Of all the men on Earth that served as a role model and mentor to Clark Kent/Superman, none is perhaps more memorable than his Daily Planet boss, Perry White. Throughout Superman’s storied history, no less than seven notable and award-winning actors have portrayed live-action versions of Clark’s Editor-In-Chief at the Daily Planet in 2 serials, 3 Superman series, and 7 big-screen motion pictures. Each one brought something unique to the role, as each version showed Perry White at various stages in both his personal and professional life.

Perry White first appeared in the Superman comics in 1940, Superman #7, later becoming a central figure in the Columbia pictures Superman serials that were screened in movie theaters in a chapter format. His catchphrase, “Great Caesar’s Ghost!” became almost as popular as Superman’s “Up, up, and away!” during the run of the first Superman television series, The Adventures of Superman, which aired for 6 seasons during the 1950s.

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In the CW Arrowverse, Perry White has been mentioned often, but an on-screen version of the character has yet to make an extended appearance. Supergirl has referenced him and had characters have conversations with him over the phone, as Cat Grant did in season 6’s time travel episodes. In his first Arrowverse appearance, Superman was also shown having several conversations with his boss that weren’t in-person. Although early episodes of Superman & Lois have also spoken of Perry White, he hasn’t made an appearance beyond a very brief flashback cameo in the pilot. However, season 1 episode 11, "A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events" is reported to be a flashback episode of Clark and Lois’ time at the Daily Planet, which will likely include a significant appearance from Perry White at last. The actor cast in the role will join this list of distinguished actors who have played a hand in bringing Perry White to life.

Pierre Watkin

Veteran stage and character actor Pierre Watkins has the honor of being the first actor to portray a live-action version of Perry White in two of Columbia Pictures' popular Superman serials in the 1940s. He brought the same level of distinguished gentleman vibe that he was noted for to the role of White. He appeared as the seasoned, cigar-smoking newsman in both the Superman and Atom vs. Superman 15-episode serials alongside Kirk Alyn’s Clark Kent/Superman and Noel Neill’s Lois Lane. He also played a number of minor characters in The Adventures of Superman television program in the early ’50s and was even cast to reprise his Perry White role in 1958, to replace John Hamilton who had passed away, in the series when producers were looking to revive the show after cancellation. Those plans never went forward as the show ended following the untimely death of series star George Reeves in 1959. Watkin had a long and successful career in television’s Golden Age with appearances on such iconic programs as Perry Mason and I Love Lucy. His last television appearance was in 1960 in an episode of Wanted: Dead or Alive.

John Hamilton

Although he was a familiar name in both stage and television circles, John Hamilton’s work as Daily Planet Editor-in-Chief Perry White in The Adventures of Superman is his most remembered role. He was on the series for 6 seasons from 1952-1958, as part of the cast that included George Reeves as the costumed Clark Kent/Superman, along with both Noel Neill and later Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane. He carried Perry’s famous cigar and is noted for coining and his delivery of Perry White’s most famous line, “Great Caesar’s Ghost!” He was featured in one of the show’s most remembered episodes, season 3 episode 5, also called "Great Caesar’s Ghost" that had criminals trying to discredit Perry’s upcoming courtroom testimony by haunting him with a live version of Caesar’s Ghost. Hamilton died in 1958 as plans to revive the show were being initiated.

Lane Smith

The New Adventures of Superman creator Deborah Joy Levine turned to Memphis, Tennessee native and Golden Globe nominee Lane Smith to portray her show’s Perry White. Out of respect for her actor, she even changed Perry’s iconic line to “Great Shades of Elvis” and made Perry a big fan of The King and fellow Memphian, Elvis Presley. What Smith brought to the Lois & Clark series character in the four seasons he played White (1993-1997) was a more humanized look at Perry. His featured storylines included his marital troubles with the love of his life, Alice, due to the high-pressure demands of his job at the Daily Planet, and his love for his troubled son, Jerry who stole red kryptonite and tried to use it to control Superman. A respected stage and film actor in such noted films as My Cousin Vinny, Places in the Heart, and The Legend of Bagger Vance, Smith’s work as Perry White on Lois & Clark endeared him to Superman fans everywhere.

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Michael McKean

Michael McKean’s excellent work on CW hit series Smallville brought insight into the early years of Perry White’s career. In his first appearance on the show in season 3, he was a drunken, disgraced reporter who would later leave town to pull himself together after being inspired by Clark. Upon his return in season 9, he had gotten his act together and become a respected and award-winning journalist and ultimately Editor-In-Chief of the Daily Planet. He began dating Clark Kent’s widowed mother, Martha, and even asked Clark for permission to propose to his mother. McKean and Annette O’Toole are real-life husband and wife having married in 1999, with the latter having portrayed Clark's mother, Martha Kent herself. Playing Perry White was not McKean’s first introduction to Superman history, as he had previously played a villain in a first-season episode of Lois & Clark. Smallville was also not the only time he played Perry White. He also played the character in a superhero spoof on Saturday Night Live. Most noted for his role as Lenny on Laverne & Shirley and the film, This Is Spinal Tap, McKean continues to work in such award-winning programs as The Good Place, Good Omens, and Veep.

Jackie Cooper

Jackie Cooper as Perry White in Superman

What many fans of the actor who played Perry White in the four Christopher Reeve series of Superman movies may not know is that Jackie Cooper has the distinction of making history as the first child actor to ever receive an Academy Award nomination (Skippy – 1931). Cooper stepped into the role of Perry White after the originally cast Keenan Wynn had to bow out of the original Superman movie after suffering a heart attack. Cooper went on to make the role his own, with just the right amount of fatherly gruffness. Instead of Perry’s signature cigar, he’s seen mostly in sweaters during Superman, Superman II, Superman III, and Superman IV-The Quest for Peace. In addition to his many acting accolades and accomplishments, Cooper was also an Emmy award-winning television director of such programs as M*A*S*H and The White Shadow.

Frank Langella

When a recast of the role was necessary, Tony Award-winning actor Frank Langella became Perry White in director Bryan Singer’s vision of Brandon Routh’s Superman in Superman Returns in 2006. Actor Hugh Laurie was originally cast as White but had to drop out due to conflicts with the shooting schedule of his television series, House. Langella’s version of Perry White features the character later in his career as the distinguished editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet. The film also highlighted his friendship/mentorship with Lois and showed more of Perry’s private life by having his nephew, Richard, be Lois Lane’s fiancé in the film. Some of Langella’s most critically acclaimed work comes from playing historical figures. He has portrayed such figures as Richard Nixon, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, television executive William S. Paley and most recently Judge Julius Hoffman in the Oscar-nominated Trial of the Chicago 7.

Laurence Fishburne

Tony and Academy Award-nominated, and Emmy Award-winning actor Laurence Fishburne was director Zack Snyder’s choice for Perry White in his Superman films, Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Fishburne holds the distinction of being the first African American actor to play the character. In both films, Fishburne gives fans a look at another chapter in Perry White’s life. The character is a little older, a little wiser, but exudes the authority of someone who is the editor in chief of the most famous newsroom in the world with ease. He presents a gruff-professional newsman exterior, but supports his staff at any cost, leaving no one behind even in the face of death. Fishburne continues to work on stage, on television, and in films in such productions as Thurgood, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Blackish, and even recently reunited with his Matrix co-star Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 2. 

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