Actor

Born: February 8, 1928;

Died: September 20, 2015.

Jack Larson, who has died aged 87, was 23 but looked younger when he landed the part of Jimmy Olsen, "cub reporter" on the Daily Planet. His role in the Adventures of Superman television series was to get into various scrapes and be rescued by Superman, over and over again.

Between 1952 and 1958 Larson appeared in more than 100 episodes and such was his popularity that the dinky little bow-tie he wore ended up in the Smithsonian museum in Washington, along with Judy Garland's ruby slippers.

But Larson became so closely associated with the character that he found it virtually impossible to get any other parts. "It absolutely wrecked my acting career," he said. "They didn't want Jimmy Olsen walking through their films."

At least he had the determination to pursue other opportunities as a playwright and film producer, and ultimately he reconciled himself to his association with Superman, unlike his co-star George Reeves, who shot himself soon after the series ended.

Of Swedish and Russian descent, Jack Edward Larson was born in Los Angeles in 1928, though he would later claim to be several years younger. His father drove a milk truck and his parents split up when he was young.

Ironically his first choice of career was as a journalist, but his interest in English led him to writing, directing and acting in plays at college, which in turn led to his film debut as a young air force officer in Fighter Squadron (1948) and to other films before he landed the role of Jimmy Olsen.

After Superman, his acting career was not so much patchy as non-existent. But he had some success as a playwright. He retold the story of Hansel and Gretel in verse in The Candied House (1966) and wrote the libretto for Virgil Thomson's 1972 opera about Lord Byron.

Larson had a relationship with actor Montgomery Clift and subsequently a long-term relationship with film director James Bridges. They met when they both had roles in the 1957 Ethel Barrymore drama Johnny Trouble.

Seemingly the media of the time showed no interest in his private life or his sexuality. "It was obvious to anyone that since we lived together we were partners," he told the Los Angeles Times in 2011. "The question never came up."

They also worked together, with Bridges as director and writer and Larson as producer. Their films together include Perfect (1985), with John Travolta, and Bright Lights, Big City (1988), with Michael J Fox. Bridges died of cancer in 1993.

Larson made guest appearances in the television series Superboy (1991) and Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1996), as Jimmy as an old man, and in the feature film Superman Returns (2006). He had no immediate family.

BRIAN PENDREIGH