Who has played Superman the longest?

From the big screen to the small screen, across radio, and even the stage, a heck of a lot of actors have strapped on the cape, slipped on the boots, and have slicked back their hair to play iconic comic book hero, Superman. Going all the way back to the early days of the character’s inception, right through to the modern day, a whole heap of top talent have brought Supes to life, with many actors taking on the role more than once AND for quite some period of time.

Many of these actors you will be familiar with, but there are lots names you may not be aware of. Heck, we all know that Christopher Reeve and Henry Cavill played the part of Superman during the course of their career, but who else has donned the famous spit curl?

For example, did you know that Nathan Drake voice actor, Nolan North has voiced Superman across multiple projects and for many years? No?

How about Jack Quaid, Channing Tatum, Travis Willingham, or Nicolas Cage? Well they’ve played the role of Superman too.

Want a list of every actor to have played Superman? Then check out the list below.

Starting with Bud Collyer in 1940 (just two years after Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1) and running all the way through to today, these are the actors who have taken on the role. The list includes actors who have played Superman or variations of Superman/Clark Kent (i.e Superboy, Superpup, etc), as well as a few actors who have played baby Kal-el.

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Every actor to have played Superman

• Bud Collyer – The Adventures of Superman radio serial (1940 – 1951) + Superman Fleischer / Famous Studios cartoons (1942-1943)
• Kirk Alyn – Superman serial (1948)
• George Reeves – Adventures of Superman (1952 – 1958)

• Billy Curtis – The Adventures of Superpup (1958)
• Johnny Rockwell – The Adventures of Superboy (1961)
• Bob Holiday – It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Superman (1966)
• Danny Dark – Super Friends (1973-1974) + The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977-1978) + Challenge of the Super Friends (1978-1979) + The World’s Greatest Super Friends (1979-1980) + Super Friends (1980-1983) + Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984-1985) + The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985-1986)
• David Wilson – It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Superman TV special (1975)
• Christopher Reeve – Superman: The Movie + Superman II + Superman III + Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1978 – 1987)

• Jeff East – Superman: The Movie (1978)
• Aaron Smolinski – Superman: The Movie (1978)
• Lee Quigley – Superman: The Movie (1978)
• Beau Weaver – Superman Ruby Spiers (1988)
• Stuart Milligan – Superman On Trail (1988) + The Adventures of Superman BBC Radio 4 (1988)
• John Haymes Newton – Superboy (1988)

• Gerard Christopher – Superboy (1989 – 1992)
• Gary Jackson – It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Superman (1992)
• Stuart Milligan – Superman: Doomsday and Beyond radio drama (1993)
• Dean Cain – Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993-1997)
• Jason Marsden – Superman: The Animated Series (1996)
• Tim Daly – Superman: The Animated Series (1996-2000) + Superman: Shadow of Apokolips (2002) + Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006) + Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009) + Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010) + Justice League: Doom (2012)
• Patrick Warburton – The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman (1998 – 2004)
• Christopher McDonald – Batman Beyond (2000)

• George Newbern – Justice League + Justice League Unlimited (2000 – 2004) + The Batman (2007) + Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010) + Superman vs. The Elite (2012) + Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013) + DC Universe Online (2013) + Injustice 2 (2017) + Justice League vs. The Fatal Five (2019)
• Tom Welling – Smallville (2001 – 2011) + Arrowverse: Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019)

• Malkolm Alburquenque – Smallville (2001)
• Michael Daingerfield – Krypto the Superdog (2005)
• Yuri Lowenthal – Legion of Super Heroes (2006 – 2008)
• Brandon Routh – Superman Returns (2006) + Arrowverse: Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019)
• Cheyenne Jackson – It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Superman (2007)
• Adam Baldwin – Superman: Doomsday (2007)

• Kyle MacLachlan – Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
• Mark Harmon – Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)
• Matt Cavenaugh – It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Superman (2010)
• Nolan North – Young Justice (2010 – 2022) + Lego DC Comics: Batman Be-Leaguered (2014) + Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League (2015) + Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Attack of the Legion of Doom (2015) + Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Cosmic Clash (2016) + Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Gotham City Breakout (2016) + Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis (2018) + Lego DC Comics Superheroes: The Flash (2018) + Lego DC: Shazam! Magic and Monsters (2020)

• James Denton – All-Star Superman (2011)
• Mark Valley – Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 & 2 (2012 – 2013)
• Edward Watts – It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Superman (2013)
• Matt Bomer – Superman: Unbound (2013)
• Sam Daly – Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)
• Travis Willingham – Lego Batman: The Movie (2013) + Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022)

• Henry Cavill – Man of Steel + Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice + Justice League (2013) + Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) + Black Adam (2022)
• Dylan Sprayberry – Man of Steel (2013)
• Alan Tudyk – Justice League: War (2014)
• Peter Jessop – JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time (2014)

• Channing Tatum – The Lego Movie (2014) + The Lego Batman Movie (2017) + Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)
• Jerry O’Connell – Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015) + Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016) + Justice League Dark (2017) + The Death of Superman (2018) + Reign of the Supermen (2019) + Batman: Hush (2019) + Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020)
• Craig Berry – It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Superman (2015)
• Benjamin Bratt – Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015)
• Daniel DiMaggio – Supergirl (2016)
• Tyler Hoechlin – Supergirl (2016 – 2019) + Arrowverse: Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019) + Superman & Lois (2021 – 2024)
• Jason J. Lewis – Justice League Action (2016 – 2018)
• Nicolas Cage – Teen Titans GO! to the Movies (2018) + The Flash (2023)
• Jason Isaacs – Superman: Red Son (2020)

• Darren Criss – Superman: Man of Tomorrow (2020) + Justice Society: World War II (2021) + Legion of Superheroes (2023) + Justice League: Warworld (2023) + Justice League: Infinite Crisis: Part One (2024) + Justice League: Infinite Crisis: Part Two (2024) + Justice League: Infinite Crisis: Part Three (2024)
• Justin Hartley – Injustice (2021)
• John Krasinski – DC League of Super-Pets (2022)
• Jack Quaid – My Adventures with Superman (2023 – 2025)
• Chandler Riggs – Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen – Part One (2023) + Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen – Part Two (2023)
• David Corenswet – Superman (2025)

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Superman: A legacy

One thing you’ll notice about the list above is the fact that from 1940 onward, Superman has regularly appeared outside of the printed page with very little downtime. In recent years, the character has received a great deal of exposure thanks in large part to the excellent animated shows and animated movies produced by Warner Bros. Animation, and this means many actors have played the character for quite a long period of time.

But now for the answer to the big question: Who has played Superman the longest?

Well, this is a bit of a tricky question, because it depends on if you are asking who has PLAYED the character the most, who has APPEARED in the most projects, or who has STAYED in the role the longest?

In terms of episodes, Bud Collyer had a whopping 2088-episode run on The Adventures of Superman radio show (plus he provided the voice for the animated shorts), so Collyer played the role of Superman the most, and this is a record unlikely to be beaten anytime soon. However, Collyer crammed his time as Superman into an eleven-year period.

So, while Collyer’s dedication to Superman is indeed impressive stuff, ultimately he has not played the character the longest.

For the purpose of a straight forward answer, here are the actors to have appeared in the role over the longest period of time – in reverse order.

• Bud Collyer – Eleven years between 1940 & 1951
• Nolan North – Twelve years between 2010 & 2020
• Danny Dark – Thirteen years between 1973 & 1986
• Brandon Routh – Thirteen years between 2006 & 2019
• Tim Daly – Sixteen years between 1996 & 2012
• Tom Welling – Eighteen years between 2001 & 2019
• George Newbern – Nineteen years between 2000 & 2019

So, who has played Superman the longest? George Newbern!

To date, George Newbern has played the role of Superman across the longest stretch of time. Bud Collyer easily takes the crown if you want to factor in the amount of times the actor has played the part, but in terms of years of service, it’s Newbern that currently gets the gold watch.

Please note: The Christopher Reeve version of Superman cameoed in 2023’s The Flash, which would technically make him the longest running Superman, but this cameo has not been counted because Reeve didn’t play the role. Instead, he was inserted, long after his death, using some awful CGI/A.I. nonsense.

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Editor/Writer/Super-Dude

Alex Wiggan

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Thank you for taking the time to read this post about Superman on It’s A Stampede! – I hope it has proved useful. For more useful posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.