Rant #1,706: All-American Passing

How was your Fourth of July?

Mine was good, a bit of relaxation after a couple of busy weeks and months.

We swam in the backyard pool, we barbecued, we had fun while celebrating our country's birthday.

And for me, I went to sleep pretty early, maybe by 8:30 p.m. yesterday night, so I missed all the fireworks.

I was pooped.

But during the day, I heard some bittersweet news. An icon of the Baby Boomers had passed.

If you don't know who Noel Neill was, well, it is time to find out, and you can do it here.

Neill was the first on-screen Lois Lane, playing the role in the serials opposite Kirk Allyn as Superman, and continuing the role in the beloved television series of the same name. She was 95 and died of natural causes.

Ironically, Neill originally set out to be a journalist, pretty much following in the same footsteps as her father. She even wrote for Women's Wear Daily early on in her career, but Hollywood beckoned for her.

She was a singer, and was discovered by Bing and Bob Crosby, signing with Paramount. With her voice, good looks and fantastic figure, she was a natural for the movies, and way before Superman came into view, she played in dozens of Westerns.

She is also the answer to a trivia question: after Betty Grable, whose cheesecake poster was the most popular for G.I.s during World War II? Yes, it was Neill, whose figure graced millions of pinups during the period.

Then, in the late 1940s, she was signed by play Lois Lane in the serials, and her legacy was cemented.

However, she did not play Lois Lane when that role was cast for the TV series. That role went to another talented and beautiful actress, Phyllis Coates.

However, fate won out here too.

Coates was cast in another series, and this left a void in the show. Hollywood legend has it that the producers didn't know who to cast for the role, but then, remembered Neill from her work in the serial.

They could not remember her name, and legend has it that one of the producers blurted out, "Get me that actress with the big t___!"

The rest is history.

Neill became the quintessential Lois Lane, hard as nails on the inside, but soft on the outside. She was always in competition with Clark Kent for the hot story, and along with her sidekick, Jimmy Olsen, she more often than not beat out Kent for that story.

She also had the hots for Superman, and the chemistry between her, George Reeves as Superman, Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen, and John Hamilton as Perry White was extraordinary.

Neill played that role for several seasons, and then went into relative obscurity.

She and Larson ended up portraying their most famous characters several times in later years, and also made appearances in the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve.

She spent pretty much the rest of her life lecturing on college campuses, appearing at nostalgia shows, and for better or worse, living the life of an icon to Baby Boomers and succeeding generations, as the "Adventures of Superman" has been on the air almost continuously for the past 60 years. It is currently on MeTV.

Neill married a few times, and had no children, and she had no immediate survivors.

But she left a legacy that will endure the ages. Neill was the prototypical Lois Lane, and all the actresses that followed her used her portrayal as a template for their own portrayals.

Goodbye, Noel, you enriched us all by your presence, and like George Reeves with Superman, when talking about Lois Lane, she WAS that character.

Others can portray Lane, but Neill WAS, and will forever be, Lois Lane.