The actress who first played Superman’s love interest, Lois Lane, on screen has died. Noel Neill was 95.
Neill’s biographer Larry Ward tells The Associated Press that she died Sunday at her home in Tucson, Ariz., following a long illness.
Neill first took on the role as the Daily Planet reporter in the 1948 Columbia movie serial, Superman. She would reprise the part alongside George Reeves as the Man of Steel in the 1950’s TV series, The Adventures of Superman.
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Neill’s involvement with the series continued through the years. She played Lois Lane’s mother in 1978’s Superman and had a bit part in Superman Returns in 2006.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the star’s father was an editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and he had hopes that she would follow in his footsteps. She even took on a job at Women’s Wear Daily. After a while, though, the lure of Hollywood proved too strong and she ended up taking on the job as roving-reporter Lane instead.
In 2010, the city of Metropolis, Illinois, unveiled a statue of Lois Lane modeled after Neill.
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