Bruce Dettman 

Born in Rockford, Illinois, his family relocated to San Francisco when he was a youngster.  Bruce has held many jobs—including bartending, cannery worker, bookstore clerk, in a blood bank, insurance, bank, and a video production company.  The many faces of Bruce also include a stint at teaching a class on the history of horror film from 1925 to 1970.  Bruce has also written four novels.  Besides Glass House Presents and The Adventures Continue, he has written for periodicals such as Military History, Fangoria, Filmfax, Monsters From the Vault, Scarlet Street, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, San Francisco Magazine, Nob Hill Gazette, Emmy, True West, Alamo Journal, Good Old Days, and film reviews for Hot Ticket (no longer in existence).  Bruce has written profiles for the Midnight Marquee film book series on Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Lon Chaney.  Currently, he does a newsletter for a small union, ESC (Engineers & Scientists of California) and a column on movie cliffhangers for Serial Report Magazine.   As if this isn’t enough to impress you, Bruce Dettman has also co-written a play, Hoagy, the story of composer Hoagy Carmichael. He has more inspiration brewing in his mind that right timing and motivation will produce. He has taught me that nothing will satisfy the desire to write except writing.   “If you want to be a writer, you keep writing.  It’s in the DNA and you’re sort of stuck with it.” 

One of his most touching pieces is the tribute to his dog, Rocky.  On Glass House Presents, there is an incredibly heartwarming story by Bruce that rivals anything you would have seen on Lassie series or The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.  The manner in which Bruce Dettman speaks of the qualities he found in his now three-legged buddy stands as a testament to this man’s ability to write and incorporate the audience into his own life journey. 

Although he watched The Adventures of Superman as a kid (like the rest of us), Bruce credits Gary Grossman’s book From Serial to Cereal, as well as Jim Nolt’s fanzine The Adventures Continue for his reunion to TAOS once more.  His first celebrity interview happened to be none other than Phyllis Coates back in the 1990’s.  He recalled that Ms. Coates was “candid, very articulate,  intelligent and a joy to talk to.”  It was with her anecdotes about George Reeves, Jack Larson, John Hamilton and Robert Shayne and the actual making of the show that made Bruce realize just how much the series meant to him.  To say that the bug to make him dig deeper into TAOS had bitten him, would be elementary. Over time, he has been privileged to meet Noel Neill on several occasions, along with Jack Larson.  Bruce put it best himself when he said, “That’s one of the great things about TAOS.  I can watch them over and over again and still find them exciting and full of wonderful energy and performances.”

Bruce has a regular column on Glass House Presents (GHP) entitled “In Retrospect”.  Here, he presents a TAOS episode in his uniquely personal manner, relating it to his own experiences.  He takes his readers on a pilgrimage through the episode, showing them things they may never have seen before, while still relating it to events in our lives.  In addition, Bruce has also done a feature series of those now famous TAOS character actors on the TAC website under Bruce’s Documents.  Bruce also provided some assistance to Carl Glass on the Kit Parker project.  He, like so many connected with this very worthwhile venture, is dedicated to bringing George Reeves’ work to the public.  Bruce Dettman has done much to keep George Reeves and TAOS alive for all of us with enthusiasm and out of love for this memorable series.  I am proud to say that he has been my mentor in the writing I’ve done about TAOS.  It is my great honor to induct Bruce into the George Reeves Hall of Fame.