Jack Edward Larson was born on February 8th, 1928. He is a well established American actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer; he is best remembered for his performance as Jimmy Olsen on the '50s TV show Adventures of Superman. He was born in Pasadena, California and graduated Montebello High School University in Montebello. Jack Larson had a long-lasting relationship with James Bridges, an American director whom he met circa 1960. Quite the eccentric person, Larson sometimes claims he is five years younger than he really is, and doesn't want to share his exact birth time so astrologers can't create an astrological reading of him.
His parents were of Swedish and Russian descent. His interest in acting started in High School junior productions. He says he had poor grades at High School, which he didn't attend too much as he played bowling during the lessons. He got in a play called The Great Man when he was eighteen years old; Jack was very well acclaimed by the critics at first, and he was contacted by FOX, but Broadway remained a far dream of his.
Jack Larson was one of the pioneers of live television, and first appeared at a TV series at Adventures of Superman, where he starred Jimmy Olsen while George Reeves, who later shot himself, acted superman. Larson remembers that he was later panicked that everyone only knew him as Jimmy Olsen, and he soon discovered that the role has indeed dragged along him, and quit his acting career after the show stopped in 1958. After he quit acting in 1961, he went to writing and producing.
He remembers that he has declined a few roles, for example, a role as the owner of a chimp for a to-be NBC show. However, most of the time, he was labeled "Jimmy Olsen", and he couldn't really get an act together. He once came back to television in 1993 on the TV show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, where he (once again) starred Jimmy Olsen, albeit aged rapidly because of an unfortunate event. He seldom commits interviews, and is very secretive about his private life, partially because of negative past experiences, and partially because of his affiliations with different famous people.
Jack is quite the lovable person, and a charming man, as everyone can see in his interview to the American television archive. He is one of the few people alive that knows numerous prominent actors and artists of the 20th century, such as Leslie Caron, Montgomery Clift, Christopher Isherwood, James Dean, and others. Although his career was full with weird twists and unfortunate events, he is worth to be noted in the history of American television.
His greatest credit to the American television wasn't, of course, the role of Jimmy Olsen. His co-productions with James Bridges, albeit not that popular, were his contributions to American television and film industry. Furthermore, the inspiring story of his life is truly breath taking, and tragically funny: he recalls numerous times when he was severely disappointed in the media world.
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