Hall of Fame: Michael J Hayde

The Adventures of Superman began as a fast action type crime drama that stood up proudly against the best film noir works of the time. But this format drew some criticism from the sponsor and parents of children watching the show who felt the violence and serious tone was too strong for the elementary school set.

In response to this demand for a change in the series format, Whitney Ellsworth gradually converted the show into a more lighthearted whimsical presentation where the bad guys ended up getting their heads knocked together before being escorted to the pokey by Superman. A stream of character actors graced the show in support of this new format. Certainly at the top of that list was Phillips Tead who appeared in 6 episodes of TAOS in Seasons 3 through 6, one time playing a character called Mr. Willy and then the succeeding five times playing the quirky, geeky, eccentric, yet lovable Professor Pepperwinkle.

Phillips Tead was born in Massachusetts in 1893 and passed away in Los Angeles California in 1974. He appeared in over 150 major motion pictures and television shows including “I Love Lucy”, “Sugarfoot”, “Lassie” and “Lawman”. His first film appearance was in a movie called “The Lost Paradise, in 1914.

In Season 3, Tead appears as Mr. Willy in “The Seven Souvenirs”. Of the six episodes in which Tead appears, this is the only one where he does not portray Professor Pepperwinkle and does not invent anything. Tead plays Mr. Willy comes up with a terrific business venture by selling genuine superman souvenirs. Sounds innocent until several people ended up robbed and assaulted in an effort to attain a bent knife supposed mutilated by Superman. But when Clark makes a visit to Mr. Willy’s shop he discovers that Mr. Willy is actually bending them himself and selling them as under false pretenses. Clark goes to find out by getting himself captured by the crooks who want one of the knives he has in his possession, he discovers the mastermind is the first victim of an assault for the suspicious knife. When Superman examines them he finds that his x-ray vision transformed the contents of the knives into pure radium worth millions of dollars which Jasper intentionally wanted Superman to do. As for Mr. Willy…he decided quite wisely to get out of the souvenir business and become a baker, the final scene being one where he muses about how much Superman’s cape would be worth in the souvenir market.

The next five episodes in which Tead appears, they entail his presenting his latest invention to the staff of the Daily Planet and somehow in the story his technological innovation ends up in the wrong hands so that Superman has to intercede to save the day. Though clearly very intelligent for his ability to come up with so many high tech marvels, it’s obvious that the good professor suffers from a slight short-term memory problem. But like so many things in TAOS, this is something the audience manages to ignore in favor of just enjoying the story.

In “Topsy Turvy”, Professor Pepperwinkle invents a machine that turns your environment and everyone around you upside down. In “The Phony Alibi”, Tead returns again as Professor Pepperwinkle with an invention called a “de-atmosphere-ing chamber” that could be described as the prototype of the energizer chamber in Star Trek. Pepperwinkle invents a telephone that allows you to physically wire yourself to the destination of your choice. In “The Big Forget” Pepperwinkle invents a vapor that causes those who inhale it to temporarily lose their short term memory. In “The Gentle Monster” we get to meet Pepperwinkle’s adorable robotic friend and companion, Mr. McTavish. In the final episode of Superman called “All That Glitters” Pepperwinkle invents a machine that turns scrap iron into gold. This episode is all the more significant in that it is directed by George Reeves himself and depicts Noel Neill and Jack Larson flying like Superman using the special effects apparatus created by Si Simonson, better know as the frying pan.

Phillips Tead created two lively and charming characters that contributed greatly to the look, feel and charm of the color episodes of Seasons 3 through 6 of TAOS. He stands along with others who graced the television screen and stood toe to toe with George Reeves for the creation of one of the most unforgettable children’s shows of the 1950’s. Whenever he appeared on the screen you couldn’t help but smile. Please join me in welcoming Phillips Tead to the George Reeves Hall of Fame at Glass House Presents.

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