The Many Faces Of The Luthors (2017 Update)

With the Supergirl episode “Luthors” airing tonight, it seems the perfect time to update Russ Dimino’s 2008 column originally called “The Many Faces Of… The House of Luthor,” exploring the many actors who have played members of Lex Luthor’s family throughout the years. Enjoy!

Since the very beginning, Lex Luthor has proven to be one of Superman’s most enduring foes. Though he does not have the superhuman abilities that some of Superman’s other enemies possess, the bald billionaire has provided a constant challenge to the man of steel through his misguided genius, his ruthlessness, and his never-ending quest for power. But what makes such a man? How did Lex Luthor turn out this way? Perhaps we can learn more about him by examining where he comes from. In this edition of “The Many Faces Of…” we will take a look at Lex Luthor’s family tree as it’s been portrayed on film and TV, and see what other members of the Luthor clan shaped Lex into the villain that we all know.

The first Superman movie in 1978 introduced fans to Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor, who proudly pontificated to his underlings Miss Teschmacher and Otis the lessons that he had learned from his father. Among them: “Son, stocks may rise and fall. Utilities and transportation systems may collapse. People are no damn good. But they will always need land, and they will pay through the nose to get it!” This piece of fatherly advice informed Lex’s motivations in this film to try to sink part of the California coast in order to drive up the value of the desert land that he owned.

In 1987’s “Superman IV: The Quest For Peace,” Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor was saddled with an accomplice in the form of his nephew, Lenny Luthor. Lenny breaks “Uncle Lex” out of prison near the start of the film, then assists him in stealing a lock of Superman’s hair from a museum in order to create the villainous Nuclear Man. Lex has little patience for his nephew, referring to the lad as “the Dutch Elm disease on my family tree.” Though the movie never states specifically how the two are related, the comic book adaptation of the film contains a line about Lex wishing his sister had become a nun, so apparently Lenny is intended to be the son of Lex’s sister. Speaking with an annoying valley accent, Lenny was played by Jon Cryer, popular at the time for his role as Duckie in the John Hughes film “Pretty in Pink.” Cryer would go on to star on “Two and a Half Men.”

In a two-part episode of the “Superboy” TV series titled “Know Thine Enemy,” Superboy is able to live out part of Lex Luthor’s childhood via a virtual reality program. In so doing, he discovers that Lex was raised by an abusive father, and the only person who really cared for him was his sister, Lena. Lena is played by Jennifer Hawkins in the flashback scenes, and as an adult by Denise Gossett. Lex’s father is played by Edgar Allan Poe IV (apparently a descendant of the famed writer/poet), his mother by Kathy Gustafson-Hilton.

On “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” Lois Lane finally lands her exclusive interview with John Shea’s Lex Luthor. He reveals that his parents died when he was in his early teens (in the pilot, Lois says he was 14, but in “Barbarians at the Planet” Lex himself says he was 13). Though the show does not spell it out, the comics at the time had recently revealed that Lex had his own parents murdered in order to collect their life insurance. It is possible that the show intended for their Lex to have the same backstory, but it is unclear whether or not this is the case.

The “Lois & Clark” Lex does have several other branches on the family tree by way of wives and children. Though he almost makes Lois Lane his bride at the end of season one, they do not actually marry, as the wedding is called off at the last second just before Lex is publicly revealed as a criminal. In the second season premiere “Madame Ex,” we learn that Lex has an ex-wife named Arianna Carlin. Arianna blames Lois and Superman for Lex’s apparent death (he jumped off the LexCorp building in the previous episode), and she concocts a revenge scheme that includes subliminal newspaper headlines, a double of Lois, and a kryptonite bullet. Carlin is played by Emma Samms, well known from “General Hospital” and “Dynasty.”

In the season three episode “Virtually Destroyed,” we learn that Lex had an illegitimate son named Jaxon Xavier. Lex had claimed that the son and his mother died in a car accident. A computer genius, Jaxon creates a virtual reality world that he hopes to use to obtain Lex’s computer access codes. We also learn in this episode that, if Lex and Lois had married and had children, their names would have been Alexis, Roxanne, Lynx, and Clark (Lex insisted all his children have an “x” in their names… “Clark” was Lois’s pick). The episode ends with Jaxon trapped in the virtual world. Jaxon is played by Andy Berman, who had played Chuck Coleman on “The Wonder Years.” He also appeared on “Blossom” and “Wings.”

In the show’s fourth season, a three-episode long story arc expanded Lex’s legacy even further. Over the course of “Faster Than A Speeding Vixen,” “Shadow Of A Doubt,” and “Voice From The Past,” we are introduced to Leslie Luckabee, an enterprising businessman who buys the Daily Planet. Working with a troll-like character who goes by “Mr. Smith,” Leslie intends to rebuild Lex’s empire, steal Lois Lane away from Clark Kent, and kill Superman. We are led to believe that Leslie is Lex Luthor’s son, but it eventually becomes clear that it is actually “Mr. Smith” who is, in fact, Lex Luthor Junior, and Leslie is merely a hired actor who provides Luthor Junior with a public face. The fact that Luthor Junior wants to marry Lois Lane, the same woman that his father almost married, is, admittedly, a bit disturbing. Leslie Luckabee is played by Patrick Cassidy, who would later appear on “Smallville” as Henry Small. Keith Brunsmann plays Mr. Smith/Lex Luthor Junior. Brunsmann would later appear on “The X Files,” “Charmed,” and “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” to name a few more sci-fi shows.

The show that has delved the deepest into Lex Luthor’s familial roots is “Smallville.” Beginning with the pilot episode in 2001, we are introduced to Lex’s father, Lionel, played by John Glover. (Though we did see Lex’s father on the “Superboy” show, the character of Lionel originated with “Smallville,” despite what we may have led you to believe back on April Fool’s Day in 2005!)

Their initial visit to the town of Smallville in 1989 finds Lex and Lionel in the path of the infamous meteor shower that brings baby Kal-El to earth. The meteor exposure causes little Lex’s hair to fall out. Years later, Lionel “exiles” his son back to that same town to manage a failing fertilizer plant. Throughout the series, Lionel drives his son relentlessly, giving him many tests and trials that push him closer and closer to the edge of sanity. In the first few seasons alone we see Lionel close Lex’s factory and fire his entire work force (in the episode “Tempest”), plant listening devices in Lex’s office to thwart his business deals (“Insurgence”), pretend to be blind (most of season two), force Lex to undergo electroshock therapy (“Asylum”), and even have sex with Lex’s former girlfriend, Victoria Hardwick (“Leech”). One of their darkest moments comes at the end of the first season, when a tornado strikes the mansion, leaving Lionel pinned down under some wreckage and about to be impaled. Lex is forced to decide whether to save his father’s life or let him die… ultimately, he saves Lionel, but it is a difficult decision.

Lex’s mother, Lillian Luthor, died of a heart condition when Lex was 13. Though she is referenced often throughout the first two seasons of Smallville, we do not actually see her until the third season episode “Memoria,” in a flashback sequence. She appears again in “Lexmas,” “Void,” and “Fracture.” (She also appears in a deleted scene from the episode “Scare,” which can be found on the season four DVD set.) Throughout Lex’s childhood, Lillian tries to protect her son from Lionel’s influence. In “Lexmas” and “Void,” she appears to Lex to warn him about the path he is headed down, trying to prevent her son’s inevitable turn towards the dark side. Lillian is played by Alisen Down, who has also appeared on “Battlestar Galactica,” and “Robson Arms.”

When Lex was 11, Lillian became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son, named Julian. Lillian, suffering from a mental illness and fearing that Lionel would raise their sons to become enemies, smothered the child to death in his crib on the morning of his baptism. Lex took the blame for the baby’s death to protect his mother, incurring Lionel’s wrath himself. Julian was first mentioned in the episode “Stray” in season one, but the full story of his death was not revealed until “Memoria.”

Lex also has a half-brother, named Lucas. While Lillian was sick, Lionel had an affair with one of her nurses, a woman named Rachel Dunleavy. First referenced in the episode “Lineage,” Lionel claims the child died before his first birthday. However, Lex manages to track down the still-living Lucas in the episode “Prodigal.” Lex and Lionel then proceed to use Lucas against each other for control of LuthorCorp. Ultimately, Lex and Lucas turn the tables on their father, and the episode ends with Lucas under Lex’s protection, though he is never seen or even referenced on the show again. Lucas is played by Paul Wasilewski, who has since changed his “stage name” to Paul Wesley. Wesley also starred in the “Fallen” mini-series on ABC Family, and went on to star on “The Vampire Diaries.”

Throughout the third season of “Smallville,” one of the ongoing subplots revolved around the true fate of Lex’s grandparents, Lachlan and Eliza Luthor, who had died in a tenement fire in the 1970’s. In a storyline that paralleled the origins of the comic book Lex Luthor, it was revealed that Lionel had arranged his parents’ murder in order to collect their life insurance. Lex eventually learns of this, and helps the FBI bring his father down, sending Lionel to jail. Lachlan appears in a flashback scene in the episode “Relic,” where he is played by John Mann.

Lex was married three times on “Smallville.” His first marriage came in the second season episode “Heat,” in which Lex marries Desiree Atkins, a biology teacher at Smallville High who has the power to release love-inducing pheromones. By putting Lex under her love spell, Desiree gets the boy billionaire to do her bidding, which includes tying the knot. By the episode’s end, the truth is revealed and the marriage is annulled. Desiree is played by Krista Allen, who has since appeared on episodes of “What About Brian,” “Mistresses,” and “Significant Mother.”

Lex’s second “Smallville” wife was Dr. Helen Bryce. The two had met in Metropolis years earlier, then cross paths again in Smallville at an anger management class. The two slowly fall in love and then marry at the end of the second season, but it was not meant to last… Helen tries to kill Lex right after the wedding in a staged plane crash. Lex, of course, survives his brush with death, then attempts to get Helen to confess by re-enacting the scene on another plane. Helen ends up parachuting out. but is never seen again on the show. Helen is played by Emmanuelle Vaugier, who went on to appear in “Saw II,” “Saw IV”, “Two and a Half Men,” an episode of “Supernatural,” the pilot episode of “Painkiller Jane,” “CSI: NY,” “One Tree Hill” and “40 Days and 40 Nights”… a pretty impressive resume!

Wife number three was none other than Lana Lang, much to the chagrin of Clark Kent. The marriage occurs in the sixth season episode “Promise.” Though she has reservations about going to the altar, Lana is coerced by Lionel, who threatens to kill Clark if Lana doesn’t marry Lex. At the time, Lana also believes she is pregnant with Lex’s child, though that eventually proves to be untrue (she was apparently never pregnant after all). The season ends with Lana faking her death to get out of the marriage. Lana is, of course, played by Kristin Kreuk.

The movie “Superman Returns” contains a brief reference to Lex’s father, which echoes the Gene Hackman version. Lex (Kevin Spacey) asks Kitty Kowalski what it was that his father told him when he was young. “You’re losing your hair?” she suggests. “Before that,” he replies. “Get out?” she asks. No, Lex explains. “You can print money, manufacture diamonds, and people are a dime a dozen, but they’ll always need land,” Lex says. “It’s the one thing they’re not making any more of.” This prompts Lex’s plan to create a new continent using a crystal from the Fortress of Solitude.

In the seventh season of “Smallville,” The Daily Planet gets a new editor, a young man named Grant Gabriel. At the end of the episode “Blue,” viewers are teased into believing that Grant is actually Julian Luthor, somehow still alive and all grown up. The following episode, “Gemini,” explains that Grant is not actually Julian, but a clone that Lex created of his late brother. When Grant learns his true origins, he turns against Lex and becomes close with Lionel, despite Lex’s warnings to stay away from his father. Lex then hires a hitman to kill Grant, making it look like a mugging. Grant dies in Lionel’s arms. Grant is played by Michael Cassidy, known for his roles on “The O.C.,” “Privileged,” and “Men at Work.” Mister Cassidy has another, more recent Superman connection as well – he appeared as a very-quickly-killed-off Jimmy Olsen in “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” (And if you didn’t realize he was supposed to be Jimmy, that’s because they only called him by name in the extended cut.)

Grant was not Lex’s first attempt at cloning Julian. A man named Adrian Cross was an early result of Lex’s “Project Gemini” program, but the imperfect process led to the clone aging too quickly. Lex shoots and kills Adrian in an attempt to cover up the truth. Adrian is played by Tim Guinee.

Over the course of season seven, Lex learns of Lionel’s involvement in a secret society called Veritas in the 1980’s, which was preparing for the arrival of a “Traveler” from another planet. The Traveler’s arrival was the real reason that Lex and Lionel were in Smallville the day of the meteor shower. Furious at his father’s constant lies and deception, Lex finally reaches his breaking point. In a final confrontation at LuthorCorp, Lex steals a locket from his father that he believes will help him discover the truth about the Traveler, then kills Lionel by pushing him out the window. “I was raised in your shadow,” Lex tells Lionel just before sending him to his fate. “Now you’re going to die in mine.”

Season eight begins with Lex Luthor missing (i.e. Michael Rosenbaum had left the show) after his confrontation with Clark at the Fortress of Solitude in the previous season’s finale. His appointed successor, Tess Mercer, quickly assumes Lex’s vacated roles as not only CEO of LuthorCorp and publisher of the Daily Planet, but as a frequent suspicious investigator of Clark Kent’s activities. Also like Lex, Tess seems to teeter on the brink of good and evil, occasionally aligning herself with villains like Toyman or Zod to achieve her goals over the next few seasons. A shocking revelation in season 10 casts Tess’s background in an entirely new light. Her birth name was Lutessa Lena Luthor, and she was actually the daughter of Lionel Luthor and Pamela Jenkins (Lex’s caretaker when he was a child). By the end of the series, Tess has become a trusted confidant of Clark, Chloe, Oliver, and the rest of the nascent Justice League. In the series finale, Lex stabs and mortally wounds his sister. In her last moments of life, Tess uses a neurotoxin to strip Lex of most of his memories and protect Clark Kent’s secret. Tess is played by Cassidy Freeman, who is currently well-known for her role as Cady Longmire on the show “Longmire.”

The discovery of a Kryptonian mirror box in season 10 revealed a decidedly different version of the Luthor family in a parallel “Earth-2” universe – one where Lionel had found baby Kal-El and raised him as his own son, Clark Luthor. In this universe, Clark became known as Ultraman, and used his powers to conquer and kill. Lex had attempted to remove Clark’s powers permanently with gold kryptonite, and Clark killed him in retaliation (these events all occur off-screen). Tess was not given up for adoption in this reality, and she and her adopted brother Clark share a romantic relationship. The parallel universe version of Lionel escapes to “Earth-1” (the regular Smallville universe) and appears in several episodes of season 10, including the series finale.

Also throughout season 10, Lex’s return from the grave is foreshadowed in the form of several clones he had made of himself to use as “spare parts” if he were ever mortally wounded. One such clone, LX-13, is essentially an older version of Lex, as the clone aged too quickly much like Adrian Cross. LX-13 is played by Mackenzie Gray, who had previously appeared on “Smallville” as Dr. Alistair Kreig in the season 5 episode “Cyborg.” Mackenzie would go on to have a role in the movie “Man of Steel,” playing the Kryptonian villain Jax-Ur.

Another clone of Lex begins as a child and is known as Alexander. Tess attempts to hide the boy and raise him in secret so that she can prevent him from going down the same path as the original Lex. As he grows older though, Alexander begins to exhibit memories and feelings that seem to indicate that this is inevitable, even shaving his own head in the episode “Harvest.” It is eventually revealed that Alexander is not simply a clone of Lex, but a hybrid mix of Lex’s DNA and Clark Kent’s. (Lois goes so far as to refer to him as Lex and Clark’s “genetic love child,” much to Clark’s chagrin.) Alexander begins to take on more of Clark’s characteristics as a teenager, developing powers and repressing his dark side. Alexander eventually changes his name to Conner Kent. At the different stages of the aging process, Alexander/Conner is played by Jakob Davies, Connor Stanhope, and Lucas Grabeel. (Stanhope and Grabeel had previously played a young Lex Luthor in flashback scenes at various points throughout “Smallville.”)

In the 2016 film “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” Lex makes numerous mentions of his father. Various tie-ins to the film actually refer to Lex (Jesse Eisenberg) as Alexander Luthor Junior, and state that the late father he refers to was Alexander Luthor Senior. “My father named the company after himself,” Lex states at one point in the film. “He was the Lex in front of the Corp.” He also has a room in his mansion that he keeps exactly as his father left it, except for one important detail – by the end of the film, he flips a painting of angels and demons upside-down, indicating that devils don’t come from below, they come from the sky.

With the debut of the second season of the “Supergirl” TV series in 2016, we are introduced to Lena Luthor, Lex’s adopted sister. Lena is attempting to rebrand the family business and distance it from Lex’s crimes, renaming LuthorCorp simply L-Corp. None too happy to have his legacy dismantled, Lex attempts to have his sister killed by hiring international hitman John Corben to assassinate her. (Lex is kept off-screen; we have yet to see him on “Supergirl.”) Supergirl and Alex Danvers come to Lena’s aid, although it’s Lena herself who ends up taking Corben out by shooting him. (He gets better.) Lena and Kara have come to each other’s aid at various times since then. Lena is played by Katie McGrath, whose previous credits include “Jurassic World,” and TV series such as “Merlin,” “Slasher,” and “Dracula.”

Also in the second season we meet a mysterious woman with ties to Cadmus, a shadowy organization bent on ridding the world of all extraterrestrial beings. After a few appearances, we learn that this woman is none other than Lillian Luthor, mother of Lex and adoptive mother of Lena. While the “Smallville” version of Lillian was generally a positive influence on Lex and tried to protect him, the “Supergirl” incarnation of Lillian seems cut from a similar cloth to the “Smallville” Lionel – manipulative, deceitful, and trying to slowly turn their kin to the dark side. Lillian is played by Brenda Strong (“Desperate Housewives,” “Dallas,” “Fear the Walking Dead”).

In their most recent appearances to date, the episode titled “Medusa,” Lena betrays her mother, sabotaging Lillian’s plans to unleash a biological weapon against all aliens and turning her over to the police.

The Febeuary 13, 2017 episode entitled “Luthors” promises to shed even more light on this twisted family tree, with the official episode description citing “flashbacks reveal how Lena came to be a Luthor.” Any chance we will see some version of Lex or Lionel? We will have to wait and see, but the preview has already shown us a glimpse of something we’ve never seen in live action before: Lex Luthor’s famous battlesuit from the comics.

These glimpses into Lex Luthor’s backstory help create a more complete picture of the classic villain. Lex, it seems, is at the center of a legacy of darkness. Across most these versions, he has struggled through a difficult childhood, whether at the hands of a physically abusive father in “Superboy” or the cruel manipulations of Lionel on “Smallville.” Some have tried to redeem him, but perhaps his fate is inevitable. Just as baby Kal-El was destined to become the world’s greatest hero and defend truth and justice as Superman, Lex Luthor is equally unable to escape his destiny… one of evil, greed, and the pursuit of power.

Return to the KryptonSite home page