Biography for
Bud Collyer More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

18 June 1908, New York City, New York, USA

Date of Death

8 September 1969, Greenwich, Connecticut, USA (circulatory ailment)

Birth Name

Clayton Johnson Heermance Jr.

Mini Biography

Most of Clayton's family was in show biz, but he initially decided to go into his father's field, law. He worked his way through Fordham University as a radio actor and singer, then took a job as a law clerk. Two years later, realizing that radio was very much more lucrative a career, he changed his last name to Collyer and became a full-time actor. He was performing on every major network by the age of 32. Collyer assumed his most famous radio role in 1940, the title character in "The Adventures of Superman." Collyer used different voices for Superman and Clark Kent, while making good use of the well-known lines "This is a job for Superman!" and "Up, up, and away!" He would continue as Superman until 1949, one year before the series ended, also playing the character in animated shorts by Max Fleischer. Collyer became involved in radio game shows at about the same time. He was co-host of ABC's "Break the Bank" for five years and host of "Winner Take All." Among the few radio personalities to successfully transition into television, he hosted the TV versions of his two radio shows. In early 1950, Collyer became host of "Beat the Clock" (1950), which ran in prime time and daytime for the next 11 years. In late 1956, he also became the host of his biggest success, "To Tell the Truth" (1956). This lasted for 12 years and made his "Will the real [contestant's name] please stand up?" a part of the American lexicon. One year after his last appearance on "To Tell the Truth" (1956), Collyer died of a circulatory ailment at age 61.

IMDb Mini Biography By: J. Pope

Spouse

Marion Shockley	(14 June 1952 - 8 September 1969) (his death) 3 children
Heloise Law Green	(17 April 1936 - 4 May 1951) (divorced) 1 child

Trivia

Brother of June Collyer.

TV personality.

Collyer is his mother's maiden name.

He was the superintendent of a Sunday School.

Wrote two books, "Thou Shalt Not Fear" and "With the Whole Heart."

With his second wife, he had three children, two girls and a boy (the youngest).

Brother of Richard V. Heermance.

Portrayed the character of Superman three times, but was never seen by the audience in the role. He voiced the character for the popular radio show, the Fleischer Studios cartoons, and the late 1960s cartoon series "The New Adventures of Superman" (1966).

His desire to take some time off from the Superman radio show led to the creation of part of Superman lore: his vulnerability to kryptonite. For episodes in which Collyer did not appear, Superman was said to be held prisoner under a trap door with a piece of the deadly metal. This later became part of the comics continuity and an important part of all subsequent portrayals of the character.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6150 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.