George Reeves
Birth name	George Keefer Brewer
Born	January 5, 1914(1914-01-05) Woolstock, Iowa
Died	June 16, 1959 (aged 45) Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
Years active	1933 - 1958
Spouse(s)	Ellanora Needles (1940 - 1950)

George Reeves (January 5,^[1] 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor, best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman and his controversial death at the age of 45. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Woolstock is a city located in Wright County, Iowa. ... Official language(s) English Capital Des Moines Largest city Des Moines Area  Ranked 26th  - Total 56,272 sq mi (145,743 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 199 miles (320 km)  - % water 0. ... is the 167th day of the year (168th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... “Beverly Hills” redirects here. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 167th day of the year (168th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... Superman is a fictional character and comic book superhero , originally created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics. ... The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... This article is about the television series. ...

Early life and career

Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, the son of Don Brewer and Helen Lescher.^[2] George was born five months into their marriage. They separated soon afterward, and Helen moved back home to Galesburg, IL. Woolstock is a city located in Wright County, Iowa. ... Galesburg is a city located in Knox County, Illinois. ...

George's mother moved to California to stay with her sister. There Helen met and then married Frank Bessolo. George's father remarried in 1925 to Helen Schultz and had children with her. Don Brewer made no attempt to see his son George again. Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1927, Frank Bessolo adopted George as his own son, and the boy took on his new stepfather's last name to become George Bessolo.^[3] Helen's marriage to Frank lasted fifteen years and ended when George was away visiting relatives and Helen divorced Frank Bessolo. Helen told George that Frank had committed suicide. Reeves's cousin, Catherine Chase, told biographer Jim Beaver that George did not know for several years that Bessolo was still alive nor that he had been his stepfather and not his birth father. Jim Beaver (born August 12, 1950) (real name James Norman Beaver, Jr. ...

George began acting and singing in high school and continued performing on stage as a student at Pasadena Junior College.^[4] He also boxed as a heavyweight in amateur matches, until his mother Helen ordered him to stop, fearing his good looks might be damaged. Accepted by the Pasadena Playhouse, Reeves had prominent roles. His film career began in 1939 when he was cast as Stuart Tarleton (although incorrectly listed as Brent Tarleton), one of Vivien Leigh's two suitors in Gone with the Wind. It was a minor role, but he and Fred Crane, both in dyed bright red hair as "the Tarleton Twins," were in the film's opening scenes. He was contracted to Warner Bros. at the time, and the actor's professional name became "George Reeves"^[5] and his GWTW screen credit reflects the change. He married actress Ellanora Needles in 1940, but had no children with her during their nine-year marriage. For other senses of these words, see boxing (disambiguation) or boxer (disambiguation). ... The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic theatre located in Pasadena, California. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier (November 5, 1913 – July 8, 1967) was a two-time Academy Award winning English actress. ... Gone with the Wind is a 1939 film adapted from Margaret Mitchells 1936 novel of the same name. ...

He starred in a number of two-reel short subjects, and appeared in several B-pictures (including two with Ronald Reagan) and three with James Cagney, Torrid Zone, The Fighting 69th, and The Strawberry Blonde. Warners loaned him to producer Alexander Korda to co-star with Merle Oberon in Lydia, a box-office failure. Released from his Warners contract, he signed a contract at Twentieth Century Fox, but was released after only a handful of films. He freelanced, appearing in five Hopalong Cassidy westerns, before director Mark Sandrich cast Reeves as Lieutenant John Summers in So Proudly We Hail! (1942), a war drama, opposite Claudette Colbert, for Paramount Pictures. He won critical acclaim for the role and garnered considerable publicity. Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... James Francis Cagney, Jr. ... The Fighting 69th - Starring James Cagney, Pat OBrien. ... The Strawberry Blonde was a 1941 Warner Brothers film starring James Cagney. ... Sir Alexander Korda (September 16, 1893 - January 23, 1956) was a film director and producer, a leading figure in the British film industry and the founder of London Films. ... Merle Oberon (February 19, 1911 – November 23, 1979), born Estelle Merle OBrien Thompson, was an Academy Award-nominated Anglo-Indian film actress. ... Lydia is a 1941 drama film, directed by Julien Duvivier. ... Related articles FOX Television Network Fox Searchlight Pictures Fox Entertainment Group List of Hollywood movie studios List of movies Variant of current 20th Century Fox logo External links 20th Century Fox Movies official site Twentieth Century Fox is also the punning title of a song by The Doors on their... This article is about the fictional character. ... Mark Sandrich (born August 26, 1900 in New York City, New York – died March 4, 1945 in Hollywood, California) was an American movie director, writer and producer. ... So Proudly We Hail! is a 1943 film with Paulette Goddard. ... Claudette Colbert (September 13, 1903 – July 30, 1996) was an Academy Award-winning French-American actress for It Happened One Night. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ...

Career interrupted

Reeves and his wife had no children, so he was not exempt from military duty. He was drafted into the U.S. Army 17 months after Pearl Harbor.;^[6] In late 1943, he was transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces and assigned to the Broadway show Winged Victory, produced by and for the Army Air Forces. A long Broadway run followed, as well as a national tour and a movie version of the play. Reeves was later transferred to the Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit, where he made training films. He looked forward to working with his So Proudly We Hail! director Mark Sandrich again. Sandrich apparently felt that Reeves had the potential to become a major star; however, Sandrich died while Reeves was still in uniform. In later years, Reeves would ruefully recall the impact Sandrich's death had on his career. The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Army Air Forces, or USAAF, was a part of the U.S. military during World War II. The direct precursor to the U.S. Air Force, the USAAF formally existed between 1941 and 1947. ... For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ... Winged Victory is a play and, later, a film by Moss Hart, originally created and produced by the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II as a morale booster and as a fundraiser for the Army Emergency Relief Fund. ... The First Motion Picture Unit was the first unit of the United States Military to be made entirely of motion picture personnel. ... So Proudly We Hail! is a 1943 film with Paulette Goddard. ...

When Reeves returned for more film work, many movie studios were slowing down their production schedules, while many production units had been shut down completely. He took work where he could, including a pair of outdoor thrillers with Ralph Byrd, and a Sam Katzman-produced serial, The Adventures of Sir Galahad. These postwar pictures were not star vehicles; Reeves simply fit the rugged requirements of the roles and, with his retentive memory for dialogue, he could function well under rushed production conditions. In addition, he was able to play against type and starred as a villainous gold hunter in a Johnny Weismuller Jungle Jim film, which for a B-movie was an average success at the box office. Ralph Byrd (22 April 1909 - 18 August 1952) was an American Actor. ... Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer. ... Adventures of Sir Galahad (1949) was a 15-chapter Columbia Pictures film serial based on Arthurian legend. ... Weissmuller, left (with actor George OBrien) Johnny Weissmuller (June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an Austrian-born American swimmer and actor. ... Jungle Jim was created in January 7, 1934 by writer Don Moore and artist Alex Raymond, who had been known for aiding the production of comics such as Tim Tylers Luck, Tillie the Toiler, Blondie, Secret Agent X-9, and Rip Kirby. ...

In the autumn of 1949, Reeves (whose divorce had recently become final) decided on a change and moved to New York City. While there, he performed on several live television anthology programs, as well as on radio. Reeves returned to Hollywood on April 10, 1951, specifically for a role in a Fritz Lang film, Rancho Notorious^[7]. Meanwhile, DC Comics was planning an adaption of one of their most famous characters. New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Friedrich Christian Anton Fritz Lang (December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976) was an Austrian-German-American film director, screenwriter and occasional film producer, one of the best known émigrés from Germanys school of expressionism. ... Rancho Notorious is a 1952 Western film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Marlene Dietrich as the matron of a criminal hideout called Chuck-a-Luck. ... DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company. ...

Superman

In June 1951, Reeves was offered the role of Superman in a television series.^[8] He was initially reluctant to take the role because, like many actors of his time, he considered television to be unimportant and believed that few would see his work. He worked for low pay even as the star, and was only paid during the weeks of production. The half-hour films were shot on tight schedules: at least two shows every six days. According to various commentaries on the Adventures of Superman DVD sets, multiple scripts would be filmed simultaneously to take advantage of the standing sets, so all the "Perry White's office" scenes for three or four episodes would be shot the same day, all the various "apartment" scenes done consecutively, and so on. Superman is a fictional character and comic book superhero , originally created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics. ...

George Reeves's career as Superman began with a film designed as both a theatrical B-picture and a pilot for the TV series, Superman and the Mole Men. Immediately after completing this short feature, Reeves and the crew began production of the first season's episodes, shot over 13 weeks during the summer of 1951. The series began airing during 1952-53, and Reeves was astonished when he became a national celebrity. In 1957, the struggling ABC Network picked up the show for national broadcast, which gave him and the rest of the cast even greater visibility. Superman and the Mole Men is a 1951 black and white movie starring the titular Superman. ... Look up ABC in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Abbreviation ABC is an abbreviation with many meanings: The Latin alphabet, of which A, B, and C are the first three letters. ...

The Superman cast had restrictive contracts preventing them from taking other acting jobs that might interfere with the series. The Superman schedule was brief (13 shows shot two per week, a total of seven weeks out of a year), but they all had a "30 Day Clause," which meant that the producers could demand their exclusive services for a new season on four weeks' notice. This prevented long-term employment on major films with long schedules, stage plays which might lead to a lengthy run, or other series work.^[9]

Reeves did not resent doing personal appearances as Superman, since these paid money beyond his meager salary, and his affection for young fans was genuine. However, small children often poked, punched, or kicked the "Man of Steel" to see if he really was invulnerable. Reeves nonetheless took his role model status seriously, avoiding cigarettes where children could see him, eventually quitting smoking altogether, and keeping his private life discreet. Nonetheless, in 1951, he had begun a romantic relationship with a married ex-showgirl eight years his senior, Toni Mannix, wife of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer general manager Eddie Mannix. (Reeves's marriage to Ellanora Needles had ended in divorce the previous year.) Toni Mannix (Born Camille Bernice Froomess, February 19, 1906 - September 2, 1983) was the wife of Eddie Mannix, she was also a minor Hollywood actress, dancer in the early talkies. ... For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... Edgar Joseph Eddie Mannix (b. ...

In the documentary Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Jack Larson remarked about how when he first met Reeves, he told Reeves that he enjoyed Reeves' performance in So Proudly We Hail! and according to Larson, Reeves said that if Mark Sandrich, the film's director, hadn't died while Reeves was off fighting in the war, then he would have never been stuck in "that monkey suit". Larson said it was the only time he ever heard Reeves say anything negative about being Superman. Jack Edward Larson (born February 8, 1928 in Los Angeles) is an American actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer. ... So Proudly We Hail! is a 1943 film with Paulette Goddard. ... Mark Sandrich (born August 26, 1900 in New York City, New York – died March 4, 1945 in Hollywood, California) was an American movie director, writer and producer. ...

With Toni Mannix, Reeves worked tirelessly to raise money to fight myasthenia gravis. He served as national chairman for the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation in 1955. During the second season, Reeves appeared in a short film for the US Treasury Department, Stamp Day for Superman, in which he caught some crooks and told kids why they should invest in government savings stamps. Myasthenia gravis (sometimes abbreviated MG; from the Greek myastheneia, lit. ... Stamp Day for Superman is a 1954 black and white short film starring George Reeves as Superman and Noel Neill as Lois Lane. ...

Over the course of the 104 episodes, Reeves often showed gentlemanly behavior to his fellow actors. Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen, remembered that he enjoyed playing practical jokes on the crew and cast, as depicted during a scene in the biopic Hollywoodland. He insisted that his original Lois Lane, Phyllis Coates, be given equal billing in the credits in the first season. He also stood by Robert Shayne (who played Police Inspector William "Bill" Henderson) when Shayne was subpoenaed by FBI agents on the set of Superman. (Shayne's political activism in the Screen Actors Guild in the 1940s was used by his embittered ex-wife as an excuse to label him a communist. Shayne had never been a Communist Party member.) When Coates was replaced by Noel Neill (who had played Lois Lane in the Kirk Alyn serials), Reeves quietly defended her nervousness on her first day, when he felt that the director was being too harsh with her. On the other hand, he delighted in standing outside camera range, mugging at the other cast members to see whether he could break them up. By all accounts, there was a strong camaraderie among the principal actors. James Bartholomew Jimmy Olsen is a fictional character, a photojournalist who appears in DC Comics’ Superman stories. ... Hollywoodland is a 2006 biopic/docudrama directed by TV alum Allen Coulter (his feature directorial debut) about a down-on-his-luck detective, Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), investigating the suspicious suicide of actor George Reeves (Ben Affleck), the star of televisions Superman. ... For the Dutch girl group, see Loïs Lane. ... Phyllis Coates is the stage name of an actress who appeared in various films and TV shows mostly during the 1950s. ... Robert Shayne was an American actor. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... The Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) is the labor union representing over 120,000 film actors in the United States. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) is a Marxist-Leninist political party in the United States. ... Noel Neill as Lois Lane on the serial version of Superman. ... Kirk Alyn as Superman Kirk Alyn (October 8, 1910 - March 14, 1999) was an American actor, best known for being the first actor to play Superman on screen, in the 1948 film serial Superman, and its 1950 sequel Atom Man Vs. ...

After two seasons, Reeves expressed dissatisfaction with the one-dimensional role and the low salary. Now at 40 years old, he wished to quit the show and move on with his career. The producers of the show looked elsewhere for a new lead actor,^[10] allegedly contacting Kirk Alyn, the actor who had first portrayed Superman in the two original movie serials and who had initially refused to play the role on television. Alyn allegedly turned them down again. Kirk Alyn as Superman Kirk Alyn (October 8, 1910 - March 14, 1999) was an American actor, best known for being the first actor to play Superman on screen, in the 1948 film serial Superman, and its 1950 sequel Atom Man Vs. ...

Reeves established his own production company and conceived a TV adventure series, Port of Entry, which would be shot on location in Hawaii and Mexico, writing the pilot script himself. However, Superman producers offered him a salary increase and he returned to the role.^[11] He was making a substantial sum for the time, reportedly $5,000 per week, but only while the show was in production (about eight weeks each year).^[12] As for Port of Entry, Reeves was never able to interest a financing producer for the project and the film was never made.

In 1957, a theatrical film was considered by the producers, Superman and the Secret Planet, and a script commissioned from David Chantler, who had written many of the TV scripts. Instead, in 1959, negotiations began for a renewal of the series, 26 episodes scheduled to go into production in the fall. (John Hamilton had played Perry White, but he had died in 1958, so former serial Perry White Pierre Watkin was brought on to replace him as the newspaper's editor.) Hamilton in The Maltese Falcon (1941) John Hamilton (January 16, 1886 - October 15, 1958) was an American actor that appeared in many movies and television programs. ... Perry White is a fictional character who appears in the Superman comics, and is the editor-in-chief of the Metropolis newspaper the Daily Planet. ... Pierre Watkin (1889-1960) was an American actor. ...

By mid-1959, contracts were signed, costumes were re-fitted, and new teleplays writers assigned. Noel Neill was quoted as saying that the cast of Superman was ready to do a new series of the still-popular show.^[13]. Producers reportedly promised Reeves that the new programs would be as serious and action-packed as the first season, guaranteed him creative input, and slated him to direct several of the new shows, as he had the final three episodes of the 1957 season. In the documentary Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Neill remembered that Reeves was excited to go back to work. Jack Larson, however, told biographer Beaver that "Anyone who thought another season of Superman would make George Reeves happy didn't know George."

In between the first and second seasons of Superman, Reeves got sporadic acting assignments in one-shot TV anthology programs and in two feature films, Forever Female (1953) and Fritz Lang's The Blue Gardenia (1953). But by the time the series was airing nationwide, Reeves found himself so associated with Superman and Clark Kent that it was difficult for him to find other roles. An often-repeated story suggests that he was upset when his scenes were cut as Sergeant Maylon Stark in the classic film From Here to Eternity after a preview audience kept yelling "There's Superman!" whenever he appeared on screen. Eternity director Fred Zinnemann, the screenwriter Daniel Taradash and others have maintained that every scene written for Reeves' character was shot and included as part of the released film. Zinnemann has also asserted that there were no post-release cuts, nor was there even a preview screening. Everything in the first production draft of the script is still present in the final product seen ever since 1953^[14]. Raymond Burr in The Blue Gardenia The Blue Gardenia is a 1953 black-and-white film noir directed by Fritz Lang. ... From Here to Eternity is a 1953 movie based on a James Jones novel in which characters work through ordinary bouts of intimidation and infidelity on a military base in the days preceding the attack on Pearl Harbor. ... Fred Zinnemann (April 29, 1907–March 14, 1997) was an Austrian-American film director. ... Daniel Taradash, (29 January 1913 - 22 February 2003) was an Academy Award-winning American screenwriter. ...

Attempting to showcase his versatility, Reeves sang on the Tony Bennett show in August, 1956.^[15] He appeared memorably on I Love Lucy (Episode #165, Lucy Meets Superman," in 1956) as Superman. Character actor Ben Welden had acted with Reeves in the Warner Bros. days and frequently guest-starred on Superman. He said, "After [the I Love Lucy show], Superman was no longer a challenge to him.... I know he enjoyed the role, but he used to say, 'Here I am, wasting my life.'"^[16] His good friend Bill Walsh, a producer at Disney Studios, gave Reeves a prominent role in Westward Ho the Wagons (1956), in which Reeves wore a beard and mustache. It was to be his final feature film appearance. For other persons named Tony Bennett, see Tony Bennett (disambiguation). ... I Love Lucy is a television situation comedy starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and featuring Vivian Vance and William Frawley. ... Ben Welden (1901-1997) was an American actor who starred mostly in various comedic movies and television shows. ... Bill Walsh (September 30, 1913 - January 27, 1975) was a film producer and screenwriter who primarily worked on live-action films for Walt Disney Productions. ... Disney may refer to: The Walt Disney Company and its divisions, including Walt Disney Pictures. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Reeves, Noel Neill, Natividad Vacio, Gene LeBell, and a trio of musicians toured with a public appearance show from 1957 onward. The stage show was a gigantic hit for the excited children who got to see their hero in person, though apparently not a huge moneymaker for Reeves. The first half of the show was a Superman sketch in which Reeves and Neill performed with LeBell as a villain called "Mr. Kryptonite," who captured Lois. Kent then rushed offstage to return as Superman, who came to the rescue and fought ("wrestled") with the bad guy. The second half of the show was Reeves out of costume and as himself, singing and accompanying himself on the guitar. Vacio and Neill accompanied him in duets.^[17]

Reeves broke up with Toni Mannix in 1958 and announced his engagement to society playgirl Leonore Lemmon. He complained to friends, columnists, and his mother of his financial problems. He received royalties from syndication of the Superman show, but these were insubstantial, particularly in view of his lifestyle. Under these circumstances, the planned revival of Superman was apparently a small lifeline. Reeves had also hoped to direct a low-budget science-fiction film, written by a friend from his Pasadena Playhouse days, and he had discussed the project with his first Lois Lane, Phyllis Coates, the previous year.^[18] However, Reeves and his partner failed to find financing and the film was never made. There was another Superman stage show scheduled for July,^[19] and a planned stage tour of Australia. Reeves had options for making a living, but those options apparently all involved playing Superman again. Leonore Lemmon (May 11th, 1923 - December 30th, 1989 (Her body was found in her New York Apartment January 4th, 1990, and time of death was calculated as most likely five days earlier. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast television programs to multiple television stations, without going through a broadcast network. ...

Jack Larson and Noel Neill both remembered Reeves as a noble Southern gentlemen with a sign on his dressing room door that said Honest George, the people's friend. ^[20] After Reeves had been made an "honorary Colonel" during a publicity trip in the South, the sign on his dressing room door was replaced with a new one which read, Honest George, also known as "Col. Reeves," created by the show's prop department. A photo of a smiling Reeves and the sign appear in Gary Grossman's book about the show.

Death

Cover of the June 16, 1959 New York Post.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department report, between approximately 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. on June 16, 1959, George Reeves died of a gunshot wound to the head in the upstairs bedroom of his Benedict Canyon home. He was 45 years old. Image File history File links NYPost61659. ... Image File history File links NYPost61659. ... The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and the oldest to have been published continually as a daily. ... The 12-hour clock is a timekeeping convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem (AM, Latin for before noon) and post meridiem (PM, Latin for after noon). Each period consists of 12 hours numbered 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... is the 167th day of the year (168th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Benedict Canyon is an area between Studio City and Beverly Hills in Los Angeles. ...

Police arrived within the hour. Present in the house at the time of death were Leonore Lemmon, William Bliss, writer Robert Condon, and Carol Van Ronkel, who lived a few blocks away with her husband, screenwriter Rip Van Ronkel (Destination Moon). Categories: Movie stubs | 1950 films | Science fiction films ...

According to all the witnesses, Lemmon and Reeves had been dining and drinking earlier in the evening in the company of writer Condon, who was ghost-writing an autobiography of prizefighter Archie Moore. Reeves and Lemmon argued at the restaurant and the trio returned home. However, Lemmon stated in interviews with Reeves' biographer Jim Beaver that she and Reeves had not accompanied friends dining and drinking, but to the wrestling matches. Contemporary news items indicate that Reeves' friend Gene LeBell was wrestling that night -- yet LeBell's own recollections are that he did not see Reeves after a workout session earlier in the day. In any event, Reeves went to bed, but some time near midnight, an impromptu party began when Bliss and Carol Van Ronkel arrived. Reeves angrily came downstairs and complained about the noise. After blowing off steam, he stayed with the guests for a while, had a drink, then retired upstairs again in a bad mood. The house guests later heard a single gunshot. Bliss ran into Reeves' bedroom and found George Reeves dead, lying across his bed, naked and face-up, his feet on the floor. This position has been attributed to Reeves sitting on the edge of the bed when he shot himself, after which his body fell back on the bed and the 9mm Luger pistol fell between his feet. For the baseball player, see Archie Moore (baseball). ... Luger may mean: Luger pistol 7. ...

Statements made to police and the press essentially agree. Neither Lemmon nor the other witnesses made any apology for their delay in calling the police after hearing the gunshot, but the shock of the death, the lateness of the hour, and their state of intoxication were given as reasons for the delay. Police said that all of the witnesses present were extremely inebriated, and that their coherent stories were very difficult to obtain.

In contemporary news articles, Lemmon attributed Reeves' apparent suicide to depression caused by his "failed career" and inability to find more work. The police report states, "[Reeves was]... depressed because he couldn't get the sort of parts he wanted." Newspapers and wire-service reports frequently misquoted LAPD Sergeant V.A. Peterson, as quoting Lemmon: "Miss Lemmon blurted, 'He's probably going to go shoot himself.' A noise was heard upstairs. She continued, 'He's opening a drawer to get the gun.' A shot was heard. 'See, I told you so.'"' However, this statement may have been embellished by journalists. Lemmon and her friends were downstairs at the time of the shot with music playing. It would be nearly impossible to hear a drawer opening in the upstairs bedroom. Lemmon later claimed that she'd never said anything so specific, but rather had made an offhand remark along the lines of "Oh, he'll probably go shoot himself now."

Witness statements and examination of the crime scene led to the conclusion that the death was self-inflicted. A more extensive official inquiry concluded that the death was indeed suicide.^[21] Reeves' will, dated 1956, bequeathed his entire estate to Toni Mannix, much to Lemmon's surprise and devastation. Her statement to the press read, "Toni got a house for charity, and I got a broken heart," referring to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation. Toni Mannix (Born Camille Bernice Froomess, February 19, 1906 - September 2, 1983) was the wife of Eddie Mannix, she was also a minor Hollywood actress, dancer in the early talkies. ...

A popular urban legend states that Reeves died because he believed that he had acquired Superman's powers and killed himself trying to fly.^[22] An urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ...

Controversy

Many people at the time, and many more in later years, have refused to believe the idea that George Reeves would kill himself.

Reeves' incredulous mother, Helen Bessolo, employed attorney Jerry Geisler as well as the Nick Harris Detective Agency. Their operatives included a fledgling detective named Milo Speriglio, who would later falsely claim to have been the primary investigator. A cremation of Reeves' body was postponed. No substantial new evidence was ever uncovered, but Reeves's mother never accepted the conclusion that her son could commit suicide. Notably, she also publicly denied that her son planned to marry Leonore Lemmon, since he had never told her. However, he had announced this to any number of friends and strangers, even referring to her on occasions as "my wife."

An after-the-fact article quoted "pallbearers" at Reeves' funeral (actors Alan Ladd and Gig Young) as not believing that Reeves was the "type" who would kill himself. However, neither of these men actually served as pallbearers, and only one, Young, was a friend of Reeves. "Anti-suicide" proponents argue that Reeves would have no desire to end his life with so many prospects in sight. Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – November 7, 1964) was an American film actor. ... Actor Gig Young in City That Never Sleeps Gig Young (November 4, 1913–October 19, 1978) was an American film actor. ...

The central thesis of the partially-fictionalized Reeves biography Hollywood Kryptonite states as fact that Reeves was murdered by order of Toni Mannix as punishment for their breakup. This is illustrated as a plot point in Hollywoodland, albeit ambiguously, and with the blame more clearly leveled at Eddie Mannix than at Toni. However, the authors of Hollywood Kryptonite were forced to create a fictitious "hit man" to make the plot of their book work, and no such person ever appears to have existed. Hollywoodland is a 2006 biopic/docudrama directed by TV alum Allen Coulter (his feature directorial debut) about a down-on-his-luck detective, Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), investigating the suspicious suicide of actor George Reeves (Ben Affleck), the star of televisions Superman. ...

Both Noel Neill and Jack Larson maintained that Reeves's death was mysterious, even generating publicity for the case in the late 1980s. In the Grossman book, Larson was quoted as having accepted that it was suicide. Larson has stated publicly on several occasions that he always believed that Reeves had taken his own life and that quotations implying that he ever believed otherwise were either in error or deliberately falsified. "Jack and I never really tried to get anyone to re-open George's death," Neill said. "I am not aware of anyone who wanted George dead. I never said I thought George was murdered. I just don't know what happened. All I know is that George always seemed happy to me, and I saw him two days before he died and he was still happy then."

Ben Affleck as George Reeves in Hollywoodland.

Hollywoodland dramatizes the investigation of Reeves' death. The movie stars Ben Affleck as Reeves and Adrien Brody as fictional investigator Louis Simo, suggested by real-life detective Milo Speriglio. The movie shows three versions of his death: killed semi-accidentally by Lemmon, murdered by an unnamed hitman under orders from Eddie Mannix, and finally, suicide. Image File history File links Affleck_superman. ... Image File history File links Affleck_superman. ... Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American Golden Globe Award-nominated film actor, director, and Academy Award-winning and Golden Globe Award-winning screenwriter. ... Hollywoodland is a 2006 biopic/docudrama directed by TV alum Allen Coulter (his feature directorial debut) about a down-on-his-luck detective, Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), investigating the suspicious suicide of actor George Reeves (Ben Affleck), the star of televisions Superman. ... Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American Golden Globe Award-nominated film actor, director, and Academy Award-winning and Golden Globe Award-winning screenwriter. ... Adrien Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor known for his freakishly large nose. ... Edgar Joseph Eddie Mannix (b. ...

Toni Mannix suffered from Alzheimer's disease for years and died in 1983. In 1999, following the resurrection of the Reeves case by TV shows Unsolved Mysteries and Mysteries and Scandals, Los Angeles publicist Edward Lozzi claimed that Toni Mannix had confessed to a Catholic priest, in Lozzi's presence, that she was responsible for having George Reeves killed. Lozzi made the claim on TV tabloid shows including Extra, Inside Edition, and Court TV. In the wake of Hollywoodland's publicity in 2006, Mr. Lozzi repeated his story to the tabloid The Globe and to the LA Times, where the statement was refuted by Jack Larson. Larson stated that facts he knew from his close friendship with Toni Mannix precluded Lozzi's story from being true. According to Lozzi, he lived with and then visited the elderly Mannix from 1979 to 1982, and that on at least a half-dozen occasions he would call a priest when Mrs. Mannix feared death and wanted to confess her sins. Mannix suffered from Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia, but Lozzi insists that her "confessions" were made during periods of lucidity. Lozzi states that the "confession" was made in Mannix's home before being moved from her house to a hospital. Mannix had lived in a hospital suite for the last several of years of her life, having donated a large portion of her estate a priori to the hospital in exchange for perpetual care. Lozzi also told of Tuesday night prayer sessions that Toni Mannix conducted with him and others at an altar shrine to George Reeves which she had built in her home. Lozzi stated, "During these prayer sessions she prayed loudly and trance-like to Reeves and God, and without confessing yet, asked them for forgiveness." Lozzi's claim, however, is unsupported by independent evidence. This article contains a trivia section. ... Mysteries and Scandals was a television program hosted by A.J. Benza that was originally broadcast on the E!: Entertainment Television network from from March 1998 until 2000 and ran for 3 seasons, with a total of 128 original episodes. ... Extra is an entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994. ... Inside Edition is a syndicated news program, on the air since January 9, 1989. ... For the Canadian channel, see CourtTV Canada The Courtroom Television Network, more commonly known as Court TV, is an American cable television network owned by Time Warner that launched on July 1, 1991. ... The Globe is a supermarket tabloid published in North America. ... The Los Angeles Times (also L.A. Times) is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the Western United States. ...

Footnotes

Headstones in the Japanese Cemetry in Broome, Western Australia A cemetery in rural Spain A typical late 20th century headstone in the United States A headstone, tombstone or gravestone is a marker, normally carved from stone, placed over or next to the site of a burial. ... is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Mary Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987) birth certificate A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child. ... is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 168th day of the year (169th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Urban Legends Reference Pages (also known as snopes. ...

References

• Grossman, Gary Superman: Serial to Cereal, Popular Library, 1977 ISBN 0445040548
• Daniels, Les & Kahn, Jenette, DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes, Bulfinch, 1995 ISBN 0821220764
• Kashner, Sam & Schoenberger, Nancy Hollywood Kryptonite, St. Martin's Mass Market Paper, 1996 ISBN 0312964021
• Henderson, Jan Alan, Speeding Bullet, M. Bifulco, 1999 ISBN 0961959649
• Neill, Noel & Ward, Larry, Truth, Justice and the American Way, Nicholas Lawrence Books, 2003 ISBN 0972946608
• Henderson, Jan Alan & Randisi, Steve, Behind the Crimson Cape, M. Bifulco, 2005 ISBN 0961959665

Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• George Reeves at the Internet Movie Database
• George Reeves at the Internet Broadway Database
• Hollywoodland (2006) at the Internet Movie Database