The ‘Superman Curse’ That Affected Multiple Actors Who Played The Iconic Superhero
Warner Bros PicturesActor Christopher Reeve as Superman.
Many actors have played Superman since the character was first created in 1938, including Henry Cavill and Tom Welling in recent years. Thankfully — so far, at least — both actors seem to be free from the “Superman Curse” that affected their predecessors.
According to KQED, the so-called curse began with TV’s first Superman, Kirk Alyn. Alyn found success in the role, but was unfortunately typecast afterwards and struggled to find another acting job.
But it only got worse for Superman actors afterward. Actor George Reeves played Superman from 1951 until 1959, when he died under mysterious circumstances. Just days before he was set to get married in June 1959, Reeves was found dead from a gunshot wound. His death was ruled a suicide, but his fingerprints were never found on the gun that allegedly killed him.
Then, Christopher Reeve stepped into the Superman role for 1978’s Superman and its three sequels. Reeve also suffered from horrible luck after his time as the Man of Steel, becoming paralyzed from the neck down in 1995 after a horse-riding accident. Reeve died in 2004, and then two years later his wife Diana died of lung cancer. Strangely, she had never been a smoker.
Reeve’s co-stars also fell victim to the “curse.” Marlon Brando, who appeared in 1978’s Superman, died within three months of Reeve, and not long after a series of legal troubles surrounding his son Christian.
The curse was also said to have affected Lee Quigley, the actor who played infant Clark Kent. As a boy, Quigley was the victim of schoolyard bullying and died at just 14 years old from solvent abuse. And Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the Superman films, was involved in a terrible car accident that left her unable to work for years.
