Thin Ice, The Lady Escapes, Gangs of New York, The Lone Wolf In Paris, The Great Man Votes, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Blood And Sand, Blondie Goes To College, Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen and Cat Man of Paris.

His wonderful turn as Meldini will never be forgotten by Superman fans. "Check and double check, Mr. King!!"

August 26, 2009 - Bruce

Billy Nelson always seemed to be losing the battle against gravity. His face, weathered and worn like an old catcher's mitt, sagged and drooped sorrowfully, and on TAOS his baggy suits never seemed to fit quite right. Billy didn't just have bags under his weary eyes, he had foot lockers. His expression seemed to proclaim, without the need for words, that he had seen it all and really wasn't too interested in seeing much more.

Billy honed a total of five appearances on the series, showing up in each season save the first. He was also cast in the special Stamp Day for Superman show. You can find him as Louie in The Dog Who Knew Superman, as Larry McCoy in The Machine That Could Plot Crimes, as Blinky in the aforementioned Stamp Day, as Sully in Joey, as Knuckles Nelson in The Big Forget and, given his rather unremarkable physique, as the oddly named "Muscles McGirk" in The Talking Clue. In all honesty, his roles were pretty much the same, nearly interchangeable in fact. He was usually cast as the taciturn, thoughtless henchman and petty crook but on occasion was promoted to lead bad guy. Still, he never seemed to have a truly mean streak despite his criminal credentials and always looked tired, more suited for an easy chair than an electric one. It was hard to dislike him.

Billy Nelson was born in New York City in 1903 although very little is known about his formative years.

He entered films in the early thirties working in short comedies at the Hal Roach Studios. In many of his initial assignments he was featured opposite a largely forgotten British comedian named Douglas Wakefield. From there he began to appear in feature length films, his first part being in the movie Crook's Tour in 1933. He worked fairly steadily after that although most of his parts were small and often uncredited. Some of these include: Dillinger, Waterfront, Salute to the Marines, Anchors Away, The Whip Hand, The Pride of St. Louis, Somebody Up There Likes Me, Seven Little Foys, The Kid From Brooklyn, Under Cover Man, His Kind of Woman, 12 Angry Men, Mr. Scoutmaster, Cowboy In Manhattan and Ten Cents a Dance.

He was also extremely active in early television with appearances on Lassie, Death Valley Days, Boston Blackie, Wild Bill Hickok, Dragnet, Lineup, Bat Masterson, Tombstone Territory, M squad, Death Valley Days, Highway Patrol and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

He began to work less and less as the 1950s came to a close.

Billy Nelson passed away in 1973, finally getting that long rest he always appeared to be seeking.

June 10, 2009 - Bruce

Squat and beefy actor Richard Benedict (born Riccardo Benedetto, January 20, 1920), who logged up three appearances in the Adventures of Superman, had a smile as crooked as the characters of some of the less than stellar characters he occasionally played throughout his long career. When he was a villain there was something rather unsettlingly gleeful about his bad guys. They weren't just bad, they enjoyed being bad and took enormous pride and satisfaction in the fact. And yet there was also a likable trait to Benedict that also made him believable when found himself on the opposite side of the street playing the good guy.

The nasty side of the actor is best personified in Benedict's first outing on the show as Baby Face Stevens in the first season's gritty and tough Night of Terror. Stevens is a hired gun, a contract killer paid by an unseen crime boss to show up at the Restwell Tourist Camp and kill anyone there who might be available to implicate his employer in certain illegal dealings, including visitors Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson (Phyllis Coates and Jack Larson). He is known for only using the exact number of bullets required for his intended victims and obviously relishes both his infamous reputation and skill. This is no clownish, hard-to-take-seriously buffoonish villain of the later shows, but a real nasty customer not to be taken lightly. and Benedict shines in the part, almost uncomfortably so. Good thing Superman appears just in time to re-arrange his mug and that lopsided lip.

He also appears on the wrong side of the law in the second season's very popular episode Semi-Private Eye playing Cappy Leonard, part of a team of kidnappers who try to kill Lois and Jimmy with poison gas but are foiled by Superman.

His third and final appearance on the show was in the offbeat fifth season entry Close Shave where he played Tony, the hypnotist barber who makes it his life's business to reform certain misguided customers. The show lacks punch but Benedict is good in the part.

The Italian-born Benedict (whose nickname was Peppy) started his career in the mid-1940s, just as WWII was grinding to a victorious halt for the Allies. Many of his early roles were small and uncredited but he kept working. He was good in war and service-related films where he often played glib, wisecracking urban sorts. Even when he was cast as a good guy there was something slightly shifty and suspect about him and he shined in street smart roles. Some of these early credits include Winged Victory, A Walk In The Sun, O.S.S., Somewhere in The Night, Till The End of Time, Crossfire, City Across the River, Race Street, Streets of San Francisco, The Window, Destination Big House, State Penitentiary, Ace In The Hole, Hoodlum Empire and Murder Without Tears. He was also featured in the cult sci-fi film It: The Terror From Beyond Space which not only was the forerunner of the "Alien" movies but which co-starred TAOS alumni Ann Doran and Dabbs Greer.

Benedict's everyman look made the transition to television effortless with appearances
in most of the shows of the period, particularly the dramatic ones. A selection of these would include Waterfront, G.E. Theatre, The Whistler, Navy Log, Circus Boy, M Squad, Wyatt Earp, The Adventures of Jim Bowie, The Lone Ranger, Perry Mason, Laramie, Dragnet, Surfside Six, Highway Patrol, The Lone Wolf, The Untouchables, Peter Gunn, Hawaiian Eye, The Roaring Twenties, Mike Hammer and Schlitz Playhouse.

During the late 1950s, however, while he was guest-starring in the above shows, he also began the transition to director, eventually totally retiring from acting in favor of behind the camera duties and helmed a large number of series' including Bronco, Surfside Six, The Fugitive, I Spy, The Man From Uncle, The High Chaperrel, Mission Impossible, The Bold Ones, Get Smart, Marcus Welby, Mannix, Police Woman and Quincy. He also scripted an episode of The Virginian in 1965.

Richard Benedict, a familiar and talented figure both in front and behind the camera, passed away in April 1984 in Studio City. Actor Nick and producer Sam are his sons.

April 11, 2009 - Bruce

Thanks for Watching.

Lou