Superman curse

The Superman curse refers to a series of misfortunes that have plagued creative people involved in adaptations of Superman in various mediums, particularly actors who have played the role of Superman on film and television.

The curse is somewhat well-known in popular culture, largely due to the high-profile tragedies of Superman actors George Reeves and Christopher Reeve. Other sources deny the curse, stating that several Superman-related actors, such as Bud Collyer and Teri Hatcher, went on to success after their association with the franchise and that many hardships of "cursed" individuals are common in their respective fields.

Supposed victims of the curse

 * Writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster created Superman in the 1930s but their employer DC Comics held the copyright to the character. In 1946, the two sued DC, arguing that they were inadequately compensated for the character. The New York Supreme Court limited their settlement to $60,000 each, a small sum compared to the millions of dollars Superman comic books, films, television series, and merchandize grossed. In 1975, in response to a campaign launched by Siegel and Shuster and joined by many prominent comic book creators, DC agreed to pay the two lifetime pensions of $35,000 a year and give them credit in every adaptation of the character. While Siegel and Shuster are respected in comic book fandom for Superman, neither went on to work on any other high-profile comic books after Superman.
 * Brothers Max and Dave Fleischer founded Fleischer Studios, which produced the original Popeye, Betty Boop and Superman cartoons. Shortly after bringing Superman into animation, the Fleischers began fueding with one another and their studio slumped financially until they were forced to sell to Paramount Pictures. Paramount ousted the Fleischers and rearranged their company as Famous Studios. Although Dave Fleischer went on to a career as a special effects advisor at Universal Studios, Max died poor at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital.
 * Kirk Alyn played Superman in two low-budget 1940s serials but failed to find work afterwards, saying that casting directors thought he was too recognized as Superman. He eventually retired to Arizona.
 * George Reeves played Superman in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men and the ensuing television series The Adventures of Superman. Like Alyn, he was recognized only for the role. On June 16, 1959, days before he was too be married, Reeves was found dead of a shotgun wound at his home. The death was ruled a suicide but other theories persist.
 * Christopher Reeve played Superman in the 1978 film Superman: The Movie and three sequels throughout the 1980s. On May 17, 1995, Reeve was paralyzed from the neck down after being thrown from his horse in a cross country riding event. He died on October 10, 2004 due to heart failure stemming from his medical condition.
 * Margot Kidder, who played Superman’s love interest Lois Lane opposite Reeve suffered from intense bipolar disorder. In April 1996, she went missing for several days and was found by police in a paranoid, delusional state.
 * Comedian Richard Pryor, who had previously suffered from a drug addiction that lead to an almost fatal accident, starred as a villain in 1983’s Superman III. Three years later, he announced that he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He died of cardiac arrest on December 10, 2005.
 * Both John Haymes Newton and Gerard Christopher, who starred as the title character in the Superboy television series (1988-1992), fell into obscurity after their respective tenures as the character.
 * Lane Smith, who played Perry White on the Lois & Clark television series, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease in April 2005 and died of the disease at his home in Northridge, California on June 13, 2005.
 * Dana Reeve, the widow of Christopher Reeve, founded the Christopher Reeve Foundation with her late husband after he became paralyzed. On August 9, 2005 Dana publically revealed that she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She was not a smoker, and the exact cause of her cancer remained a mystery. Dana finally succumbed on March 6 2006 at the age of 45.