Johnny Rockwell (born in Pennsylvania in 1944) is an American actor. He was the first actor to play the role of Superboy in the pilot for the proposed series “The Adventures of Superboy” (1961).

[edit] Superboy pilot

The “Superboy” pilot had been created and produced by Whitney Ellsworth, producer of the classic television series “The Adventures of Superman” starring George Reeves in the 1950’s. This had been Ellsworth’s second attempt to revive the Superman franchise. The first has been in 1957 when he produced a pilot for a series aimed at young children – “The Adventures of Superpup” using actors with oversized dog masks. The “Superboy” pilot was shot in B&W and 13 scripts had been written in anticipation of the show being picked up. Rockwell had been working on the Ziv/UA studios when he heard about the proposed series. He approached Whitney Ellsworth for an audition and was eventually cast in the role. Due to changes in the first-run syndication market, the proposed series was deemed to extensive and it was not picked up for distribution and the remainder of the 13 scripts were never shot.

[edit] Other Roles

Rockwell had studied acting with Agnes Moorehead at 20th Century Fox. Later he appeared in a minor role in the "Playhouse 90" production of “The 80 Yard Run” (1958) starring Paul Newman. Based on Newman’s recommendation, Rockwell moved to New York to study acting with Sandy Meisner. In addition to his duel role of Superboy/Clark Kent, Rockwell appeared in “As Young as We Are” (1958) which starred Ty Hardin, “Please Don't Eat the Daisies (film)” (1960) with Doris Day and “Bus Riley’s Back in Town” (1965) with Ann-Margaret. His other credits include appearances on “Ozzie and Harriet” and “Dobie Gillis” both on television.

Rockwell continued to act professionally until 1967. In the 1970s Rockwell became a friend of Hugh Hefner and lived on and off at the Playboy Mansion from 1972 to 1978.

[edit] References

“Superboy and Superpup: The Lost Videos” written by Chuck Hartner and published by Cult Movies, © 1993.

Preceded by George Reeves

Played Superboy/Clark Kent 1961

Succeeded by Bob Holiday

v • d • e Actors who have played Superman Live-action Kirk Alyn · George Reeves · Bob Holiday · David Wilson · Christopher Reeve · John Haymes Newton · Gerard Christopher · Dean Cain · Tom Welling · Brandon Routh Animation, radio and video games Bud Collyer · Danny Dark · Beau Weaver · Tim Daly · Christopher McDonald · George Newbern · Patrick Warburton · Yuri Lowenthal · Crispin Freeman · Brandon Routh · Adam Baldwin · Kyle MacLachlan · Mark Harmon Actors who have portrayed a young Clark Kent Bob Hastings (v) · Jeff East · Jerry Dexter (v) · Jason Marsden (v) · Stephan Bender Other actors Ray Middleton · Johnny Rockwell · Ron Ely · Ben Affleck (as George Reeves) Franchise media · Characters in the film series