KIRK ALYN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Kirk Alyn was born October 8th, 1910 in Oxford, New Jersey with the birth name John Feggo Jr.  His parents were both Hungarian immigrants.  He attended college at Columbia University and after completing college he decided to take a chance on Broadway.  He began with working as a chorus member and an extra in several stage musicals such as, "Girl Crazy, Of Thee I Sing" and "Hellzapoppin" (both in the 1930's).  He also found part time employment working as a singer and dancer in vaudeville before he decided to move to Hollywood.
 
In 1942, Alyn headed for Hollywood and also married fellow actress Virginia O'Brien whom he had two daughters and one son with.  It was pretty easy for him to break into the film industry.  He was briefly seen in, "My Sister Eileen" (1942) and "You Were Never Lovelier" (1943).  His parts in films began to grow as time went on.  In 1943 he starred in, Republic's, "Overland Mail Robbery" and the following year was cast in, "Call of the Rockies".  He also got a role on the serial called, "Daughter of Don Q" (1946).  
 
He starred in a total of six Columbia and Republic serials between 1942 and 1952.  The most memorable one was, "The Adventures of Superman" (1948) and "Atom Man vs. Superman".  Even though he had a tall and slender athletic build, different from the comic series Superman, he was perfect for the part.  He was even more well accepted as portraying Clark Kent.  The first serial consisted of fifteen episodes.
 
Alyn returned to work on another serial with Republic titled, "Federal Agents Vs. Underworld Inc." (1948) portraying a federal agent. 

When Superman moved to television in 1951, Alyn was offered the part bug turned it down.  He divorced Virginia in 1955.  He did however, accept a short cameo for the 1978 film, "Superman" playing the father of Lois Lane and his final serial was in, "Blackhawk" (1952) and his final film role was, "Scalps" (1983). 

He found out that he was so type cast as his role of Superman that no other film work was becoming available to him.  Kirk decided to return to working on the stage with Broadway which he did for the remainder of his career. 
 
Kirk Alyn passed away March 14th, 1999 in Woodlands, Texas from natural causes at the age of 88.  He was honored for his acting talents in a variety of ways.  He was the Grand Marshal of the Metropolis, Illinois Christmas Parade and Annual Superman celebrations several times.  Kirk never regretted accepting the role of superman and did not mind being typecast as a super hero character.  He is said that if he had the chance to do it all again, he would not change a thing.
 
 
Filmography

1983  Scalps
1979  Battlestar Galactica: War of the Gods
1978  Superman: The Movie
1966  Golden Hands of Kurigal
1956  The Eddy Duchin Story
1955  Buffalo Bill, Jr.: Season 01
1952  Blackhawk [Serial]
1951  When Worlds Collide
1950  Gambling House
1950  Atom Man vs. Superman [Serial]
1949  Bride of Vengeance
1949  Radar Patrol vs. Spy King
1949  Federal Agents vs. Underworld, Inc. [Serial]
1948  Superman: The Serial, Vol. 2
1948  Superman: The Complete 15-Chapter Adventure
1948  The Three Musketeers
1948  Superman [Serial]
1947  The Trap
1947  Little Miss Broadway
1946  The Time of Their Lives
1946  Daughter of Don Q [Serial]
1944  The Girl Who Dared
1944  Four Jills in a Jeep
1944  A Guy Named Joe
1944  Storm over Lisbon
1944  Once Upon a Time
1944  Forty Thieves
1943  The Iron Major
1943  Overland Mail Robbery
1943  Pistol Packin' Mama
1943  Is Everybody Happy?
1943  The Man from the Rio Grande
1942  You Were Never Lovelier
1942  My Sister Eileen
1942  Lucky Jordan