Grosman Overlooked This One

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Grosman somehow failed to notice Veola Vonn when he was complaining about bosoms on THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN.

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"Superman marries Lois Lane"

One of the reasons I prefer Superman to Captain Marvel was that he actually had a girlfriend, Lois Lane. There was no comparable character in Captain Marvel stories and Captain Marvel had no real potential for romance, being a kid character who only looked like an adult.

Superman's creators wanted to have Superman and Lois Lane get married, but the publishers wanted the series to continue as it was and would not allow it. The characters got married only when it didn't interfere with the equilibrium of the series.

A 1956 episode of The Adventures of Superman, "The Wedding Of Lois Lane", was based on this story, which has art by Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye. Originally published in the July 1955 issue of ACTION COMICS, issue #206.

Cover by Win Mortimer

The Wedding Of Superman:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0506645/

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Original Art Autographed By Noel Neill and Al Plastino

This ACTION COMICS story was the basis of an episode of the television series THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. It has been autographed by both Noel Neill and artist Al Plastino.

Reblogged from http://www.vaultcollectibles.com/2012/11/08/noel-neill-signed-1955-original-superman-al-plastino-art-adapted-into-episode-for-the-george-reeves-tv-series/

Jane Adams

Jane Adams appeared in the second Batman movie serial as well as an episode of the Superman tv show.

Poni Adams

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

        

Poni Adams
Adams in 1952
Born	Betty Jane Bierce August 7, 1918 San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Died	May 21, 2014(2014-05-21) (aged 95) Palm Desert, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Natural causes
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1942–1953
Spouse(s)	Second husband: Thomas Turnage (1945–2000; his death)
Children	2

Betty Jane Bierce, better known by her stage name Jane "Poni" Adams (August 7, 1918 – May 21, 2014),^[1] was an American actress in radio, film, and television in the 1940s and 1950s.

• 1 Acting career
• 2 Personal life and death
• 3 References
• 4 External links

Acting career

Adams was born in San Antonio, Texas and received a full scholarship to Juilliard, which she turned down to spend years studying at the Pasadena Playhouse. From there she got her start on Lux Radio Theatre and then with the Harry Conover Modeling Agency, where she was given her nickname "Poni". (This was supposedly due to her love of horses, but in reality it was to provide her with a more memorable stage name.) She returned to using her real name in 1945.^[2] She may be best known for her role as Nina in House of Dracula (1945), but she also has the distinction of acting in early adaptations of both major DC Comics franchises: Batman, where she played Vicki Vale in the second Batman serial, Batman and Robin, and also a character in the first Superman television series.

Personal life and death

Her first husband was a United States Navy pilot who died in World War II. In 1945, she married Thomas K. Turnage, a decorated Major General with the Army. Turnage served in the Korean War and earned the Distinguished Service Medal and Bronze Star. He later served as the last administrator of the Veterans Administration before the VA became a cabinet department during Ronald Reagan's presidential term. Adams and Turnage had two children.
Poni Adams died on May 21, 2014 from natural causes at the age of 95.

References

1. Jump up ^ http://www.westernclippings.com/index.shtml
2. Jump up ^ "Interview with Jane Adams". Western Clippings. Retrieved May 2, 2014. 

External links

• Jane Adams at the Internet Movie Database

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Jane Adams played Vicki Vail in the 1949 serial BATMAN AND ROBIN, with Robert Lowery as Batman, and Johnny Duncan as Robin..

 

Although both Jane Adams and Robert Lowery appeared on THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, they didn't appear as Vicki Vale or Batman. The television program tended toward the mundane and ignored many elements from the comics as well as the serials. There was another problem with that show.

 

Although the old Superman radio show frequently harped on the theme of  "tolerance", the same program tended to be anti-female. The first season of the television version tended to have the same unfortunate bias. Lois Lane was supposed to be both good and attractive, but not other females.

 

On "Ghost Wolf", Jane Adams was a girl werewolf, who in the end turned out not to be a werewolf after all. Since it ended up that she wasn't horrible, she qualifies as one of only two "good" pretty girls of any importance to appear in the first season, apart from Lois Lane.*

 

The idea that Jane Adams was scary was strange, but somehow typical of the Superman t.v. show in that period, which had an unfortunate tendency to depict women as horrible or hostile, if not both.


*The other was Gloria Saunders in "The Riddle Of The Chinese Jade". In both cases the favorably depicted girl character was supposed to be a foreigner - one was Chinese, the other was Canadian. .



                                                                        Jane Adams Photos

 

 

As the hunchbacked nurse in HOUSE OF DRACULA. 

                                                                           Movie Posters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jane Adams:
http://www.westernclippings.com/interview/janeadams_interview.shtml
http://nukethefridge.com/2014/06/03/house-dracula-actress-jane-adams-dies/

http://midatlanticnostalgiaconvention.com/jane-adams-dead-at-age-95/

http://thefilmbufflouie.blogspot.com/2014/07/jane-adams.html

http://www.classicscreams.com/Celeb_Pages/Jane_Adams.html


"Ghost Wolf":
http://www.ovguide.com/tv/adventures_of_superman.htm
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/tv.php?topic=reviews/aos-ep023
http://www.jimnolt.com/GhostWolfReview.htm


Gloria Saunders:
http://bennypdrinnon.blogspot.com/2014/12/gloria-saunders.html



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Gloria Saunders

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

        

Gloria Ella Saunders
Born	(1927-09-29)September 29, 1927 Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Died	June 4, 1980(1980-06-04) (aged 52) Kern County, California
Residence	Los Angeles County, California
Occupation	Actress of film and television
Years active	1946–1960
Spouse(s)	(1) Arthur Rue "Tommy" Thompson (divorced) (2) __ Maier

Gloria Ella Saunders (September 29, 1927 - June 4, 1980) was an American actress of film and television, primarily from the late 1940s to 1960.

Background

Saunders was born to George D. and Lucille P. Saunders in the capital city of Columbia, South Carolina. As a child she worked in radio and in the Little Theater in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the age of sixteen in June 1944, she screen tested for Paramount Studios. In 1945, she was seriously injured in an automobile accident and suffered a facial cut from her forehead to the tip of her chin. By October 1951, numerous plastic surgeries finally resolved the scarring.^[1]
Saunders first married the television director Arthur Rue "Tommy" Thompson (1927-2000), who was two months her junior. Saunders said that she likely would not have gone into television acting had it not been for her accident, and she would she have met Thompson had she not gone into television. The couple divorced in 1956, with a two-year-old child. She subsequently married a man named "Maier".^[1]

Notable roles

Her first important role was as Sparky, an operator in the Women's Army Corps of World War II in the 1946 film O.S.S., with Alan Ladd. In 1951, she played Terry Flynn in the film Crazy Over Horses. That same year, she was cast as Anne DuMere in the film, Northwest Territory, starring Kirby Grant, later the star of Sky King. In 1952, Saunders was cast as Catherine in the science fiction film, Captive Women.^[2]
Saunders had recurring roles in two of the earliest television series. In 1949 and 1950, she was cast with Marvin Miller, later of CBS's fantasy drama, The Millionaire, in the ABC crime drama set in San Francisco, Mysteries of Chinatown. She appeared in undetermined number of episodes, possibly as many as forty-eight. In 1953, she played the character, The Dragon Lady, in thirteen episodes of the series Terry and the Pirates, with John Baer in the title role.^[2]
She was cast as Sally Jones in the 1951 episode "Boulder City Election" of the syndicated television series, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, with Guy Madison in the title role. From 1952 to 1953, she appeared in five episodes of another syndicated western series, The Range Rider. She appeared twice in 1952 on the syndicated western The Cisco Kid.^[2]
From 1951 to 1953, she appeared three times in the early police drama, Racket Squad. In 1953, she was twice cast on Jack Webb's NBC police drama, Dragnet. In another 1953 role, she played Lily in "The Riddle of the Chinese Jade" on the syndicated series, Adventures of Superman.^[2]
In 1956, Saunders was cast as Christina in "The Voyage of Captain Castle" of the NBC western anthology series Frontier. That same year, she was cast as Gloria DiNeen in "What Price Gloria," of the syndicated State Trooper, starring Rod Cameron. In 1955 and 1957, she appeared in two episodes, "The Silk Stocking Case" and "The Ambitious Peddler Case", respectively, of the CBS police drama. The Lineup, starring Warner Anderson and Tom Tully. In 1957, she played Grace Patton in the episode "Angel of Loudoun" of the American Civil War series, The Gray Ghost, starring Tod Andrews as the Confederate Major John Singleton Mosby. That same year she played Virginia Malcolm in "The Torch Carriers" of David Janssen's Richard Diamond, Private Detective series, first broadcast on CBS.^[2]
In the episode "The Wicked Widow" (May 21, 1957) of the ABC/Desilu television series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Saunders was cast as Myra Malone, an attractive widowed dressmaker. In the story line, deputy marshal Wyatt Earp in Dodge City, Kansas, played by Hugh O'Brian, investigates a series of mysterious shootings near Myra's house. He finds that she has been harboring Nettie Barnes (Lyn Guild), a wanted member of the Larson gang and a former Confederate who dislikes northern law.^[3]
In 1957 and 1958, she was cast in two other western series, as Rose in "The Town" of the CBS series Trackdown, starring Robert Culp and in the segment "Iron Trail Ambush" of the syndicated Frontier Doctor, starring Rex Allen. Her last acting role was in 1960 as a mystery woman on the ABC sitcom, The Donna Reed Show.^[2]

	South Carolina portal
	North Carolina portal
	Los Angeles portal
	California portal
	Theatre portal
	Radio portal
	Film portal
	Television portal

References

1. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} "Gloria Saunders". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Retrieved April 19, 2014. 
2. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b c d e f} "Gloria Saunders". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved April 19, 2014. 
3. Jump up ^ ""The Wicked Widow", The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, May 21, 1957". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved April 19, 2014.

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Although the Superman radio show frequently harped on the theme of  "tolerance", the same program tended to be anti-female. The first season of the television version tended to have the same unfortunate bias. Lois Lane was supposed to be both good and attractive, but few other female characters were. One of the only ones I can think of was Gloria Saunders on THE RIDDLE OF THE CHINESE JADE. The story had her playing a Chinese girl whose father had the aforementioned jade, which was stolen during the course of the story, which eventually led to her being kidnapped. So she was a victim rather than a villainess. This time.

 

 Gloria Saunders also played "The Dragon Lady" on TERRY AND THE PIRATES. The Dragon Lady was a sort of villainess.

 

Carol Forman, star of THE BLACK WIDOW, had played a similar character who wore the same costume that Gloria Saunders would wear in THE RIDDLE OF THE CHINESE JADE.

But when Gloria Saunders wore that costume, she was supposed to be a good girl.

 

Julie Gibson, Noel Neill, Gloria Saunders, and Kay Scott having some ice cream, apparently on the set of the film OUT OF THIS WORLD.

 

 Noel Neill played Lois Lane in the serials, and replaced Phyllis Coates after the first season of the television program.

 

Bathing beauty Gloria Saunders.

 

 

Halloween fun.

Dragon Lady:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Lady_(Terry_and_the_Pirates)

Gloria Saunders:
http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/547/Gloria+Saunders/index.html

Carol Forman:
http://bennypdrinnon.blogspot.com/2012/10/carol-forman-and-spider-lady.html

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Dona Drake played a gangster's wife on THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN in 1953. But she was also in a lot of other things. And being called "Chicken" on the Superman show even seems to be related to another comic book.

Dona Drake

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia    

   

Dona Drake
Born	Eunice Westmoreland (1914-11-15)November 15, 1914 Miami, Florida, U.S.
Died	June 20, 1989(1989-06-20) (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Rita Rio, Una Velon, Rita Shaw[1]
Occupation	Actress, singer, dancer
Years active	1933–1977
Spouse(s)	William Travilla (1944-1989) (her death)

Dona Drake (November 15, 1914 – June 20, 1989) was an American singer, dancer and film actress in the 1930s and 1940s. She was born Eunice Westmoreland in Miami, Florida, in 1914. Entering show business in the 1930s, she used the names Una Velon, Rita Rio and Rita Shaw.^[1] She settled on the stage name Dona Drake in the early 1940s. Studio publicity during her heyday incorrectly stated that Drake was of Mexican origin and was born Rita Novella.^[2] (Novella was actually her mother's first name.)
Because of her dark hair and Latin-looking features, Drake generally played Latin or other "ethnic" types. She is perhaps best known for playing the American Indian maid of Bette Davis in Beyond the Forest. She also appeared as an Arab girl opposite Bob Hope in Road to Morocco in 1942. Her biggest "non-ethnic" role was the second female lead in the 1949 comedy The Girl from Jones Beach, playing opposite Eddie Bracken. She died in 1989.

Filmography

Film and television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1935	Moonlight and Melody	Rita	credited as Rita Rio
1936	Strike Me Pink	Mademoiselle Fifi	credited as Rita Rio
1938	Sweet Shoe	Rita Rio	credited as Rita Rio
1938	Beautiful, But Dummies	Model	credited as Rita Ray
1939	Gals and Gallons	Orchestra Leader	credited as Rita Rio
1939	Rita Rio and Her Orchestra	Rita Rio	played self in this 10 minute short[3]
1941	I Look at You	Rita Rio
1941	Fresh as a Freshman	Rita Rio
1941	Aloma of the South Seas	Nea	first film credit as Dona Drake[2]
1941	Louisiana Purchase	Beatrice
1942	Road to Morocco	Mihirmah	credited as Dona Drake
1943	Star Spangled Rhythm	herself	performs song "On the Swing Shift" with Marjorie Reynolds and Betty Jane Rhodes
1943	Salute for Three	Dona Drake and Her Girl Band	credited as Dona Drake
1943	Let's Face It!	Muriel
1944	Hot Rhythm	Mary Adams
1946	Without Reservations	Dolores Ortega
1946	Dangerous Millions	Elena Valdez
1948	Another Part of the Forest	Laurette Sincee
1948	So This Is New York	Kate Goff
1949	The Doolins of Oklahoma	Cattle Annie
1949	The Girl from Jones Beach	Connie Martin
1949	Beyond the Forest	Jenny
1950	Fortunes of Captain Blood	Pepita Maria Rosados
1951	Valentino	Maria Torres
1952	Kansas City Confidential	Teresa
1953	The Bandits of Corsica	Zelda
1953	Son of Belle Starr	Dolores
1953	Down Laredo Way	Narita
1953	Adventures of Superman	Joyce	episode 35 "The Dog Who Knew Superman" 9th episode of 1953; aired 14 November
1954	Superman Flies Again	Joyce	theatrical re-release of 3 episodes of the television series included episode 35[4][5]
1954	Princess of the Nile	Mirva
1954	City Detective	Francesca	1 episode
1955	Soldiers of Fortune	Cheu	1 episode
1955	The Lone Wolf	Lee	1 episode

References

1. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Dona Drake at the Internet Movie Database
2. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} "Dona Drake - The Private Life and Times of Dona Drake. Dona Drake Pictures.". Retrieved 2010-10-16. 
3. Jump up ^ Rita Rio and Her Orchestra at the Internet Movie Database
4. Jump up ^ "Superman Flies Again > Cast - AllMovie". Retrieved 2010-10-16. 
5. Jump up ^ Superman Flies Again (1954) at the Internet Movie Database

External links

Biography portal

• Dona Drake at Find a Grave
• Dona Drake at the Internet Movie Database
• Dona Drake at AllRovi
• Dona Drake at the TCM Movie Database

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Dona Drake played a Jean Harlow - type blonde on an episode of THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, "The Dog Who Knew Superman".  And she had even been a contemporary of Jean Harlow's in the thirties, although she didn't used to play the same type.

They did put a lot of emphasis on Jean Harlow's breasts in the thirties, despite Gary Grossman's claims about this not being something that was done prior to the 1950's.

What about Dona Drake?

Here is a 1943 picture of Dona Drake.


Reblogged from http://cbi-theater-1.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-1/roundup/roundup121043.html

                                                       NICE TO GET LOST WITH

 

Delectable Dona Drake doesn't know a thing about sailing a yacht. But let's not quibble, men. Anything that enables the young lady to show here - ah - charms to such an advantage is sufficient excuse for us. At the moment, she's the Roundup's Girl With Whom We'd Like to Get Lost on a Yacht.

 So much for Gary Grossman.

Some of the people you see on early television shows were really outstanding ( are ya listenin', Grossman? ) and could do so much more then they did on those shows. Dona Drake used to be a bandleader with an all-girl orchestra as "Rita Rio".

 Sometimes the girls in this group were called "The Girl Friends".


 A tobacco card from the thirties.

 

 

 

 

 

SALUTE FOR THREE ( 1943 )

 

 

 

 

 

New Year's day.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 Valentine's day

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't have a date on this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 THE GIRL FROM JONES BEACH - Ronald Reagan, Virginia Mayo, Eddie Bracken, and Dona Drake.

 I can remember seeing this movie on television back before Reagan was president.




The "Rio Rita" of the comics bears some resemblance to "Rita Rio", as Dona Drake used to call herself,

but this character was originally called "Senorita Rio",

and the name "Rio Rita" came from a musical to begin with.

 

 

 

 

The Abbott and Costello version.

 

So I'm not sure if there's any connection there.

 

But I think being called "Chicken" may well have been because of MY FRIEND IRMA,

 

which was a television show at the time as well as a comic book and a radio program ( which was what it was to begin with ).

 

 

Dona Drake was also associated with Marie Wilson, according to a trivia item from the Internet movie database:

"In early 1940 she toured - as Rita Rio - with her "All Girl Orchestra" with actresses Marie Wilson and Toby Wing (who was essentially retired) and Faith Bacon (from the Earl Carroll Vanities) across the United States. The actresses made numerous appearances for the Infantile Paralysis Fund and Tuberculosis campaign during the tour."

Infantile Paralysis ( Polio ) was a big problem at the time. But thanks to the efforts made to fight against this disease, it isn't as big of a problem today. And Dona Drake and her friends had a part in the triumph.













"The Dog That Hated Superman":
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/tv.php?topic=reviews/aos-ep035

Dona Drake:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0236888/

MY FRIEND IRMA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Friend_Irma_(radio-TV)



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