Superman (film) - Cast

Cast

• Marlon Brando as Jor-El: Kal-El's biological father on Krypton. He has a theory about the planet exploding, though the Council refuses to listen. Jor-El dies as the planet explodes but successfully sends his infant son to Earth as a means to help the innocent. Brando sued the Salkinds and Warner Bros. for $50 million because he felt cheated out of his share of the box office profits. This stopped Brando's footage from being used in Richard Lester's version of Superman II.

• Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor: An evil scientific genius armed with vast resources who would prove to be Superman's arch-nemesis. It is he who discovers Superman's weakness and hatches an evil plan that puts millions of people in danger.

• Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent / Superman: Born on Krypton as Kal-El and raised on Earth, Superman is a being of immense power, strength and invulnerability who after realizing his destiny to serve mankind uses his powers to protect and save others. As a means to protect his identity, he works in Metropolis at the Daily Planet as mild-mannered newspaper reporter Clark Kent. Reeve was picked from over 200 actors who auditioned for the role.

• Ned Beatty as Otis: Lex Luthor's bumbling henchman.

• Jackie Cooper as Perry White: Clark Kent's hot-tempered boss at the Daily Planet. He assigns Lois to uncover the news of an unknown businessman purchasing a large amount of property in California. Keenan Wynn was originally cast, but dropped out shortly before filming because of heart disease. Cooper, who originally auditioned for Otis, was subsequently cast.

• Glenn Ford as Jonathan Kent: Clark Kent's adoptive father in Smallville during his youth. Jonathan is a farmer who teaches Clark ideal skills that will help him in the future. He later suffers a fatal heart attack that changes Clark's outlook on his duty to others.

• Trevor Howard as the First Elder: Head of the Kryptonian Council, who does not believe Jor-El's claim that Krypton is doomed to its own destruction. He threatens Jor-El, "Any attempt by you to create a climate of fear and panic amongst the populace must be deemed by us an act of insurrection."

• Margot Kidder as Lois Lane: A reporter at the Daily Planet who becomes a romantic interest for Clark Kent. She is madly in love with Superman and often ignores Clark. Over 100 actresses were considered for the role. Margot Kidder (suggested by Stalmaster), Anne Archer, Susan Blakely, Lesley Ann Warren, Deborah Raffin and Stockard Channing screen tested from March through May 1977. The final decision was between Channing and Kidder, with Kidder winning the role.

• Jack O'Halloran as Non: The third of the Kryptonian villains who are sentenced to be isolated in the Phantom Zone.

• Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher: Lex Luthor's girlfriend and accomplice. Already cynical of Luthor's increasing grandiosity and disturbed by his cruelty, she saves Superman's life after learning that Luthor has launched a nuclear missile toward her mother's hometown of Hackensack, New Jersey. She shows a romantic interest in Superman, implied by her fixing her hair before she makes her presence known to him, and then by kissing him before she saves his life.

• Maria Schell as Vond-Ah: Like Jor-El, a top Kryptonian scientist; but she too is not swayed by Jor-El's theories.

• Terence Stamp as General Zod: Evil leader of the three Kryptonian villains who swears vengeance against Jor-El when he is sentenced to the Phantom Zone.

• Phyllis Thaxter as Martha Kent (née Clark): Clark Kent's faithful adoptive mother. A kindly woman who dotes on her adoptive son and is fiercely devoted to her husband Jonathan. She is her son's emotional support after Clark is devastated by Jonathan's death. Thaxter was producer Ilya Salkind's mother-in-law.

• Susannah York as Lara: Superman's biological mother on Krypton. Lara, after learning of Krypton's fate, has apprehensions about sending her infant son to a strange planet alone.

• Jeff East as the teenage Clark Kent: As a teenager, Clark is forced to hide his superhuman abilities, making him unpopular among his classmates and frustrating his efforts to gain the attention of classmate Lana Lang. Following the death of his adoptive father, he travels to the Arctic to discover his Kryptonian heritage (All of East's dialogue in the film is dubbed over by Christopher Reeve).

• Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen: A teenage photographer at the Daily Planet. Jeff East, who portrayed the teenage Clark Kent, originally auditioned for this role.

• Sarah Douglas as Ursa: General Zod's second in command and consort.

• Harry Andrews as the Second Elder: Council member, who compels Jor-El to be reasonable about his, Jor-El's, plans to save his planet.

Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill have cameo appearances as Lois Lane's father and mother. Alyn and Neill portrayed Superman and Lois Lane in the film serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), and were the first actors to portray the characters onscreen in a live-action format. Neill reprised her role in the 1950s Adventures of Superman TV series, and also appeared as Lex Luthor's elderly wife in the opening scene of the film Superman Returns (2006).

Larry Hagman and Rex Reed also cameo. Two unknowns also have cameos, Edward Finneran and Tim Hussey, who were the teenage boys who won "The Great Superman Movie Contest", appearing as football players (in gray) during the scene with Clark as the equipment manager of the Smallville football team. David Petrou, the author of the making-of book about the movie also appears briefly in that scene.