It seems to me that more often than not the actress who plays Lois is older than the actor who plays Clark. I wanted to see if I was right so I looked at the birthdates of the couples that played them together on screen.


1.

Kirk Alyn
October 8, 1910
Noel Neill
November 25, 1920
Clark is older.

2.

George Reeves
January 5, 1914
Phyllis Coates
January 15, 1927
Clark is older.

3.

David Wilson
February 26, 1949
Lesley Ann Warren
August 16, 1946
Lois is older.

4.

Christopher Reeve
September 25, 1952
Margot Kidder
October 17, 1948
Lois is older.

5.

Dean Cain
July 31, 1966
Teri Hatcher
December 8, 1964
Lois is older.

6.

Tom Welling
April 26, 1977
Erica Durance
June 21, 1978
Clark is older.

7.

Brandon Routh
October 9, 1979
Kate Bosworth
January 2, 1983
Clark is older.

8.

Henry Cavill
May 5, 1983
Amy Adams
August 20, 1974
Lois is older.

9.

Tyler Hoechlin
September 11, 1987
Bitsie Tulloch
January 19, 1981
Lois is older.

So out of nine pairings. Lois has been played by an older actress. And in the case of Erica Durance and Tom Welling on SMALLVILLE, Lois is supposed to be older even though Durance is a year younger.

I didn't bother to look at all the Lois & Clark duos in animation, but with Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander--from radio and animation--Clark is older--

Bud Collyer
June 18, 1908
Joan Alexander
April 16, 1915

Still it seems to me that since the 1970s it's been the trend for Lois to be older than Clark--maybe not in-story, but in terms of the actors playing them.