A friend (whose name I won't mention since I'm about to tell him he's wrong) wrote with a thought about Mayo Kaan, the Superman impostor mentioned in this item here. Might Mr. Kaan, he asks, have been the person who played Superman at the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair? Answer: No. DC Comics did a lot of promotion in accord with that expo, including "Superman Day," an event that involved an actor named Ray Middleton parading about in what was probably the first-ever Superman suit. Being the first person to ever play the Man of Steel — that is, assuming Mayo's claim was bogus — was a great honor but it was by no means the greatest achievement of Ray Middleton. He later had a pretty impressive career on Broadway. He was the original Frank Butler in Annie, Get Your Gun, playing opposite Ethel Merman's Annie Oakley, and he can still be heard on the cast recording. He had two roles in the original production of Man of La Mancha and was also in South Pacific, Love Life and Roberta, to name three of many others. He made a few film appearances, including a role in our favorite, 1776, and did a lot of TV jobs, including a recurring role on Too Close for Comfort. He passed away in 1984.
Rick Scheckman seems to know everything I don't…and man, is that a lot to know! Anyway, he writes that the Fred Allen/Jerry Siegel spot posted earlier in the same item is from the 10/9/40 episode of Mr. Allen's radio program. This installment is apparently among the sad number of shows which have been lost…i.e., there are no known copies of the entire program. So by saving that clip for promotional use, someone saved a moment of history that would otherwise be gone for good.