Religion: indeterminate
Name: unnamed operator
Classification:
supporting character
Publisher(s): 
First Appearance: Action Comics (vol. 1) #17 (Oct. 1939): "The Return of the Ultra-Humanite"
Creators: Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster
Number of Appearances: 1
Employer: phone company
Occupation: telephone operator
Gender: female
Note: answered Clark Kent's question
An unnamed telephone operator answered Clark Kent's question while the reporter was investigating the sabotage of the steamship Clarion.
Clark Kent had just learned that the general manager of Deering Lines was being blackmailed in a protection racket. While Clark Kent was interviewing the general manager, a phone call came in. The manager said the call was probably from the racketeer who was demanding $5,000,000 from the company lest he and his men sabotage more ships.
Superman left the room while the general manager took a call from the racketeer. Clark Kent silently listened in on another phone in the next room. After the call was over, Clark Kent called the telephone operator. He asked, "Operator -- Important police business! Trace that call that just reached this number!"
The operator answered, "Sorry, sir. You must be mistaken. According to our records no phone call was made to your office in the last several minutes.
This was certainly an unexpected development! Clark Kent realized, "Only one person could have accomplished the miraculous scientific feat of telephoning without using the telephone company's lines -- and now I recall his voice: 'Ultra', the mad scientist who seeks domination of the Earth." Thus Clark Kent realizes that the man he heard on the other line was none other than the Ultra-Humanite, Superman's arch-enemy.
The operator was depicted in panel 4 of page 9 of the Superman story in Action Comics #17 (Oct. 1939). The telephone operator has shoulder-length black hair and wears a red dress and a large operator's headset. Nothing else was revealed about this unnamed telephone operator, who appeared in only one panel. It is interesting that in her appearance, this woman is essentially indistinguishable from many other unnamed women drawn by artist Joe Shuster. This black-haired woman, for example, looks just like a couple of unnamed steamship passengers who appeared earlier in the story, including Nanette's mother. But from the context of the story, there is no reason to believe these are the same women. Shuster was simply apt to repeat himself in his illustration of women, far more so than with men.
Action Comics (vol. 1) #17 (Oct. 1939): "The Return of the Ultra-Humanite"
Suggested links for further research about this character:
- http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=60127
- https://www.comics.org/issue/526/