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How Jack Larson learned to love Jimmy Olsen
"The way I look at it is, we live in a time where, no matter what you do, almost nothing is remembered," said Larson.
It took Jack Larson a long time to come to terms with the fact that he'd forever and always be known as Jimmy Olsen. For six seasons, Larson played the Daily Planet reporter in the hit series, Adventures of Superman. The role catapulted Larson into fame, but the blessing was also a curse. Larson felt that he had become typecast after the series had wrapped, that he'd never be viewed as anything beyond Jimmy Olsen. Instead, Larson turned to writing and became well known as a screenwriter as well as a librettist in the music world.
Of course, after so many years of success, Larson revealed in a later interview that he had made peace with the knowledge that his Superman character would follow him around everywhere.
"I've accomplished many things in my life as a writer," said Larson during an interview with The Houston Chronicle. "But when I die, my obit will say, 'Jack Larson, best remembered as Jimmy Olsen on the Superman television show. And you know what? I'm grateful for it."
Larson was painfully honest. "It ruined my career as an actor," said the performer on playing Jimmy Olsen. "That's what I thought, but I was completely wrong."
Though he wasn't an actor anymore, Larson found that his fame from the series served him well as a writer. "When it started to become known that the Jack Larson who was writing these plays was the Jack Larson who was Jimmy Olsen, there was this real outpouring of goodwill," said the actor. "People were so happy that the person who had played this character they loved wasn't in a gutter somewhere, that I was doing well. There was this tremendous outpouring of affection and interest in my work. And it was wonderful."
Larson spoke kindly of his time in the series, grateful for an opportunity to have earned a place in television history.
"The way I look at it is, we live in a time where, no matter what you do, almost nothing is remembered," said Larson. "It's a time of disposable media. And one is very, very fortunate to be remembered for anything."
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