A special treat for Friday the 13th: The most awesome line-up of pop culture creators ever assembled on a single stage (that month, at least). What fun to see this photo from Famous Monsters of Filmland #135, from July 1977. The comics highlight is seeing a fairly healthy-looking Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman, alongside one of the actors who portrayed their character and among a group of their peers in the fiction, film, and television world.
I only wish Jack Kirby, also present at the awards to introduce Bob Clampett, was in the picture as well. (I wonder, are there any photos of Shuster and Kirby together? All I could find was this one of the King with the Beany and Cecil creator.) Also, I’m not sure if this was the only awards ceremony for the Hall of Fame, one of creator Doug Wright‘s (not to be confused with the Canadian cartoonist) many endeavours, including conventions and a movie museum. Did the Hall of Fame merge with the Saturn Awards? Did Wright switch all his energies to his Sci-Fi magazine? Did they simply fade out? I can’t say.
The photo is featured in the article “Chris Lee, Danforth’s Pal & Supermen… meet Robert Bloch in Metropolis” –a report by writer Paul Linden from the first annual Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Hall of Fame awards and luncheon, held in Hollywood the previous December, 1976. Honourees were Christopher Lee (actor, Dracula), Forrest J. Ackerman (editor, Famous Mobsters), Robert Bloch (writer, Psycho), Jim Danforth (stop-motion animator, Journey to the 7th Planet, Outer Limits) Jay Robinson (character actor), and director George Pal of (War of the Worlds).
See another photo in colour and hear Robert Bloch’s speech here.
