Hard drinking and hard partying, she gave as good as she got, and had the dubious distinction of been the first woman to be thrown out of New Yorks famous Stork club for fist fighting. Reeves spoke out about these difficulties in a 1958 Evening Star article frankly titled No Work for Superman. When asked why he took the role, he said simply, I was hungry. But after six years, he was having a hard time pushing his career forward. However, Superman producers offered him a salary increase, and he returned to the series. The police did not treat the house as a crime scene, and Lemmon was able to return shortly after they had left, have the bloody sheets washed, retrieve $4000 in travellers cheques and leave Los Angeles for New York, never to return again, not even for Reeves funeral. Reeves's father married Helen Schultz in 1925. In 1953, Reeves played a minor character, Sergeant Maylon Stark, in From Here to Eternity. It is sometimes easy to get caught up in the mystery of George Reeves demise, the different theories and suspects. Reeves himself was also severely under the influence, with a blood alcohol level of .27 and, because the actor had long enjoyed playing with unloaded weapons, it was thought possible he accidentally shot himself while doing so. There were also fresh bruises on the body. To the left in the photo is a den. George Reeves - Turner Classic Movies (1956), in which Reeves wore a beard and mustache. director Mark Sandrich. In their book Hollywood Kryptonite, Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger make a case for the involvement of MGM vice president and fixer Eddie Mannix. Its not like my George to do a thing like that, his mother told the press. Shortly after, she began her affair with Reeves, who at 10 years her junior, she referred to as the boy. After the war, Reeves returned to Hollywood. He served as national chairman for the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation in 1955. Three shots were fired in the room: two on the floor and one in Reeves' head. Inexplicably, the shell casing was found underneath Reeves body. While studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, Reeves met his future wife, Ellanora Needles. Character: . While the authorities officially declared Reeves' death to be a suicide, not everyone was willing to accept that conclusion. Mannix, who had ties to the mob, had him whacked due to the affair. It is located in a fairly modest area, even though the asking price in 1995 was $625,000. Giesler called for a second autopsy. After hearing a gunshot, they waited 45 minutes before calling the police. Due to their advanced state of inebriation the party guests were not entirely coherent, but they all seemed to agree on the suicide story. The recent feature film, "Hollywoodland" is about this questionable death of a popular celebrity. He was lucky to escape with head injuries that required him to take powerful painkillers right up until the night he died. Reeves was born five months into their marriage (the reason Reeves's mother subsequently claimed a false April birth date for her son, something he was unaware of until . He had also lined up a science fiction script called Return to Earth, by screenwriter Sidney Fields that he had hoped to direct, possibly with his Superman co-star Phyllis Coates in one of the lead roles. wow..thats a great articleby the way, Ive read those article in other site about his deathit is written that a ghostly phenomena has been reported at the former Reeves house ever since his death? Army. 1579 Benedict Canyon Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. The 2006 film Hollywoodland, starring Ben Affleck as Reeves and Adrien Brody as a fictional investigator loosely based on actual detective Milo Speriglio, dramatizes the investigation of Reeves' death. He was cremated in Ohio, and ashes given to his mother, who then died in 1964. 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. Theyd take one look at me and say it was impossible.. Hollywood was recovering from the war, but slowly, and Reeves wasnt the only actor trying to make up for lost time with renewed dedication to dreams that were still very much alive but suddenly even further out of reach. Reeves began acting and singing in high school and continued performing on stage as a student at Pasadena Junior College. Multiple gunshot suicides are rare, so if these shots were contemporary to Reeves death, it seems unlikely he was the shooter. She also kept his shaving utensils and lotions, and even built an altar in the house with a crucifix, candles and an 11-by-14 photograph of Reeves. Robert (Bobby) was writing a book about boxer Archie Moore. As more and more time passed between acting jobs paying less and less, Reeves was reduced to appearing in a low-budget serial produced by Sam Katzman, The Adventures of Sir Galahad, and taking a second job digging cesspools. Whilst highly speculative, some corroboration to this comes from Reeves own Lois Lane, actress Phyllis Coates. A noise was heard upstairs. The police ruled the death a suicide, but by the time Reevesobituary was published in the Los Angeles Times, the newspaper already noted there was an element of mystery.. Another rumor was that a car was heard speeding away from the house as well. And how had the fatal bullet ended up in the ceiling whilst the shell rested underneath his body? He was initially reluctant to take the role because, like many actors of his time, he considered television unimportant and believed few would see his work. Reeves had been having an affair with his wife Toni Mannix. Jack Larson and Noel Neill both remembered Reeves as a noble Southern gentleman (even though he was from Iowa) with a sign on his dressing room door that said "Honest George, the people's friend". They decided that he was fooling around, not realizing the gun was loaded. Reeves knew the show could potentially be popular, but it was almost because of that that he was reticent to take it on. At around 1.20am, a bad tempered Reeves had admonished the trio for their noise, before returning upstairs. The 45-minute delay in getting help, in this scenario, was the time it took for her and her house guests to cover up the murder. November 5, 2022. in Arts, Culture, News. Director Allen Coulter Writer Paul Bernbaum Stars Adrien Brody Ben Affleck Diane Lane See production, box office & company info Watch on STARZ with Prime Video Channels More watch options Add to Watchlist Added by 25.7K users More adept with withering, foul mouthed put downs, violence was not really her style. The Superman Scandal: How George Reeves' Death Rocked Hollywood He performed on live television anthology programs, as well as on radio, and then returned to Hollywood in 1951 for a role in a Fritz Lang film, Rancho Notorious.[22]. Like so many men of his generation, the war derailed his life plans. George's fiancee Lenore Lemmon claims that in . There were also bruises on Reeves head and body. If he had really fallen backwards onto a freshly ejected shell case it should have been hot enough to have burnt his skin, yet no such marks were evident at the autopsy. September6, 1892 was the daughter of George Christian Lescher and Eliza Jane McKenzie, she died in a Pasadena hospital on June 18, 1964. The main reason Reeves was said to have committed suicide was depression over his declining fortunes as an actor. George Reeves3 Theories About The Death of Superman. Reeves reportedly never saw his father again. Jack Larson, who died at 87 on Sunday, was a gifted writer and gay man whose talents and personal struggles were overshadowed by his role as . Is her confession credible? Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/GettyThe death of the original Superman is one of those American mysteries that may never fully add up. George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, the son of Don Brewer and Helen Lescher (his death certificate erroneously lists his birthplace as Kentucky). George Bessolo Reeves lived in a modest house in Benedict Canyon in Los Angeles, California up until the time of his death on June 15, 1959. It was a bullet to the head. . He kept his private life discreet, including a romantic relationship with Toni Mannix, wife of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer general manager Eddie Mannix. George Reeves' Ghost. Reeves also enjoyed playing with an unloaded gun. His dad left the family shortly after and his mother moved with her infant son to California. George Reeves was dead. His work on the show would earn him fame as the Original Superman, even though that wasnt technically true. Suicide? or Murdered: Superman George Reeves - deviantart.com According to Kashner and Schoenberger (A Talent for Genius), however, unanswered details about Reeves's demise shroud what in truth was foul play. A classically trained actor who already had some impressive credits to his name, including the 1939 classic Gone With the Wind, Reeves was reluctant to take on the role because in televisions early days, it was considered to be a rather undignified medium that was far inferior to film. Reeves was transferred to the Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit, where he made training films. Or perhaps Toni took matters into her own hands and simply had her husband cover it up. Reeves's career as Superman had begun with Superman and the Mole Men, a film intended both as a B-picture and as the pilot for the TV series. Nobody wanted me to work at all. Advertisement. A photo of a smiling Reeves and the sign appears in Gary Grossman's book about the show. I was depressed, and I accepted instantly that he had committed suicide, Larson told Unsolved Mysteries in 1995. According to partygoers, one of the guests raced upstairs to find Reeves lying across his bed, the life snuffed out of him by a bullet in the head. Larson also thought the prospective return of the Adventures of Superman had filled the actor with dread, Anyone who thinks another season of Superman wouldn't depress George didn't know George, he said. Leonore Lemmon was, by all accounts, a bit of a hell-raiser. [36] According to Crane (who was not present), Bill Bliss had told Millicent Trent after the shot rang out, while Bliss was having a drink, that Leonore Lemmon came downstairs and said, Tell them I was down here, tell them I was down here![37], A number of questionable physical findings were reported by investigators and others: No fingerprints were recovered from the gun. Later, Reeves's mother,[12] who was of German descent, moved to California to stay with her sister. George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 - June 16, 1959) was an American actor. He starred in a number of two-reel short subjects and appeared in several B-pictures, including two with future president of the United States Ronald Reagan and three with James Cagney (Torrid Zone, The Fighting 69th, and The Strawberry Blonde). The windows above the living room are the windows to George's bedroom. But she was also suffering from alzheimer's at the time of her death, and may have confused fact with the many fictions that had long circulated about the death of her former lover. Many, though, believed the investigation had been rushed and this may have been a case of homicide. The second half of the show was Reeves out of costume as himself, singing and accompanying himself on the guitar. Its a bird! Reeves mother hired a high-powered lawyer to get the case reopened, but he quickly dropped his new client for reasons unknown. The argument had carried over back to the house, Lemmon apparently upset by the suspicion that Reeves had been talking to previous girlfriend Toni Mannix. The events surrounding his death have been the subject of much conjecture ever since. The Los Angeles county coroner said its was a suicide, but family & friends say it was a love triangle murder. The roles just werent coming his way. As far as Reeves was concerned, one has to wonder if he had any regrets. By mid 1959, contracts were signed, costumes refitted, and new teleplay writers assigned. Lemmon moved into his house, and they were to be married on June 18. For instance, Lemmon and her friends pulled a Conrad Murray by failing to call the police until about thirty minutes after discovering the body, and each seemed to have a differing account of the evening due to their inebriated states. Reeves was apparently scheduled to marry Lemmon on June 19 and then spend their honeymoon in Tijuana. CleverJourneys: American Crime Chronicles Two Los Angeles police officers arrived at 1579 Benedict Canyon at almost 3 a.m., June 16, 1959. At approximately 1:20 AM, Reeves excused himself, and went upstairs to bed. Two, Eddie Mannix killed the actor in revenge for upsetting his wife. The house was bought in the early 1950's for $12,000. Separated from his wife (their divorce became final in 1950), Reeves moved to New York City in 1949. His personal life took a turn for the worse a long-term affair with another man's common-law wife ended badly; he finally filed a restraining order against her. ", Death of Superman may not have been a suicide, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Reeves&oldid=1139854102, Credited erroneously onscreen as playing Brent Tarleton (see above), This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 06:25. Cancel OK Your account However, friends and relatives think Reeves career troubles were exaggerated. They had even planned to marry if Eddie were to die. In the documentary Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Jack Larson said that when he first met Reeves, he told him that he enjoyed his performance in So Proudly We Hail! The actor had no burn marks on his hands or face - how had he shot himself in the head with a pistol without leaving powder burns? '"'[35], The official story given by Lemmon to the police placed her in the living room with party guests at the time of the shooting, but hearsay statements from Fred Crane, Reeves' friend and colleague from Gone With The Wind, put Lemmon either inside or in direct proximity to Reeves' bedroom. Quick Description: The actor George Reeves house where TV's "Superman," was found dead of a head gunshot wound on June 16, 1959. Why had Lemmon waited for so long - 45 minutes or so, to call the police? In reality, George Reeves life was a far cry from that of his heroic television counterpart. It was purchased for the actor at a cost of $12,000 by his longtime lover, MGM Vice-President E.J. George Reeves Home - Beverly Hills, CA - Superman Super Site Info Share. But his business manager and mother, among others, said that while it was true he was disappointed in the way things were going, his feelings werent strong enough to explain a suicide. During the dinner, they had argued. To unravel the murky fate of TVs first superhero we must return to the early hours of June 16, 1959. He was able to play against type and starred as a villainous gold hunter in a Johnny Weissmuller Jungle Jim film. Was Lemmon with Reeves when he shot himself? Forty-five minutes later, the police were called. He appeared in a pair of outdoor thrillers with Ralph Byrd and in a Sam Katzman-produced serial, The Adventures of Sir Galahad. Reeves blood alcohol content that night was .27 percent. On June 16, 1959, Reeves was found dead in his bedroom from a gunshot wound to the head. The gun fell to his feet and the shell was found underneath him. The coroner had ruled the forty-five year old actor's death a suicide, brought about by despondency over a failing career and too much alcohol. Warners loaned him to producer Alexander Korda to co-star with Merle Oberon in Lydia, a box-office failure. George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Iowa in 1914five months into his parents' marriage. [13] His Gone with the Wind screen credit reflects the change. Embattled New York Rep. George Santos said Thursday that he is "fully cooperating" with the House Ethics Committee, which is . This is the house, and home, that Superman actor George Reeves lived George Reeves | Unsolved Mysteries Wiki | Fandom Robert Condon, a writer interested in writing a biography on George, stayed in the house. Reeves's film career began in 1939 when he was cast as Stuart Tarleton (incorrectly listed in the film's credits as Brent Tarleton), one of Scarlett O'Hara's suitors in Gone with the Wind. On June 15, George and Leonore had gone out to a rather boozy dinner, to celebrate the upcoming marriage. Conversely, not everyone who is depressed about their career takes their own life. As Reeves returned to his room, Lemmon bizarrely began providing some morbid commentary. [24] As for Port of Entry, Reeves was never able to gain financing for the project, and the show was never made. However, Reeves mother, Helen Bessolo, was convinced that her son had been murdered. The issue was that Reeves eventually broke Tonis heart when he called it off to begin a relationship with the woman who would become his fiancee, Lenore Lemmon. Actors Alan Ladd and Gig Young were reportedly skeptical of the official determination. Father George Thomas Reeves. And that was the scene that was set on June 15, 1959. While he returned unscathed, he struggled from that point forward to get his career back on track. George Reeves: The Death of Superman | The Unredacted He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series Adventures of Superman (19521958). While Reeves may have been famous for being Superman, the role wasnt making him a whole lot of money. Lemmon and writer Robert Condon, who was staying at the house, were more than happy to entertain the group, but Reeves was already in bed and was not pleased by the ruckus downstairs. In 1983, the publicist sat by her bedside during her last hours, and knowing she was the last person on earth to know the truth, confessed all to her priest. Advertisement. Died in House - George Reeves, TV's "Superman" Suicide or | Facebook She was absolutely terrified of going to hell", Lozzi told the LA Times. Piecing Together The Circumstances Of George Reeves - TheFashionBall He performed on live television anthology programs, as well as on radio. The report made by the Los Angeles Police states, "[Reeves was] depressed because he couldn't get the sort of parts he wanted." Both would later commit suicide . To the right is the den and through the living room to the left you find the stairs leading to the guest room and adjoining bathroom which overlook the street. George was dressed in a gray Clark Kent Suit from the tv show and his body was taken to Gates/Kingsley/Gates on Sepulveda. In June 2021, an episode of the internet series BuzzFeed Unsolved discussed the death of Reeves and possible theories. While Reeves was depressed at the time of his death, there were oddities at the crime scene. Hes going upstairs to shoot himself, she explained to the other guests, who then heard a sound from upstairs. Some after his death said it was a profound depression and frustration with his career that led to the night in question. Wikimedia CommonsReeves played opposite Vivien Leigh as one of the Tarleton twins in Gone With the Wind. In 1927, Frank Bessolo adopted George at aged 13, as his own son, and the boy took on his stepfather's last name, becoming George Bessolo. He had affection for his young fans, and took his role-model status seriously. The characters involved range from colorful to drunk to suspicious, having by now taken any secrets they may be hiding to their gravesIn . The official cause of death for Reeves was ruled a suicide. There she had met and married Frank Joseph Bessolo by 1927, according to that year's federal census. June 16, 1959. Who all was in the house that night? There's a general belief that Toni Mannix bought the house, but his name The police arrived within the hour. George Reeves Facts. George Reeves - Biography Was Superman star George Reeves a suicide or murder victim? It may have seemed like an open and shut case: Man found upstairs, gun on the floor, a single bullet wound in his head. Reeves is interred at Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena, California. After, they returned home and continued drinking. (The punchline: Ricardo, do you mean to say that youve been married to her for 15 years? But it was Reeves who brought the flying Man of Steel to widespread popularity, at least on the screen. First, Reeves was found naked. Reeves himself was convinced it was Mannix behind a string of strange incidents that had befallen him in the aftermath of their breakup. Copyright (c) 2023 Groundspeak, Inc. All Rights Reserved. To this day, there are three possible scenarios that explain the death of George Reeves. Would the actor, generally described as an ordinary, straightforward kind of guy, really have killed himself in a house full of guests, especially choosing to do so naked - highly unusual in suicides? The film suggests three possible scenarios: accidental shooting by Lemmon, murder by an unnamed hitman under orders from Eddie Mannix, and suicide. Reeves had options for making a living, but those options apparently all involved playing Superman againa role that he was not eager to reprise at age 45. He freelanced, appearing in five Hopalong Cassidy westerns before director Mark Sandrich cast Reeves as Lieutenant John Summers opposite Claudette Colbert in So Proudly We Hail! Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point. Newspapers and wire-service reports quoted LAPD Sergeant V.A. We have always known that house guest Robert Condon, Carol Van Ronkel and William Bliss were there. Gene LeBell was there at George's house the morning before George died, training George. Besides, she was married to the most dangerous man in Hollywood, who had a formidable reputation for been able to make problems disappear. Eddies exploits in covering up the sleazy underbelly of Hollywood were legendary. Shortly after they arrived, Reeves came downstairs to find out what the commotion was. Many photos shown in various magazines in the past indicated that George's bedroom windows could be seen from the street. The stairs turn and continue upward to the bedroom where George slept. A script was commissioned from David Chantler, who had written many of the TV scripts. Two people who might have had strong motives were Toni and Eddie Mannix. Puedes cambiar tus opciones en cualquier momento haciendo clic en el enlace Panel de control de privacidad de nuestros sitios y aplicaciones. But unable to find work, perhaps George felt he had little choice but to return to a part that clearly caused him much anguish. Had Reeves, drunk, unhappy and smarting at another argument with his new girlfriend Leonore Lemmon, pulled the trigger on his Luger whilst plumbing some dark trough of self pity? The producers wouldnt give me a job. George Reeves - Superman Homepage For whatever reason, though, in my ten-plus years of living in Los Angeles, I had yet to stalk the former Supermans home. What happened next is mired in controversy, but according to the police interviews with the witnesses, a short moment later a shot was heard and the man who had become famous for been impervious to gunfire had, ironically, ended his life with a bullet to the head. The Mysterious Death of Superman | What Lies Beyond Had the jilted older woman taken things one step too far and shot Reeves in a jealous rage? He had recently been involved in a serious affair with a married woman, Toni Mannix, before dumping her for his high-society fiancee, leaving Mannix devastated. Mannix died in 1983 at the age of 77--her husband Eddie had died in 1963. At 45 and craving more serious work, the prospect of yet again trudging around the country in tights and cape, as children threw stones at him and teenagers challenged him to fights, may have become too much bare. The house where actor George Reeves, TV's "Superman," was found dead of a gunshot wound on June 16, 1959. The Dark Side Of George Reeves' Superman - Grunge.com Bud Collyer had voiced the Man of Steel on the radio from 1940 to 1951, and Kirk Alyn played the role in two 15-part movie serials that ended in 1950. The police ruled his death a suicide, but rumors quickly surfaced that Reeves was. And was Eddie, a man suspected of killing his first wife Bernice Fitzmaurice, behind the bullet to the head that ended the actors life? In the early morning of June 16, 1959, George was found dead . Reeves death was the first in what would come to be a string of tragedies surrounding the role, in what would come to be known as the Superman curse. Dubious witness statements and the examination of the crime scene by the Los Angeles Police led to the official inquiry conclusion that the death of Reeves's was suicide. Her devastation at been rejected by her boy had pushed her to the ultimate reprisal. While he and Lemmon were supposed to get married only a few days after his death, Lemmon allegedly had soured on him after she realized the older Superman wasnt quite the loaded Hollywood player she thought he was. A detective examines the mysterious death of George Reeves, the star of the television series Adventures of Superman (1952). George Reeves: "Superman" may have been murdered (June 16, 1959) 1. What raised eyebrows regarding Reeves' death is that he was found naked in his bedroom by his guests during a small gathering at 1:59 a.m.; his guests waited 45 minutes to call police; detectives found additional bullet holes in the floor of his bedroom; bruises were found on Reeves' body; shell casings were discovered in strange locations; and a He was also engaged to Leonore Lemmon, a New York showgirl. This theory goes that Lemmon was drunk and unhappy that night and shot her soon-to-be-husband. The book was published as 'The Archie Moore Story, as told to Bob Condon'. The year before Reeves death he abruptly ended his relationship with Mannix, leaving her for the younger New York socialite Leonore Lemmon. George Reeves' home in Benedict Canyon On June 16, 1959, Lenore Lemmon served dinner at around 6:30 p.m. at Reeves' Benedict Canyon home. (1942), a war drama for Paramount Pictures. This is however not the case as it it the guest bedroom that faces the street. SUPERMAN MURDER SOLVED! - PressReader But from another, the death of George Reeves looks a lot like murder. No gunpowder residue was found on Reeves' hands. His passing even became the subject of the 2006 biographical docudrama Hollywoodland, in which Ben Affleck plays the Pasadena-bred television star. It was a minor role, but he and Fred Crane, both in brightly dyed red hair as "the Tarleton Twins," were in the film's opening scenes. His death was officially classified as. This includes accusations of murder directed at his fiance and ex-girlfriend. But this had no official status and could not overrule the coroner's verdict of suicide. [31] However, Reeves and his partner failed to find financing, and the film was never made. to put his budding acting career on hold and enlist in the U.S. When they returned home, they continued to kick back the alcohol until around 12:30 p.m., at which point Reeves retired to his bedroom. Eddie Mannix wasnt just a heavy in Hollywood, he was also rumored to have mob connections. Released from his Warners contract, he signed a contract at Twentieth Century-Fox but was released after only a handful of films. George Reeves' Death Remains Shrouded In Mystery To This Day However, many of his friends and colleagues believe the actor was murdered, his death the stormy culmination of a tangled love life. No charges were ever brought against anyone in connection to the case. [13] The Bessolo marriage lasted 15 years, ending in divorce, with the couple separating while Reeves was away visiting relatives.
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