8. Danuta Wesley
Appeared In: Legends of the Superheroes
While the Black Canary has had the bulk of her live-action appearances within the past two decades, she actually made her debut in the medium much earlier than that, appearing at a time when superheroes on TV weren’t all that common. However, unlike Batman ’66 or Wonder Woman ’75, it’s not that well-remembered. There is a reason for that.
The very first actress to bring the legendary DC heroine to life in a live-action production, poor Danuta Wesley had a lot working against her from the offset in 1979’s downright bizarre Legends of The Superheroes.
A two-night NBC variety special, it saw the first ever live-action union of the Justice League of America and adopted a tongue-in-cheek tone akin to the classic Batman TV series – without possessing any of its wit or charm. This resulted in an array of ridiculously goofy off-the-wall scenarios that weren’t all that funny.
In Wesley’s defense, she was one of the few great things about it as she looked every bit like the Black Canary from the comics at the time and nailed the character’s playful nature – something we don’t see enough of. It’s just a shame that she didn’t have more to work with throughout.