To see an interview with Bruce conducted by Steve Younis of the Superman Homepage at the Metropolis Superman Celebration, click HERE.
Click HERE to hear Bruce on KGO AM 810's John Rothmann Show!
In the interview below, Bruce Scivally talks about his memories of Superman and his experiences in writing Superman On Film, Television, Radio And Broadway.
Q: When did you become a Superman fan?
SCIVALLY: I remember when I was a very little kid, about three or four years old, watching Adventures of Superman on TV and being amazed at how the bullets bounced off Superman's chest. That was the George Reeves series, which at that time in Alabama was in syndication in the early mornings, right after Romper Room. A year or two later, it was off the air, and when I got a little older - about 13 or 14 - I would read about the show and Superman and the Mole Men in magazines like Famous Monsters of Filmland, and I wanted to see it again. That was before there was such a thing as videotape. So, I enlisted the aid of a few friends, and we began calling the local TV stations and asking them to put it back on. And lo and behold, one of them finally began airing it in the afternoons, right about the time kids got home from school. Around that same time, I ordered a copy of Kirk Alyn's book, A Job For Superman, from one of those magazines, and Kellogg's did a promotion where if you sent in four Corn Flakes boxtops, you could get four record albums of the Superman radio show from the 40s. So, for a couple of weeks, I was eating Corn Flakes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight snacks... By the time I was in 8th grade and had to write a research paper for Mrs. Hayes's English class, I chose Superman as my topic and did kind of a mini-version of the present book. So, I guess I've always been a Superman fan.
Q: Of all the actors who have played Superman, who is your favorite?
SCIVALLY: Because George Reeves was the first one I saw, there's a special place in my heart for his portrayal. When I was in high school, the first Christopher Reeve movie was released, and I think he did an excellent job, although at the time I thought he made Clark Kent perhaps a bit too bumbling and clumsy. Looking at the films now, I can appreciate more what he was doing with the role, and I think he really defined it. And in preparing for the book, I watched a lot of videos and DVDs of Kirk Alyn, John Haymes Newton, Gerard Christopher, Dean Cain, and Tom Welling, and I think that each of those actors gave the role a unique interpretation. Dean Cain and Tom Welling are particularly good at portraying the more tender aspects of Clark Kent's character.
Q: How do you think the more recent Superman series like Lois & Clark and Smallville compare to the George Reeves series?
SCIVALLY: You really can't compare them. They're totally separate entities. The George Reeves show, particularly from the second season onward, was slanted more for very young children, so by its very nature it's more juvenile. And that was the very early days of television, so obviously the effects and production values are primitive by today's standards. But for what it is, it is extremely well-done and still immensely entertaining to watch, and it's amazing to me how excited I still get when he whips off his glasses and goes into that supply closet and leaps out the window, and you get that whistling wind sound effect and the harp strings and Superman fanfare on the soundtrack. Lois & Clark was geared more for an audience of young adult women, so it put a heavy emphasis on the growing romance of the two main characters, and did it extremely well. Smallville, on the other hand, is geared for teenagers, and does a great job of using Clark Kent to express what all teenagers feel - that they're outsiders and no one really understands them. I think the fact that all these TV shows and movies can approach the character from so many different perspectives just shows how robust the Superman character is.
Q: Do you feel you were in any way personally influenced by reading the Superman comics or watching the Superman TV shows and movies?
SCIVALLY: I think I definitely benefited from growing up in a time when there were only 3 TV networks, and children's programming was filled with heroic characters like Superman, Tarzan and the Lone Ranger. All of those characters exemplified honor, integrity and fair play. And for me, truth, justice and the American way are ideals that will never go out of style.
Q: Who were some of the people you interviewed for the Superman book?
SCIVALLY: One of the first people I spoke to was Noel Neill, who played Los Lane in the Superman serials and in the 1950s TV show, and I think she was a little surprised that I had more questions about Kirk Alyn than about George Reeves. And the last was Jack Larson, who was very generous with his time and gave me a terrific interview. In between, I interviewed Cynthia Collyer, the daughter of radio Superman Bud Collyer, and the children of Danny Dark, who was the voice of Superman on SuperFriends. And Casey Kasem gave me some great details on Danny Dark and what it was like working on the animated Superman shows. And I spoke to Peter Lupus and Denny Miller, who played Superman in Air Force recruiting commercials in the 1970s. And then I got a LOT of help from the Superman fan community and the people who run the Superman websites.
Q: 2008 will be the 70th anniversary of Superman's comic book debut. Do you think Superman is still relevant in our modern era?
SCIVALLY: Superman is a character that has always had tremendous appeal to the downtrodden and disadvantaged. After all, he was created at the height of the Great Depression. And since we are once again living in an age where people feel threatened, downtrodden and disadvantaged, the idea of a character who can swoop in and save us remains very appealing. If anything, I think Superman is more relevant now than ever.
Q: If you could have any super power, what would it be?
SCIVALLY: There are three ways to answer that question. The joke answer is that I'd like to have the power to make non-taxable income magically appear in my bank account. The politically correct answer is that I'd like to have the power to make world leaders compromise so we could all live in peace and harmony. But the truthful answer is that I'd love to be able to fly. Who wouldn't?