By Rennie Cowan
Stacy Haiduk played the iconic role of Lana Lang in the Superboy TV Series. She was the girl next door, or rather, the girl right down the dorm hall from Clark Kent. They attended Shuster University together in Florida, straight off the farm. They both grew up in Smallville but Clark never revealed his secret abilities to her, nor his secret identity. There were, however, fantasy episodes that revealed Clark's identity to Lana, but the end always put things back into their proper perspectives with Lana forgetting everything, or it was a dream (or an alternate reality). It was eluded that Lana and Superboy were more than just friends by the fourth season, but as a family series it never fully developed and kept the intrigue alive.
(Above) Authentic Stacy Haiduk personalized autographs to the webmaster of Superboy Theater.
The fantasy episodes where Lana discovered Clark's identity were a two-part episode called "Abandon Earth" and "Escape to Earth" which aired during the second season; time had to be changed, so with a kiss from Superboy, Lana Lang forgot his identity. The other episode was a a third season episode called "Mindscape" where Clark was dreaming that Lana found out about his secret identity. Of course, that was just a dream so Lana never found out. An alternate Earth Lana also discovered Clark's identity, not understanding the point of the Superboy costume in the two-part fourth season episode called "Road to Hell" part 1 and 2.
You may have seen or heard many portrayls of Lana Langs through the years of Superman entertainment history; Bunny Henning, Janet Waldo, Annette O'Toole, Emily Procter, Kelly Schmit,Joely Fisher and Kristin Kreuk. Like Annette O'Toole, Stacy was a red-head and one that is most remembered in the Lana Lang role. In DC comics, Lana Lang had been drawn with red hair; that appeared to be her trademark until Emily Procter played Lana Lang in "Lois and Clark" with blonde hair. In the end, all fans know that Superman will eventually end up with Lois Lane - so some people may ask, why bother? That wasn't the case in the Superboy TV Series. Lana Lang was the star, not Lois, and Stacy Haiduk made us believe that Lana was the right woman for Superman. Lana Lang's first appearance was in Superboy #10 of DC Comics.
(Above) Authentic Stacy Haiduk and Gerard Christopher autograph of issue #1 Superboy:The Comic Book, and (above) authentic Stacy Haiduk autograph of issue #3 of Superboy: The Comic Book.
Like Lana Lang, all of Superman's love interests held the intials of LL (Lois Lane anybody?).
Today, Stacy Haiduk is actively working as an actress and has gained much attention in her latest role as Mary Jane Benson on "The Young and the Restless". She was close to winning an emmy, and many feel she should have received one. She has worked on "Days of our Lives" and there is talks of her coming back to the soaps. So she'll get that emmy yet! Stacy has also had roles on notable TV shows like "Charmed", "The X-Files", "ER", "Prison Break" and even as a series regular on "Seaquest DSV" in which the show directly competed for ratings with the latest Superman incarnation "Lois and Clark".
Stacy Haiduk has also recently played Hannah Nicols on the long-running ABC daytime drama "All My Children". She is sure to stay in the public eye as an actress. In real life, she is married to Bradford Tatum who is also an actor. He has also sculpted artwork for the Desmond Gallery in Hollywood, California. And, he is also the author of a book. Be sure to visit Stacy Haiduk's official website for all the latest news about her exciting acting career.
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