HIRSCHFELD!

You Know You've Arrived When Pen Hits Paper

Even as a child, I knew I was seeing something important when looking at the evocative black and white drawings of Al Hirschfeld. Compelling artist that he was, memorializing "It's a Bird It's a Plane It's Superman©" for the New York Times proved to be no exception.

Bob Holiday as Superman, Michael O'Sullivan as Dr. Abner Sedgwick, Linda Lavin as Sydney, and Jack Cassidy as Max Mencken

I loved Linda Lavin as Sydney. I loved her spunk, I loved her voice, I loved that she fell for Clark Kent. Despite that, I always assumed that that the woman in this drawing was Lois Lane, played by Patricia Marand. Imagine my surprise finding out years later that this drawing is archived under the title "Linda Lavin" on the Al Hirschfeld Foundation website.

Then imagine the thrill of finding an authorized copy on Ebay, signed by composer Charles Strouse himself.

My own mistake aside, this is a great image. It ran in the New York Times on Sunday, March 27,1966—two days before Opening Night—accompanying a long article by Eliot Fremont-Smith, who gave his definite approval to the show's portrayal of Superman ... and Clark Kent.

How many copies of Nina can you find?