Sad to hear of the passing of actress Noel Neill. She was best known of course for playing Lois Lane first opposite Kirk Alyn's Superman in the serials and then later opposite George Reeves for many years on the first TV series. A lot of different actors and actresses have been identified with roles based on comic book characters but no one was ever more closely identified than Noel as Lois.
Which is not to say that's all she did. She was a frequent screen presence, appearing in dozens and dozens of movies before she ever got near her signature role. She was a lovely presence on screen and obviously a very reliable professional. One of the things that made the 50's Adventures of Superman show so successful was the talents of its three leading players — her, Reeves and Jack Larson. The scripts were often silly and the show was shot cheaply, quickly and often with scenes wildly outta order. You had to be real good to do it at all, let alone to make the material work as well as they did.
Noel was a darling on the comic convention circuit, thanks in large part to her close associate Larry Ward. Larry took great, loving care of her and serves to be acknowledged as her friend and protector. He has written a touching piece about Noel that will tell you more about her long, enviable career.
I had the honor of speaking with Noel on several occasions and interviewing her at one convention. She was delightful and very honest with the understandable restriction that she didn't want to speak ill of certain people. A lot of people came to that panel and others she did to "meet" the lady they'd loved so on television. I'm pretty sure no one was ever disappointed.
She died yesterday at her home in Tucson, Arizona at the age of 95. But as we all know, Noel Neill as Lois Lane will live on forever.