  kirk alyn (october 8, 1910 â march 14, 1999) was an american actor, best known for being the first actor to play the dc comics character superman on screen in the 1948 film serial superman, and its 1950 sequel atom man vs. superman. ==early life== kirk alyn was born john feggo, jr. in oxford, new jersey on october 8, 1910 to hungarian immigrant parents. in his youth he lived in wharton, new jersey. a plaque commemorating his life in the borough is hung in the municipal building. ==career== alyn started out as a chorus boy on broadway, appearing in notable musicals such as girl crazy, of thee i sing, and hellzapoppin' in the 1930s. he also worked as a singer and dancer in vaudeville before moving to hollywood in the early 1940s to make feature films, where he was successful only in gaining bit parts in low-budget films before landing the role of superman in 1948. alyn also starred in movie serials, including federal agents vs. underworld inc. (1948), radar patrol vs. spy king (1950) and blackhawk (1952). alyn recalls the day producer sam katzman asked him to play superman: i thought it was a publicity stunt. i didn't think you could ever put superman on film. they brought the people from d.c. comics [sic] over and they said, 'hey, he looks just like clark kent.' they said take off your shirt, so i did and flexed my muscles. then the guy said, 'take off your pants' and i said, 'wait a minute.' i was 37 when i played superman. i picked up that girl and ran up that flight of stairs like it was nothing.""is there a 'superman' curse?". cnn. march 17, 2003 alyn appeared as superman in the first live-action [[superman (serial)
1910_births 1999_deaths 20th-century_American_male_actors American_male_film_actors American_male_stage_actors Columbia_University_alumni Male_actors_from_New_Jersey Male_film_serial_actors People_from_Warren_County,_New_Jersey Vaudeville_performers