The Many Faces Of... Lucy Lane
Written by Russ Dimino

Did you know that Lois Lane isn't the only girl in her family with a spunky attitude and a tendency for getting herself into trouble? Heck, she's not even the only girl in her family with double initials. Lois's younger sister, Lucy, may be the lesser known of the Lane sisters, but she's not one to hide in the shadow of her older sibling. In this edition of "The Many Faces Of...", we'll take a look at Lucy's history, and how she's been portrayed over the years.

Lucy Lane first appeared in the comic book series "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen" #36, in April of 1959. She was often written as a potential love interest for Jimmy, and made many regular appearances in this series, which focused on the adventures of the cub reporter with the red hair and bow tie.

When the "Supergirl" movie hit theaters in 1984, it was without "Superman" franchise stars Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder. However, the movie did boast several continuity ties to the "Superman" films, such as Marc McClure reprising his role as Jimmy Olsen. This time out, Jimmy even got a girlfriend... you guessed it, Lois's sister, Lucy Lane, played by Maureen Teefy (Demi Moore was reportedly up for the role, but opted out!). In the film, Lucy was Supergirl's college roommate, while Supergirl attended school in her secret identity of Linda Lee. (Yes, another "Double L"! The film even pokes fun at this, when the principal stumbles over the girls' names as he tries to introduce Linda Lee to Lucy Lane.) Some of Ms. Teefy's other credits include "Fame," "Grease 2" and "Sunset."

There were actually two Lucys on "Lois & Clark." The first, Elizabeth Barondes, was on board from the very beginning, and even appeared in the opening credits of the pilot episode. Initially, Lois and Lucy shared an apartment, and Lucy often gave her older sister a hard time about not being able to hold onto a boyfriend. The series also made a nod to the Jimmy Olsen/Lucy Lane connection, with Jimmy asking her out in the second episode. This subplot did not get much of a chance to go anywhere, however. After the third episode, Lucy mysteriously disappeared from the show, with her character getting only an occasional mention from time to time. Since then, Ms. Barondes has appeared in movies like "Made" and "The Forsaken," and made guest appearances on "ER" and "Judging Amy."

In the second season of "L&C," Lucy did reappear for one episode. This time out, she was played by Roxana Zal, and dating a hoodlum named John Corbin. When Corbin was transformed into the cyborg Metallo by two LexCorp scientists, his new kryptonite heart nearly killed Superman. Distraught over the fact that her boyfriend had become a supervillain, Lucy turned to Lois for comfort, knowing that she'd also dated a man who had turned out to be evil... Then again, as Lucy reminded Lois, "at least Lex Luthor was human." Ouch. Ms. Zal has appeared on TV series like "Crossing Jordan" and "NCIS." (Thanks to Colt__45 for the cap of Roxana!)

Lucy made one very brief appearance on "Superman The Animated Series," in a flashback in the episode "Monkey Fun." Aria Noelle Curzon provided the voice of Young Lucy, as Lois recalled a time when she and her sister took care of a chimp named Titano that was to be launched off in a rocket as a space monkey. Ms. Curzon has done many other voice roles, including several of the "Land Before Time" films, and animated TV series "Nightmare Ned" and "Recess." She has had a few live action roles as well, which include shows like "Mad About You," "JAG" and "Without A Trace."

With the March 2nd, 2005 episode of "Smallville," Lucy Lane will make her return to the small screen. This time out, she will be played by Peyton List. Ms. List should be used to the name "Lucy" by now, having played Lucy Montgomery on "As The World Turns" for the last four years. Her other credits include episodes of "Sex and the City," "Law and Order," and a movie called "The Greatest Game Ever Played" that is currently in post-production.

We would be remiss, however, if we did not point out that Lucy Lane is not the only Lucy with a special place in the Superman mythos. In the 1957 episode of "I Love Lucy" titled "Lucy and Superman," Lucille Ball meets the Man of Steel, with George Reeves, star of the original "Adventures of Superman" series, reprising the role. "Lois & Clark" even paid tribute to this historic meeting in the episode "Don't Tug On Superman's Cape," in a humorous black and white spoof that had Clark talking like Ricky Ricardo and Lois doing her own rendition of Lucy's classic whine!

Though Lucy Lane has never had much more than a minor role in most adaptations of the Superman legend, she has still managed to stick around in some form or another since 1959. Perhaps her appearance on "Smallville" will rekindle some fan interest in her. It is ironic to note, however, that Lois's little sister has been traditionally linked to Jimmy Olsen, romantically... yet, if the innuendo in the "Smallville" episode "Unsafe" is to be believed, it looks like her cousin got to him first this time. Jerry Springer, anyone?

Note: The views of Russ Dimino don't necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite.

Read some of Russ's other columns! Many Faces Of...: Lana Lang - The Kents - Lex Luthor - Lois Lane - The Flash - Jor-El and Lara - Mxyzptlk - The Other Women Of Clark Kent

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