Hall of Fame: Lou Koza

Like millions of other kids in the early 1960s, Lou Koza was enthralled every afternoon with the televised Adventures of Superman. Since those days he's become a very knowledgeable fan of the various media versions of the Man of Steel, including the comic books and feature films. But the TV show and its star, George Reeves, impressed him like no other interpretation, and Lou began a long journey down the road of collecting all sorts of memorabilia about his hero. Perhaps he's put in more plain hard work than many typical Superman fans, or maybe he just has an inborn knack for tracking down rare photos and little known newspaper and magazine articles. However he accomplishes it, Lou is known for his ability to get the "story behind the story" of George Reeves.

For example, Lou was able to contact Keith Thibodeaux, who played "Little Ricky" on I Love Lucy. Lou's interview with Keith in Jim Nolt's TAC magazine gave a fascinating behind the scenes look at George Reeves' memorable guest appearance at Little Ricky's birthday party. And the story behind the story is that Keith was a big Superman fan, just like us. He was just as in awe of George when he met him in person as any of us would have been.

One of Lou's most impressive accomplishments occurred in 1995 when he actually explored the inside of George Reeves' former home on Benedict Canyon Drive. He was the first fan to get a true picture of the layout of George's house, especially the upstairs bedroom. Lou still has excitement in his voice and a gleam in his eye each and every time he tells the story behind the story of how he pulled off this super stunt. He also took things a step further and created a three-dimensional floor plan of the house which is posted on Jim Nolt's The Adventures Continue web site @ www.jimnolt.com/1579bcd.htm. Now, even though it's highly unlikely that any of us fans will ever be inside, we can all easily visualize the actual layout of George's home.

As Lou's collection of Superman material grew, he became more and more interested in the personal life and career of George Reeves, in addition to his performances as the Man of Steel. Finally, Lou had so much material that in 2002 he decided to release a CD entitled Saving George Reeves, which contains a PowerPoint presentation of many photos and magazine articles, some of which can be seen nowhere else. Lou followed this up with a second volume "Saving George Reeves Two," which presents even more rare material. The articles contained on these two CDs give us a greater understanding of George Reeves, the flesh and blood actor and also some rare insight into how Reeves, himself, viewed his role as Superman. More information on the CDs can be found @ www.jimnolt.com/kozacd.htm.

Lou's amazing collection continues to grow with enough unique photos and articles for yet another presentation of some kind. Whatever format Lou may use to share with us more of his George Reeves material, we can be certain of one thing. He will give us more of the "story behind the story," the story behind the man who was, and is Superman. For this, all of us fans owe Lou our thanks. His hard work and willingness to share the amazing things he discovers have certainly earned him a place in the George Reeves Hall of Fame.