The Mysterious Death of Superman
January 6, 1914 - June 16, 1959
George Reeves was not only one of the actors who played Superman, he was also a musician, a boxer, an actor, a director and a son before his unfortunate death which was 3 days before his wedding date. When George joined the army is when he found out a few secrets his mother had hidden from him, his birthdate, the fact that the man he thought of as his father was actually his adopted father and that he had committed suicide a few years before. At the time of his death George was on top of the world, he had just signed for another season of Superman, his impending marriage to Lenore Lemmon and even opportunities for directing movies were finally panning out for him. You can also find out more about this actor who played the second Superman on The Actors Who Played Superman
From Comic Book Superhero to Superman Movies
A Little History on George Reeves
George Reeves (January 5,Reeves's Mausoleum plaque erroneously lists his birthdate as "1/6/1914," or January 6, 1914. However, a variety of sources state that his actual birthdate was January 5, 1914, such as his Clarion County, Iowa birth certificate and the website FindAGrave 1914 - June 16, 1959) was an American actor, best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventur...
George Reeves the second actor to play Superman
who doesn't love Superman
Before he was an actor, George Reeves tried his hand at boxing but because it made his mother nervous, he gave it up and instead went into acting. When he got his shot at Superman, he knew he'd be a role model for all the young kids and he decided to give up smoking as well as never being seen in public with his girlfriends so he didn't give the children the wrong impression of Superman. A misconception about George Reeves and his superman successor Christopher Reeve, was that they were father/son or some how related, however there was absolutely no connection between them at all. George Reeves was a fictious name that he made up when he went into acting. Christopher was born to Frank Reeve(no s) and Barbara Johnson. Unfortunately Reeves fell into the same problem as Batman's Adam West and Burt Ward and Reeves ended up being stereotyped in the role of Superman and had a hard time getting really good acting jobs after the run of the show.
Other movies this actor played in
George Reeves the second Superman
George also played in movies like Gone With The Wind as one of the Tarelton twins, Gambling on the High Seas, Samson and Delilah, The Adventures of Sir Galahad. He also played in an episode of I Love Lucy with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. George also had a small part in the movie From Here To Eternity but it was cut out of the movie because, while at a preview of the movie, a few people would yell "There's Superman" every time Reeves appeared on the screen.
Superman and The Mole Men
Adventures of Superman - The Complete First Six Seasons (20pc)
Amazon Price: $112.49 (as of 12/16/2009)
A keepsake of The Man of Steel's first movie
The Murder/Suicide of George Reeves
find out for yourself
Hollywoodland (Widescreen Edition)
Amazon Price: $11.49 (as of 12/16/2009)
The complicated life and controversial suicide of George Reeves is investigated by a fictional private detective who finds that there are reasons to suspect that Reeves may not have killed himself after all. The detective also finds that there is a little of George Reeves in himself, and maybe, each of us.
The Unsolved Mystery of George Reeves
was it murder or suicide?
Although George Reeves' death was "officially" ruled as suicide, there's plenty of people who simply don't believe it due to the evidence, or the lack of evidence. On top of everything going great in his life and he had no reason to commit suicide there was plenty other evidence that lead some people to believe it was murder. Decide for yourself.
Courtesy of The Straight DopeThe evidence (or lack of evidence) against suicide:
- No fingerprints were found on the gun.
- There were no powder burns on the head wound, which would imply the gun was held several inches from the head at the time it was fired, pretty unusual for a suicide.
- His hands were NOT tested for gunpowder residue, so that's no help one way or the other.
- The spent shell was found under his body.
- The gun was found between his feet.
- The police were not called for at least half an hour after the death (although probably so the houseguests could sober up and get their stories straight).
- The supposed "slump" was over. His friends agreed he was happier than had been in years, looking forward to his marriage and to another season of the popular TV show. Money wasn't a problem either; he got residuals from the reruns.
The common theories:
(1) Reeves was killed by Leonore Lemmon, in a fit of passion or argument ... possibly over whether they would marry, but who knows. But why would the houseguests risk their own reputations to cover for her?
(2) Reeves was murdered by Toni or Eddie Mannix ... or by a mob killer (hired by them?) who threatened everyone, so they kept quiet about what really happened.
(3) It really was a suicide, as reported at the time.
Vote for your favorite George Reeves stuff
Adventures of Superman - The Complete First Six Seasons (20pc)
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/14/20060 points
Adventures of Superman - The Complete Third and Fourth Seasons
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GEORGE REEVES 16X20 B&W PHOTO
At Moviestore we have an incredible library of cel more...0 points
Twin Souls Merging: George Reeves & Jean Cline: A Psychological & Spiritual Journey by Jean Cline
On June 16, 1959, when Jean Cline was 13 years old more...0 points
Adventures of Superman - The Complete First Season
The legendary Man of Steel assumes the secret iden more...0 points
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Any Opinions????
What do you think? Murder? Suicide? Or you still don't have a clue as to who George Reeves is?
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Reply
- eccles1 eccles1 Oct 28, 2009 @ 7:55 pm
- you have done a great job on Superman!!
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Reply
- amy1980 amy1980 Oct 1, 2009 @ 2:32 pm
- Whoah! I love all the old Hollywood conspiracy theories. I'm guessing it's a murder, but I got all my formal training on crime scenes from such universities as "CSI - NY Campus" and "Law and Order U".
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