The Des Moines Register has been writing lately — with understandable pride — that the "new Superman" (Brandon Routh) is, like the "old Superman" (George Reeves) a native of Iowa. The other day, they touted a third Superman from Iowa: John Frederick.
Who's John Frederick? Good question. Here's a link to the article and here are the most relevant paragraphs of it…
Actor John Frederick swears it's true: He played the role of Superman on film, thus joining Iowa-born George Reeves and Brandon Routh, who also claim the role.
Frederick, now busy in retirement in Desert Hot Springs, Calif., says he filmed 18 episodes of the popular television series in the late 1950s as a studio threat to Reeves, who was increasingly unhappy in the role and felt he was being type-cast and excluded from better parts. Reeves allegedly was threatening to walk out on the series, Frederick says in his autobiography, "Name Droppings on Your Head."
"A muddled message came…the producers of the 'Superman' series would like to see me as soon as possible.
"It was at a little studio on the street just south of the Paramount gate. It was a tiny office with two men in it. Hanging on a rack was the Superman costume. 'If it fits, you've got the part,' one said."
The costume handed to Frederick did fit the brawny, square-shouldered actor, so he went to work.
He writes: "The part I remember the most vividly was lying stretched out on something that looked like a barrel on my stomach, feet and arms outstretched, and wind machine blowing. I guess I was flying. God knows where. I didn't."
Frederick adds: "Later I was told that the current Superman was making waves. I eventually figured it out that I was supposedly the threat that just might bring him back into the fold and hopefully his senses."
Frederick says he never knew where the episodes he made ended up, but "I was Superman! And it paid well too!"
Frederick says his work came to an abrupt halt with Reeves' mysterious death in 1959. Reeves allegedly shot himself, but many today say he was murdered and did not commit suicide.
I must admit to being utterly baffled by this. I never heard of John Frederick or of any scab Superman…and the story as reported does not make a lot of sense. The producers of the Superman TV show were notoriously cheap. No one who worked for them thought the job "paid well" and they certainly wouldn't have filmed one episode, let alone eighteen that were never shown. An awful lot of people involved with that series have been extensively interviewed and they sure haven't mentioned any other Superman or any unaired shows.
I also don't understand the logic here. The claim is that Frederick was hired and he did eighteen episodes replacing George Reeves. But everyone, including Frederick, knows that Reeves continued on the show until his death. So why were these eighteen alleged episodes done? And what was the job that Frederick lost when Reeves died?
It sounds to me like the man is claiming he was Reeves' stand-in or stunt double. That's possible. It's even possible the producers had him in mind at some point to replace Reeves if they needed an alternate Man of Steel. But I can't believe the man filmed eighteen "lost" episodes as the star. Further compounding the puzzlement, over on the website, there are tiny photos Frederick supplied of himself as Clark Kent and as Superman…only the Superman photo is of a homemade costume with no Superman insignia, not a costume used on the show.
Mr. Frederick's autobiography seems to be for sale on this page. If anyone has any additional information, lemme know. And thanks to John Wells, a reader of this site, for alerting me to this oddment.