Brandon Routh
Brandon Routh was born on October 9, 1979 in Des Moines, Iowa, on October 9, 1979, the son of Katie, a teacher, and Ron Routh, a carpenter; both of his parents play music in their spare time. His brother Rhett is a Des Moines Police officer; his older sister Sara is a singer traveling through Europe, and his younger sister Carolyn lives in Wisconsin. Routh’s family, which is Methodist, has German, French, English, and Native American ancestry. Routh grew up in Norwalk, Iowa, which is located approximately 100 miles (160 km) south of Woolstock, the hometown of George Reeves, the first actor to play Superman on television. During his childhood, Routh thought that a full-time acting career was unrealistic, citing his small-town background. In his spare time, he played the trumpet and the piano. Routh attended Norwalk High School, where he played sports and participated in music and theatre. He describes himself as a “momma’s boy” and not “the most popular kid” during his school years. Routh has also noted that during his younger years, he was fond of the Superman films and comic books. 
Routh attended the University of Iowa for a year, aspiring to be a writer. During this time, he modelled and acted in order to earn his tuition fee. Routh has said that he was often told that he bore a physical resemblance to Christopher Reeve, who had previously portrayed Superman. His former manager signed him on because of the resemblance, telling him that he thought Routh would be cast as Superman if there was another film in the series. 
On August 23, 2006, Brandon became engaged to his girlfriend of 2½ years, actress Courtney Ford; the couple married on November 24, 2007, at the El Capitan Ranch in Santa Barbara. He knew actor Kal Penn, a co-star in Superman Returns, for several years during the time he lived in Los Angeles. Routh and Penn were both also featured in the The Lonely Island’s Awesometown MTV pilot music video “The Avon Lady”.
Routh’s sister, Sara, has a musical track entitled “You’re Never Gone” on Sound of Superman, the companion soundtrack of the film. Routh is a fan and player of the video game World o Warcraft. During the 2008 Presidential Election, Routh toured college campuses campaigning for Democratic Candidate Barack Obama.
