Richmond Illustration Inc.
Men of Steel- David Wilson!
July 3rd, 2015 | Posted in General
Superman number three from my upcoming “Men of Steel” limited edition print: David Wilson.
This is the one most people will react to with a “who?”, but Wilson’s Superman fits my criteria of inclusion: portrayed a live-action Superman proper on television or film. This was from a 1975 ABC special that was a shortened, edited version of the 1966 Broadway musical “It’s a Bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman”. Bob Holiday was most famous for portraying Superman in the original Broadway show (which ran for 129 performances), but as that was not ever officially on TV or film, that doesn’t fit my criteria.
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1 Question: In the movie Hollywoodland, Ben Affleck performed George Reeves performing Superman at a parade or festival. Would that fit in for a Superman portait ?? (I guess it would fit in for a George Reeves portrait). Can´t wait to see all those supermen your doing. Salutes
No. Affleck didn’t play Superman. He played George Reeves.
Nice job
Cant wait to see the complete print…:)
I’m a Superman geek so I recognized him right away. Great job!
And this TV version is rightly reviled. I recall seeing Jenette Kahn a few weeks into her top job at DC, at the Chicago Comicon vowing “Never again” after getting a question about this ABC late night TV special.
Oh, but I still recall seeing the original star, Bob Holiday, doing the show in 1967 at the St. Louis Muny Opera. Still have the program book! Several memories of the show stay with me. My grandpa’ chuckled every time Bob took flight. There was a black and white film projected on a phony giant TV screen that had Bob explaining Supes origin. At the start of the second act, the stage was filled with a giant Sunday comics page with different characters in every panel, each singing a different tune. And in the final scene, the show’s villain Dr. Sedgwick (played by Charles Nelson Reilly!) tries to escape via helicopter. And since the Muny’s an outdoor theatre, they had a real copter hover over the stage! My nine year-old mind was blown!
Picked up a used CD of the original Broadway cast recording a few years ago. Some of the songs are pretty good (well it is from the same team that gave us “Bye Bye Birdie”!).