In back-to-back weeks in January 1979, two hourlong, primetime, live-action superhero specials called Legends of the Superheroes aired on NBC; they were called "The Challenge" and "The Roast."
Produced by animation studio Hanna-Barbera, these shows have sometimes been described as a live-action version of Saturday morning cartoon Super Friends, which was near or at its peak of popularity at the time. Deliberately hokey to begin with, the shows were ratings failures and have dated even worse...which in part explains why they've become cult classics.
The character lineup included only two of the five mainstay Super Friends; rights to Superman and Wonder Woman were tied up in bigger and better ways and much-maligned Aquaman was probably not even considered.
Though Adam West and Burt Ward reprised their iconic 1960s roles as Batman and Robin and most of the villains were portrayed by established comedians of the day, I was more interested in talking to those performers whom we had not heard of before-or heard from since. Meaning just about everyone else in the cast.
The show featured the first live-action film portrayals of Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Black Canary, Huntress, and Atom and the first-ever live-action portrayals of Hawkman, Huntress, and Atom (Flash, Green Lantern, and Black Canary were in the Sea World superheroes water ski show, which began in 1976).
This unused studio shot is especially charming because the two ladies at right
are laughing and Sinestro is sticking out his tongue.
Interesting to read "comic book heroes are very much in vogue."
We hear that a lot these days, but this article was written in 1979.
Also interesting to note that the superhero the paper chose to show was
the least well-known of the bunch. And I loved the zinger presuming
that Adam West and Burt Ward "evidently have decided to give up
their fight against typecasting."
Though these performers were superheroes only on TV, it felt like they were now operating under real-life secret identities. The easiest to find was Rod Haase (Flash). The hardest was everyone else (including two whom I have still not found).
In the first year of searching (sandwiched between more urgent projects), I found only Rod and Bill Nuckols (Hawkman).
Rod Haase today
Photos courtesy of Rod Haase and Bill Nuckols.
On that search, this is one tactic I tried with some of the performers (using Howard Murphy [Green Lantern] as an example): I sent a blanket e-mail to the most common e-mail formats (howardmurphy, howard.murphy, howard murphy) at the biggest domains (gmail.com, yahoo.com, hotmail.com, aol.com, and so on...even juno.com, for heck's sake). I got some perplexed responses but none from the right people.
In January 2011, a year after I began my own personal "Challenge" to find these guys, I felt I was almost out of options. But rather than stick a fork in my "Roast," I decided to place an ad in Variety, figuring even as I did it that it was more than a long shot.
Within a couple of weeks of the ad running, I'd found both Garrett Craig (Captain Marvel) and Barbara Joyce (Huntress)...but the ad had nothing to do with it. I heard from no one in response to the ad.
And with Barbara, I was too late. More on her in her own post...
As with many others I tracked down for this blog series, the LOTS performers were astounded that someone would bother. None suspected that more than a handful of people would even remember the shows, and most answered my interview questions skeptical that anyone today would care about the answers. (Hence some of the responses are brief.)
The two I have failed to track down are Howard Murphy and Danuta Wesley (Black Canary).
Before we get to the interviews themselves, a bit more on two of the performers I did find.
How I found Bill Nuckols:
* Thanks to Andy Mangels's article about this show in Back Issue #25 (12/07), I knew Bill had been a bodybuilder, so I poked around on bodybuilding forums. (Yes, for the first time.)
* I contacted a commenter named Joe because he was clearly knowledgeable about bodybuilders of the 1970s, when Bill had been active in the scene.
* Joe wrote back. He didn't know where Bill was now but did pass on details from the two articles about Bill in his possession.
* I used those details to try to get closer, but to no avail.
* Joe then gave me names of three of Bill's former competitors; I e-mailed the two for whom I could find e-mails.
* The third is a Hollywood stuntman, and apparently a well-known one. SAG gave me his contact information and he most kindly shared what he remembered. The key piece of information was that Bill and his wife (whose name he remembered) had divorced and had no kids.
* I checked California divorce records, which gave me the hinge I needed: Bill's middle initial. (Yes, I, too, was surprised that there were more than one Bill Nuckols in the country.)
* Searching multiple public records databases, I found who I thought was my Bill Nuckols, but there was no contact information. However, the record listed names of relatives, and I could find a phone number for some of them. The first I called turned out to be Bill's mother.
She said "He doesn't look the same," but then, who would after 30 years? Through her, I was soon able to speak directly with Bill. Somewhat cautious at first, he rather cryptically said that when one has spent time in California (he left in 1983), all kinds of people might come around looking for you. Once I further explained why I had been looking for him, he opened up.
He lives a block from a comic shop and has never gone in there.
Finding Garrett Craig:
I got almost nothing out of SAG, as per their protocol, but I was able to squeeze from them that the most recent time mail had been returned from Garrett's last known address was in 1998. In other words, I was squeezing a dry lemon. SAG did also mention that there were "significant funds" waiting for Garrett, and since they weren't looking for him, it made me all the more determined to find him.
Ultimately, through channels that must remain hidden, I managed to obtain that former address, which proved to be the vital link to Garrett. After finding him, I urged him to contact SAG...and he did...and was sent a check for 130.
Apparently, the West Coast has a different definition of "significant."
I had been prepared to accept no substitute for Garrett...until I learned he is a substitute. A resident sub at an elementary school, to be exact-and from what I can tell, one beloved by students and staff alike.
I have a feeling that from this point on, upon entering classrooms, he will sometimes be greeted by a collective and good-natured "Shazam!"
Photos courtesy of Garrett Craig. As you may have noticed.
I have since had the good fortune to meet the saintly Garrett Craig in person.
I was bearing a small gift.
In late 2010, Warner Bros. released the DVD of the show. None of the performers I've been in touch with heard from Warner beforehand, nor are any receiving residuals.
I got permission to post all personal images; if you want to repost, please do the same and ask me first.
Special thanks to Andy Mangels.
Welcome to the first-ever oral history of Legends of the Superheroes.
Production staff interviewed:
Chris Darley, co-producer/associate director
Performers interviewed (2 parts):
Garrett Craig (Captain Marvel)
Rod Haase (Flash)
Bill Nuckols (Hawkman)
In memoriam:
Barbara Joyce (Huntress)
Performers I'm still looking for:
Howard Murphy (Green Lantern)
Danuta Wesley (Black Canary)
Danuta Wesley on The Tonight Show, 1984
Howard or Danuta or anyone who knows either of you: if you're reading this, no matter when, please contact me at the e-mail address at top right!
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