A Major DC Comics Character’s Look Was Based On The Star Of A Classic Sitcom

As comic book fans know, Shazam’s secret identity is that of a young boy, as it’s only when Billy Batson says the magic word “Shazam” that he transforms into the superhero. What they may not know is that the artist who designed the original character modeled him on Fred MacMurray, a big movie star of the ’30s and ’40s who would later become known for his leading role on the ’60s sitcom “My Three Sons.”

Shazam debuted in 1940’s “Whiz Comics” #2 from Fawcett Comics. Writer Bill Parker was tasked with creating a new character to get in on the budding superhero comic craze, and it was up to illustrator C.C. Beck to design him. As detailed in “The Steranko History of Comics,” Beck was previously a supervising editor on Fawcett’s movie magazines, which perhaps explains why he turned to Fred MacMurray’s famously square cleft jaw and dark black hair for inspiration.

At the time of his first comic book appearance, the superhero now known as Shazam was called Captain Marvel. A complicated, decades-spanning mess of copyright claims, trademark infringement, and acquisitions involving original publisher Fawcett Comics, independent publisher M.F. Enterprises, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics eventually prompted an official name change, though later iterations of the character still bore a resemblance to MacMurray.

“My Three Sons” ran for 12 seasons between 1960 and 1972 (switching networks from ABC to CBS in that time), airing 380 episodes in total. Fred MacMurray starred as aeronautical engineer and widower Steven Douglas, who has to navigate raising his three sons as a single parent. As it would happen, the comic book character that MacMurray inspired would be played by other sitcom stars in the years that followed, most famously Zachary Levi.

Levi debuted as Shazam in the 2019 movie of the same name, part of the DC Extended Universe (which has since been replaced by James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe). Prior to that, he was best known for the fan-favorite spy comedy “Chuck” and “Less Than Perfect,” a sitcom set at a TV network that aired on ABC between 2002 and 2006. Levi played the shallow and conniving executive assistant Kipp Steadman, the role that brought him to national attention.

Shazam has also been voiced by a couple of actors with sitcom pedigree. In 2005, the character (still known as Captain Marvel at the time) featured in a Season 2 episode of the cartoon “Justice League Unlimited,” clashing with Superman after joining the titular team. He was voiced by Jerry O’Connell, who was in the ABC sitcom “Camp Wilder” as a teen and more recently starred in the CBS sitcom “We Are Men.”

Robe Lowe, who made his TV debut as teenager Tony Flanagan in the ABC sitcom “A New Kind of Family” and later played health-obsessed local government official Chris Traeger in the NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation,” also voiced an animated Captain Marvel. The former Brat Pack member played the superhero in two episodes of “Young Justice,” which TVLine ranks among the best animated DC shows of all time.