"Shazam" was the name of the ancient wizard who gave Billy his powers, his name spelled out by the initials of the gods and heroes who contributed those powers:
* S for the wisdom of Solomon.
* H for the strength of Hercules.
* A for the stamina of Atlas.
* Z for the power of Zeus.
* A for the courage of Achilles. And...
* M for the speed of Mercury.
Some of these traits overlap: Clearly, Atlas had to have significant strength; and The Iliad calls Achilles "swift-footed."
To change back into Billy, Captain Marvel says, "Shazam!" again.
Originally, Billy was said to live in New York. When DC Comics bought the rights to the characters from Fawcett Comics in 1951, it definitively wrote that Billy/Cap lived in Fawcett City. As with most DC cities, it is a fictional city whose exact location is left ambiguous. Most of the time, it's said to be in the Midwest, but this has varied from Indiana to Wisconsin to Minnesota.
The 1986 post-Crisis On Infinite Earths reboot moved Cap's adventures to San Francisco -- forcing a change in the radio station for which Billy becomes a teenage reporter from WHIZ to KWHZ, or "K-Whiz." This did not last, and by 1991, his adventures were again based in Fawcett City.
Originally, Billy was said to live in New York. When DC Comics bought the rights to the characters from Fawcett Comics in 1951, it definitively wrote that Billy/Cap lived in Fawcett City. As with most DC cities, it is a fictional city whose exact location is left ambiguous. Most of the time, it's said to be in the Midwest, but this has varied from Indiana to Wisconsin to Minnesota.
The 1986 post-Crisis On Infinite Earths reboot moved Cap's adventures to San Francisco -- forcing a change in the radio station for which Billy becomes a teenage reporter from WHIZ to KWHZ, or "K-Whiz." This did not last, and by 1991, his adventures were again based in Fawcett City.
Due to copyright issues, Marvel Comics holds the trademark on the name "Captain Marvel," and has used it for a succession of superheroes. So, for legal reasons, DC can use the name Captain Marvel for its character, but can't use that name as the title of any publication or video production based on him.
As a result, their comics, cartoons, and a 1974-77 live-action Saturday-morning CBS show have had to use the title Shazam! This has led to confusion, with some people thinking that the caped hero in the red costume with the yellow lightning bolt on his chest is, in fact, named Shazam.
Jackson Bostwick, 1974. That's 1970s hair,
but he otherwise nailed the look.
In 2012, DC just gave up, and made "Shazam" his official name. In 2022, DC renamed him again, calling him "The Captain," so that he can once again be called "Cap" for short (as is the Marvel hero Captain America), but also allowing him to say his name without calling down the lightning that will change him back into a kid without powers.
John Davey, 1975. A little too chunky for the role.
Tom Tyler, 1941
For the 1970s series, Michael Gray, also too old to play a teenager, played Billy, while Jackson Bostwick played Cap. He hurt his back a year later, and had to leave the show, replaced by John Davey. In the 1979 NBC special Legends of the Superheroes, Cap was played by Garrett Craig.
Garrett Craig, 1979
In 2019, Warner Brothers released the film Shazam! Asher Angel, 16 at the time of filming, played a 14-year-old Billy living in the real city of Philadelphia; while Zachary Levi, then 38, played Cap, having already played a Marvel Comics character, the Asgardian warrior Fandral, in the Thor films. The joke was that the character was more mature as Billy than he was as the adult superhero.
Zachary Levi, 2019
UPDATE: In 2023, DC released a sequel film, Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Michael Gray made a cameo appearance, wearing the same red shirt he wore on CBS nearly 50 years earlier.
*
November 8, 1939 was a Wednesday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. No games were scheduled in the NHL. And the NBA hadn't been founded yet. Therefore, there were no scores on this historic day.
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