Phyllis Coates and Beverly Washburn

(Photo courtesy of Gail McIntyre)

Beverly Washburn

(Photo courtesy of Gail McIntyre)

Phyllis Coates signing an autograph

(Photo courtesy of Gail McIntyre)

Phyllis Coates and Gail McIntyre

(Photo courtesy of Gail McIntyre)

Soupy Sales and Larry Storch

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dillane)

On Saturday through Sunday May 24-25, 2008, I participated in the Movie and TV World Convention at the midtown Holiday Inn in Manhattan.  Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane in Superman and the Mole Men and Season 1 of the Adventures of Superman) was the guest of honor, making her first East Coast appearance in years.  Other celebrity guests included Beverly Washburn (child star from Superman and the Mole Men, The Lone Ranger, Shane, Old Yeller and The Greatest Show on Earth), Larry Storch (Cpl. Randolph Agarn on F-Troop), and James Hampton (Trooper Hannibal Dobbs on F-Troop).  60’s TV icon Soupy Sales made a special guest appearance.  Actor/writer James Rosin, who wrote TV episodes of Route 66 and Quincy, M.E., was on hand to promote his book, Route 66: The Television Series. 

I was invited to appear at this convention by one of the promoters of the event.  I was set up at a table next to Beverly Washburn, selling some posters as well as my “Surreal Love Songs” CD pictured above, which included the songs in my George Reeves trilogy: “Oh, George”, “Noel” and “And She Loved Me”.

Lobby card in the main lobby of the Holiday Inn, advertising the show.  (Inset shows a blow-up of one of the “celebrities” listed above the photo of George and Phyllis.  This was a real thrill for me, even though they got my name wrong!  Or maybe this was for my twin brother Larry!)

During the show, I was interviewed by a local TV cable show, SciFi Ninja Theater.  And I got to meet broadcasting legend Joe Franklin, “The King of Nostalgia”, who said he enjoyed my music and bought two of my CDs.  He said he planned to play some of my songs on his radio show!  Check out the Wikipedia article about this American radio and television personality.

Actor/author James Rosin.  Be sure to check out his Route 66 website.

My friend Mark Rothberg, who works at NBC.  Mark is a big George Reeves/ Adventures of Superman fan and he’s been very supportive of my song, “Oh, George” ever since it was released in 2006.  This was the first time we actually met.

Meeting TV legend Soupy Sales.  Sadly, Soupy has had a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair.  Nevertheless, he signed autographs and posed for pictures.

Meeting actor James Hampton, star of F Troop.  James had a great sense of humor.

Meeting Phyllis Coates.  On Saturday evening, my wife and I treated Phyllis and Bruce Dettman to dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant.  Phyllis was very charming and had some fascinating stories to tell!

Meeting Beverly Washburn was a real treat.  Beverly was the little girl who was “menaced” in her bedroom by the Mole Men in Superman and the Mole Men.  The autographed photo of Beverly in that episode was so popular with the fans that she ran out of copies early on the first day.  Beverly has had a long career in show business and is a very kind, very sweet person.  Her screen credits are amazing.  For fun check out this trailer for the cult classic, Spider Baby.  She is currently starring in the MySpace TV series, Special Delivery (check out the episodes: “Trainwreck Granny”, “Hypnotic Striptease”, and “Oil Me Down”.  I was very proud when Beverly told me that she really liked my song “All I Ask”.  She also told me not to get discouraged or give up on my music.  What a wonderful lady!

Bruce Dettman and Phyllis Coates.  Bruce escorted Phyllis from California to the convention and helped her sign autographs.  At one point the line to see Phyllis was so long that it practically ran the length of the ballroom.  Bruce is a regular contributor to The Adventures Continue website.  Bruce has written on many topics beyond the Adventures of Superman.  Check out his article, Goodbye Mr. Hammett.

Standing next to my new vinyl poster for “Oh, George” which was on the wall behind my vendor’s table.

“Super Sue” Susan Schnitzer.

Gail McIntyre.

My vendor’s table.  That’s my Mac, which I used to play the “Oh, George” DVD.  The “Oh, George” video was also playing on a wide screen TV at the other end of the ballroom.

With my wonderful, supportive wife, Grace.

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dillane)

Phyllis Coates and Beverly Washburn

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dillane)

Phyllis Coates and Bill Dillane

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dillane)

Phyllis Coates and Susan Schnitzer

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dillane)

Beverly Washburn and Bill Dillane

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dillane)

F Troop co-stars James Hampton and Larry Storch.

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dillane)

Phyllis in the clutches of Spiderman!

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dillane)

Photo montage autographed by Beverly Washburn.  The inscription reads: “For Richard - Thanks for making me laugh!  Love to you - Beverly Washburn”.  Hopefully she was referring to my sense of humor and not my music!  :)

Autographed still from Superman and the Mole Men.  The inscription reads, “Richard, Nice meeting you - Phyllis Coates ‘Lois Lane’ 5/24/08”.

Soupy Sales once told his NYC kiddie audience to send him the "funny green paper" from their parents' wallets.  Here's a picture of Bill Dillane finally able to give Soupy that green stuff.

You can read the story about Soup’s infamous "funny green paper" remark (which he meant as a joke) here.  Special thanks to Bill for the reference.

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dillane)

On Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007, I participated in The Last Moving Picture Company Convention hosted by Morris Everett, Jr. This convention (primarily for collectors of movie posters, lobby cards, and other such memorabilia) was held in New York City at the Pennsylvania Hotel across from Madison Square Garden.

Noel Neill and Larry Ward were there.  One of the vendors honored Noel Neill by presenting her with a birthday cake emblazoned with an S-shield.

I was invited to appear at this convention by one of the promoters of the event.  I was set up at a table right next to Noel and Larry, playing my tunes and selling the CD pictured above, which included both of my songs “Noel” and “Oh, George”.

Here are some pictures of this event.  Enjoy!

(Photo on CD label is copyrighted by Noel Neill and Larry Ward and is used with their permission.)

Larry Ward and my wife, Grace, sitting at Noel and Larry’s table the night before the big event.  Note the gorgeous poster for Larry’s new book, Beyond Lois Lane.  It was fun to watch people look at this poster for the first time, and see their jaws drop open!  It is stunning.

Here’s Grace at our table.  You can see the CDs and t-shirts I had for sale.  I also played the “Oh, George” video on my Mac laptop and played my songs “Oh, George” and “Noel” on my iPod player.  In the background, you can see the 3 posters I brought along to advertise my table; they were pretty wimpy compared to Noel and Larry’s!  As far as playing my music was concerned, I don’t think anybody minded at all -- except, come to think of it, no matter how far I turned down the volume Larry kept saying, “I can still hear it, Richard!”

Meeting Gail McIntyre.

It was such a delight to finally get to meet several of the wonderful people with whom I’ve corresponded on the Schutz Friendly Adventures of Superman Discussion Board.

Meeting “Super Sue” Susan Schnitzer.

Meeting Bill Dillane.

The Birthday Cake

The fans adored Noel.

Posing with the birthday cake.

Noel and Grace in a quiet moment.

A wonderful group shot.

The show was well attended.  Larry sold out all his copies of Beyond Lois Lane  long before the afternoon was over.  Although this was not really a music lover’s event, I managed to sell a few CDs and t-shirts.

Noel prepares to sign an autograph of Beyond Lois Lane for a fan.  In addition to Larry’s book, Noel and Larry had some marvelous color photos of Noel for sale, from the Kirk Alyn Superman serials as well as other publicity stills of Noel in her younger years.

The “Super Sisters.” 

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dillane.)

My favorite photo from the entire event.

(Photo courtesy of Bill Dillane.)

Gail, Bill, and Sue.

Steve Brant.

Happy Birthday, Noel!

(Born November 25, 1920.)

While I was at the show, I purchased this original photograph.  It’s a beautiful shot of George addressing a group of students.  That’s George’s life-long friend, Natividad Vacio, on piano.  Mr. Vacio appeared in one episode of the Adventures of Superman, The Brainy Burro.

Standing behind my vendor’s table.

(Photo courtesy of Terry Soto.)

by Richard Potter