Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Lois & Clark Martha and Jonathan

How old were they when Clark came into their lives? I always got the impression the answer lied within later 30's perhaps even older but then on the show it looked like they both were early 60's? Just wondering.

Thanks,
Mona

Well, Clark was 27 when he met Lois. If Martha and Jonathan were about forty when they found Clark, then they would be about 67 when he moved. (but I always figured they were closer to 35 based on what we saw in 'Tempus Fugitive'.)

True about Tempus Fugitive, but they probably could really be whatever age you wanted them to be. If they both grew up in Smallville (which I don't know for sure is true) you would think they would have married fairly young. Now I know they tried for children, but I got the impression that it was sort of a recent news development for Martha when she told Lois and Clark tearfully that she wasn't able to have them. So since they couldn't really go in time to make K Callen and Eddie Jones very young, it's probably up for interpretation.

But you know, that's just my opinion. I don't know that much about official comic book lore. *Shrug*

--Laura

I would tend towards the younger range of the 35-40. It's implied that recently the Kents found out they couldn't conceive a child, though granted a few years could have gone by. Back in the 60's it wasn't nearly as common as it is today to find children born to parents in the 40's, so it's likely they started trying to have kids when they were still in their 20's. That's even more likely since they live in the midwest. So I'd peg Martha at being around 35, making her about 62 when Clark leaves for Metropolis. K Callan looked too old to still be in her 50's, so that's why I'd place her in her early 60's. Jonathan could be slightly older since it was quite common for there to be fairly large age discrepancies.

has anyone noticed that clarks great great grandparents from 1866 look like his parents. lol thats not right is it?

Have you also noticed the striking resemblence to Lois' father that the bartender had? Makes you wonder where the Lanes had lived before, eh?

Now, I know that the guy there WASN'T Harve Presnell, but he looked a lot like him O.o

well I go by the fact that in Toy Story (4.21) it is their 35th wedding anniversary.. one of the only numbers from the show that I remember...

hence they were married in 1962 *from 35yrs+1997


given that the MEDIAN age for marriage in 1962 was:
MEN=22.7yrs
Women=20.3yrs
(middle age, as opposed to the mean... for those who are interested in stats...)
our couple are about 99% chance they are at least in their 50's (who got married under the age of 18, even then?)

and I would presume by 1997 they would be more likely than not to be between the ages of 55 and 60.....

source: US Sensus Bureau, Familes US.Sensus Estimated median age of first marriage by year-1890-present

Thanks everyone for the interesting responses. I ahve enjoyed reading them. I apologize for my long delay, I've been out of town.

I hope to meet some of you on Friday at the WB tour.

Mona

One interesting fact that many people don't know is that Superman's parents weren't always called Jonathan and Martha in the comics.

Originally Martha was called "Mary" and Jonathan wasn't named, then a novelization called them 'Eben' and 'Sarah' in 1942. A 1948 version had them as 'John' and 'Mary,' then in 1951 they called Martha 'Marthe' before finally settling on Jonathan and Martha. In the 1960s they explained this by having John and Mary as the parents of the Superman of "Earth-2," the dimension where the 1940s superheros live, with "Earth-1" the home of more recent incarnations.

I should admit that I knew the bit about Mary, found the rest in Wikipedia because I couldn't immediately remember what Jonathan had been called.