Inspector William Henderson

Inspector William Henderson is a supporting character in Superman comics published by DC Comics.

Inspector Henderson first appeared in the 1940s Superman radio series, in which he was Superman's police contact. He was subsequently introduced in a similar role in the 1950s The Adventures of Superman television series, where he was played by Robert Shayne.

It took awhile longer for Inspector Henderson to become introduced to the comics, however; his first appearance there was in Action Comics #442 in December 1974, once again as Superman's main police contact.

In the 1980s Superboy comics, Inspector Henderson was introduced in that series as "Detective-Sargent" Henderson, where he was visiting Smallville in an unsuccessful attempt (for the time being, anyway) to convince Superboy to relocate to Metropolis.

Since John Byrne's 1986 Man of Steel miniseries, Inspector Henderson's role has been reduced somewhat, in favor of newer characters Dan Turpin and Maggie Sawyer. Currently, Henderson is Metropolis' police commissioner.

Inspector Henderson has also appeared in the 1990s live-action television series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. In most of his appearances he was played by Richard Belzer; however in the pilot, he was played by Mel Winkler, who reprised the role (as Commissioner Henderson) in an episode of the 1990s cartoon Superman: The Animated Series.