Both would later commit suicide . At around1 am, William Bliss and Carol Van Ronkel came by for an impromptu meeting. It was an open secret in the business that Reeves had been conducting a long term affair with Toni Mannix, the wife of notorious Hollywood fixer and MGM vice president Eddie Mannix. If this was the case, then clearly he had not fired the gun himself, and another party was involved. But from another, the death of George Reeves looks a lot like murder. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series Adventures of Superman (19521958). She even commissioned a second autopsy, which concluded that Reeves was possibly murdered. George Reeves may not be the first actor that springs to mind when you think of Superman, but the star's untimely death put him at the centre of a conspiracy theory malestrom.. Reeves was actually . To unravel the murky fate of TVs first superhero we must return to the early hours of June 16, 1959. 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. The Superman cast members had restrictive contracts preventing them from taking other work that might interfere with the series. 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 found himself unemployable. Had the actor been placed on the bed some time after he was shot? But the scandalous and suspicious way he met his death in 1959 could not have been further removed from his role as the Man of Steel. 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. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and gave Reeves the distinction of appearing in two "Best Picture" films. Its a bird! Or perhaps Toni took matters into her own hands and simply had her husband cover it up. Info Share. Shortly after they arrived, Reeves came downstairs to find out what the commotion was. The actor was discovered laying face up on his bed, naked, with a single gunshot wound to his right temple and a .30 caliber Luger on the floor in between his lifeless feet. 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. Mannix was devastated by the rejection, made all the more humiliating for the fact Reeves had moved Lemmon into a house in Los Angeles she owned. George Santos faces ethics investigation from special House committee Many believe that the ghostly appearances by the actor lend credence to the idea that he was murdered. [13] His Gone with the Wind screen credit reflects the change. The findings of a second autopsy, conducted at Giesler's request, were the same as the first, except for a series of bruises of unknown origin about the head and body. 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. Tall and chisel jawed, Reeves was the perfect choice to play the all American hero in the syndicated television show the Adventures of Superman. The Dark Side Of George Reeves' Superman - Grunge.com : The Return of Black Adam. First, Reeves was found naked. He was lucky to escape with head injuries that required him to take powerful painkillers right up until the night he died. Immediately after completing it, Reeves and the crew began production of the first season's episodes, all shot over 13 weeks in the summer of 1951. The Death of George Reeves - the Original Superman - Reel Reviews All of the conspiracy theories surrounding Reevess death would eventually be played out on the big screen in 2006s Hollywoodland, but they boil down to three scenarios. And they call me Superman!). A SHOT rang out. Eddie was not happy when his wife wasnt happy. At this time, Reeves and his mother moved from Iowa to Ashland, Kentucky, to stay with relatives for a time[10] and then to her home of Galesburg, Illinois.[11]. When his mother moved to California to be with her sister, it was said Reeves never saw his father again. In the early morning hours of June 16, 1959, George Reeves, who was the first to make the superhero an icon when he played the titular role in the inaugural TV series, was found dead in his bedroom, naked with a bullet through his head. Then check out 48 photos that capture vintage Hollywood. Reeves himself was convinced it was Mannix behind a string of strange incidents that had befallen him in the aftermath of their breakup. As portrayed in films such as Hollywoodland and Hail Ceasar, Eddie had an array of thugs, bent cops, private eyes and mobsters on the payroll. . Finally, theres the fiancee. I told you, hes shot himself., When the cops arrived on the scene, Lemmon told them she had been only kidding when she made her strange remarks. 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. Reeves fit the rugged requirements of the roles and, with his retentive memory for dialogue, he did well under rushed production conditions. Another Superman stage show was scheduled for July[32] with a planned stage tour of Australia. The Day Superman Died, George Reeves Death House 6,369 views Feb 16, 2019 159 Dislike Share Save Michael Thompson's Hidden In Plain Sight 688 subscribers In this video I visit the house where. How do we create a person's profile? His personal life was not all red carpets and champagne. After, they returned home and continued drinking. They married on September 22, 1940 in San Marino, California, at the Church of Our Savior. Was Lemmon with Reeves when he shot himself? George Reeves died of a gunshot wound to his head in the upstairs bedroom at his home in Benedict Canyon. To the left in the photo is a den. By midnight on the night of June 16, 1959, only Lenore and writer Robert Condon were still at his house with him. Whilst its true the actor had a habit of playing dangerous games with his gun, naked in bed at 1am does not seem a very likely time for macabre party tricks. In the early hours of June 16, Mannix called Coates; she was hysterical and told her friend that Reeves had been murdered. The home has not changed much since the mid-fifties. They divorced 10 years later and had no children. If the Hollywood stories are to be believed, any death involving a girl and a gun is suspicious. 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. These roles did little to advance Reeves's career, and his contract with Warners was dissolved by mutual consent. He served as national chairman for the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation in 1955. The Suspicious Death of George Reeves: Who Killed Superman? - Anomalien.com She died alone in her apartment over New Year 1989, her body not found for four days. Si no quieres que nosotros ni nuestros socios utilicemos cookies y datos personales para estos propsitos adicionales, haz clic en Rechazar todo. You can watch George Reeves Kelloggs Corn Flakes commercial by clicking above. She and Eddie had used his underworld connections to have Reeves killed. Reeves mother refused to believe her son had killed himself and hired famous Hollywood lawyer Jerry Giesler to investigate further. Para obtener ms informacin sobre cmo utilizamos tus datos personales, consulta nuestra Poltica de privacidad y Poltica de cookies. The official finding was suicide, but some believe that he was murdered or the victim of an accidental shooting. The husband of Reeves jilted lover was the infamous Eddie Mannix, a fixer at MGM during the golden age of studios, when his job was to make stars problems vanish. Piecing Together The Circumstances Of George Reeves - TheFashionBall She also hired private investigators to investigate his death. After two seasons, Reeves was dissatisfied with his salary and the show's one-dimensional role. That position was taken over by Frank . Why Anton Drexler Was More Responsible For The Nazi Party Than Adolf Hitler, The Gruesome Murders Of Andrei Chikatilo Russia's "Red Ripper", What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images, Reeves played opposite Vivien Leigh as one of the Tarleton twins in. If you are lucky enough, the homeowners may allow you to tour the home's grounds and possibly the interior as well. They got home around 11 p.m. A couple hours later, Carol Van Ronkel and William Bliss stopped by for a drink. 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. The world was shocked to learn that famed Superman actor, George Reeves, had been found dead in his home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Attempting to showcase his versatility, Reeves sang on the Tony Bennett show in August 1956. After his death, it was revealed that he left everything to Toni, which could have been an oversight given he and Lemmon had only been together six months, or it could have been a big middle finger. Reeves' will, dated 1956, bequeathed his entire estate to Toni Mannix, much to Lemmon's surprise and devastation. Not the comic book character, of course, but the man who personified the "real" Superman for an entire generation of television fans. 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 The police had never checked Reeves fingers for residue to see if he pulled the trigger nor did they count the number of bullets remaining in the gun. In reality, George Reeves life was a far cry from that of his heroic television counterpart. George Reeves' Home. 2 min read. However, many of his friends and colleagues believe the actor was murdered, his death the stormy culmination of a tangled love life. If his death was suicide Reeves must have held the gun with his right hand, although this in itself is suspicious as the actor had injured his right hand in an automobile accident a few weeks prior to his death. The police also found two gunshot holes in the carpet as well as the one in the ceiling that they traced to the wound in Reevess head, yet the witnesses claimed to have only heard one shot that night. In the 1950s the actor, George Reeves was best known for his portrayal of Superman in the television series, Adventures of Superman. Miss Lemmon then made the statement, He is going to shoot himself. Shortly, they heard a dresser drawer being opened upstairs, and Miss Lemmon commented, He is getting the gun out now, and he is going to shoot himself. Moments later, a shot was heard, and they ran upstairs to see what happened. [17] Reeves fit the rugged requirements of the roles, and, with his retentive memory for dialogue, he did well under rushed production conditions. Televisions beloved Superman was dead at the tender age of 45. The Mannixs relationship was unusual even by the standards of Hollywood. There were also bruises on Reeves head and body. 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. The book was published as 'The Archie Moore Story, as told to Bob Condon'. Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty ImagesPhyllis Coates and George Reeves in The Adventures of Superman. Look! [17] He was drafted in early 1943. Fellow actors Gig Young and Alan Ladd publicly doubted that Reeves took his own life. The police also appeared to be behaving in a careless manner. George Reeves' Former Home - IAMNOTASTALKER His passing even became the subject of the 2006 biographical docudrama Hollywoodland, in which Ben Affleck plays the Pasadena-bred television star. September6, 1892 was the daughter of George Christian Lescher and Eliza Jane McKenzie, she died in a Pasadena hospital on June 18, 1964. Catalog; For You; Globe. Effectively living an open marriage, Eddie tolerated, even liked Reeves, and himself maintained a younger mistress. The Mysterious Death of Superman George Reeves It wasn't Kryptonite that killed Superman. A few minutes later a shot was heard and the foursome ran upstairs. Talking to friend Millicent Trent, Bliss said Lemmon had actually rushed down the stairs after the gunshot and urged them to Tell them I was down here! Amazingly, George Reeves shot part of a Kelloggs Corn Flakes commercial (the cereal company was the sponsor of Adventures of Superman) inside of his actual Benedict Canyon home. Reeves would later recall the impact Sandrich's death had on his career. George Reeves - Biography - IMDb Bessolo actually died March 4, 1944, at age 51, when his adopted son was well into his movie career. Considering her temperament, it does not seem out of the question she may have started waving Reeves pistol about whilst having a drunken argument with her prospective husband. Reeves had been having an affair with his wife Toni Mannix. On June 16, 1959, actress Phyllis Coates was woken up around 4:30 a.m. by a very strange phone call. However, Reeves mother, Helen Bessolo, was convinced that her son had been murdered. Alcohol, narcotics and depression are a red light warning sign for suicide, and with little other evidence available to them to suggest otherwise, its not hard to see why the Police came to this conclusion. While the tragedy was unfolding, his fiance and three guests were carousing downstairs, his soon-to-be wife allegedly narrating the action going on above. Around 1, two friends came by for a visit. He looked forward to working with So Proudly We Hail! According to Kashner and Schoenberger (A Talent for Genius), however, unanswered details about Reeves's demise shroud what in truth was foul play. His fears were not unfounded, as he had been out of work for two years by the time of his death in 1959. George Reeves had a reasonably successful film career (including a small part in Gone with the Wind) when he took the role of Superman in Superman and the Mole Men, a feature film. The . 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. Sandrich felt that Reeves had the potential to become a major star, but unfortunately died while Reeves was still in uniform. Two neighbors stopped by, hoping to join the party. Reeves was extremely intoxicated when he died, and also pumped full of painkillers to treat the injuries he received in his recent car accident. During the dinner, they had argued. Reeves head and hands showed no signs of gunshot residue or powder burns. The Mysterious Death of Superman | What Lies Beyond Later, Reeves's mother,[12] who was of German descent, moved to California to stay with her sister. However, it was obvious that many parts of the investigation were not performed as they should have been. If anything, it seemed like Reeves career was on the up. Her devastation at been rejected by her boy had pushed her to the ultimate reprisal. Getting tapped to play a famous superhero may be considered the pinnacle of an acting career today, but Reeves agreed to the role out of desperation. The characters involved range from colorful to drunk to suspicious, having by now taken any secrets they may be hiding to their gravesIn . Did the 45-year-old actor commit suicide (as was the official finding), was his death accidental, or was he murdered by his vengeful ex-lover or her jealous husband? Was the coroner's verdict right after all? Lemmon says George Reeves committed suicide. His death was officially classified as. The accident was rendered in a more sinister light when Reeves mechanic discovered the brake fluid in the car had been drained. The Suspicious Death of George Reeves Trace Evidence [17], However, Reeves was inspired by So Proudly We Hail! Those guests were neighbour Carol Van Ronkel, her lover Robert Condon, and another neighbour, William Bliss. [17], Released from his Warner contract, he signed a contract at Twentieth Century-Fox but was released after only a handful of films, one of which was the Charlie Chan movie Dead Men Tell. 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. According to commentaries on the Adventures of Superman DVD sets, multiple scripts were filmed simultaneously to take advantage of the standing sets; for example, all the "Perry White's office" scenes for three or four episodes would be shot the same day and the various "apartment" scenes would be done consecutively. George Reeves, 45, TV's indestructible "Man of Steel," Superman, was dead by his own hand and the flowing cloak would flow no more. But even more importantly, The Adventures of Superman was marketed mostly towards a younger audience. Was Superman murdered? The mysterious death of George Reeves The story told by those there that night is full of holes, the evidence perplexing and poorly handled. By mid 1959, contracts were signed, costumes refitted, and new teleplay writers assigned. Perhaps he came a little too close to the truth. Witnesses in the house who behaved a little oddly but heard the whole thing. It all seemed so simple. Climbing Back Up Almost immediately after the case was closed, questions about the truth began to arise. There's a general belief that Toni Mannix bought the house, but his name Finally, a single shot rang out. However, these were never investigated and Giesler strangely refused to work on the case any longer. His relatives believed he was murdered, and disputed the official ruling of suicide. Los Angeles Police Department Death Report, June 26, 1959. Superman was dead, and there were no heroes coming in to save the day. Like so many men of his generation, the war derailed his life plans. George Reeves death home- Beverly Hills, CA - Waymarking And did that scandal involve one of the most powerful men in the movie business, Toni Maddoxs husband Eddie? Further to this, a later search of the bedroom found two extra bullet holes. Reeves mother hired a high-powered lawyer to get the case reopened, but he quickly dropped his new client for reasons unknown. There was no doubt that he had enjoyed a few libations that evening, but even drunk it stretches the imagination that someone would strip before committing suicide. Henderson, Jan Alan, Speeding Bullet, M. Bifulco, 1999; Helen Roberta Lescher Brewer Bessolo (18921964) - Born in Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois, US. The Ghost of George Reeves | Paul Kupperberg A script was commissioned from David Chantler, who had written many of the TV scripts. The night of Reevess death, the actor was at home with his fiance Lenore Lemmon, along with the writer Robert Condon, who had been staying with them. In 1960, Reeves was awarded a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the TV industry. 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. Mannix died in 1983 at the age of 77--her husband Eddie had died in 1963. 1. In the home of actor George Reeves, people frantically handed somebody else their martini glass and then tried to wake the naked couple in bed, though the police wouldn't be called for nearly an hour.Earlier that evening, Reeves and his fiance had gotten into an argument at a restaurant or two and, despite planning to wed in only four days' time, Reeves reportedly wanted . Even outside of the world of comic books, bullets sometimes do funny things, and that was certainly the case in the death of George Reeves. He performed on live television anthology programs, as well as on radio. Everyone involved decided that it had been a suicide. and im so curious to know,is it true or not?cause if it is true..wow it is the scariest thing ive ever heard. The official verdict was that Reeves had committed suicide, the weight of his troubles having become too much for him to bear. Reeves usually had an open door policy, but not after midnight. Lois & Clark - The New Adventures of Superman, Superman/Shazam! Conspiracy theories abound and Reeves death has remained the stuff of Hollywood legend for over five decades since. George Reeves: The Strange, Lonely Death of TV's Superman George Reeves Born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa in 1914, the boy who would become Superman moved around a lot. George Reeves' Mysterious Passing at 45 Has People Doubting - AmoMama 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. The Suspicious Death of George Reeves. 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. At the beginning of his life, George Reeves was a Midwesterner by birth but, as he grew older, he made his way out to California with his mother. 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". The events surrounding his death have been the subject of much conjecture ever since. Had Reeves gotten cold feet about their supposed wedding, or been caught on the phone to Toni Mannix? While Reeves was depressed at the time of his death, there were oddities at the crime scene. Inside the Mysterious Death of George Reeves, the Original Superman Honorary pallbearers included Alan Ladd and Gig Young. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records 19381946, dated March24, 1943, Speeding Bullet, 2nd Ed, by Jan Alan Henderson, p. 151. [17] His friend Teddi Sherman introduced him to her father, producer Harry Sherman, who asked Reeves to do a screen test with Teddi for the Hopalong Cassidy films. There was a real man behind the superhero, whose tragic early death will likely forever be a mystery. The coroner ruled it suicide. [13] The Bessolo marriage lasted 15 years, ending in divorce, with the couple separating while Reeves was away visiting relatives. Three shots were fired in the room: two on the floor and one in Reeves' head. 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. Later in life, she become a somewhat tragic figure, bloated and consumed by alcoholism, Leonore would give many different accounts of the events of that night, often contradicting herself and denying things she was commonly reported to have said and done. This was before news of Reeves death had gotten out, and it always remained a mystery to Coates how Mannix could have known Reeves was murdered unless she was party to it. [33] Reeves had been made a "Kentucky Colonel" during a publicity trip in the South, and the sign on his dressing room door was replaced with a new one that read "Honest George, also known as Col. Reeves", created by the show's prop department. Learn about George Reeves death and the true story behind the Hollywoodland movie starring Ben Affleck as TV's Superman. He was contracted to Warner Brothers at the time, and the actor's professional name became "George Reeves" and his GWTW screen credit reflects the change. [38] The bullet that killed Reeves was recovered from the bedroom ceiling, and the spent shell casing was found under his body. Toni, a former showgirl and starlet in the early talkies, married MGM studios enforcer Eddie Mannix in 1951. Whilst highly speculative, some corroboration to this comes from Reeves own Lois Lane, actress Phyllis Coates. Whatever the case may be, no charges were ever filed and Reeves death remains one of the most talked about Hollywood scandals to this day. Had the jilted older woman taken things one step too far and shot Reeves in a jealous rage? However, many studios were slowing down their production schedules, and some production units had shut down completely. Separated from his wife (their divorce became final in 1950), Reeves moved to New York City in 1949. Although the power of the studios was waning by the 1950s, its possible Eddie Mannix still wielded enough influence to fix George Reeves at his wifes behest. No one is entirely certain who was even at the house that night. proporcionarte nuestros sitios y aplicaciones; autenticar usuarios, aplicar medidas de seguridad y evitar el spam y los abusos, y. medir el uso que haces de nuestros sitios y aplicaciones. 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 Lane. Contraversy continues. 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 death of the original Superman is one of those American mysteries that may never fully add up. [28] He appeared as Superman on I Love Lucy (Episode #165, "Lucy and Superman") in 1957. Lemmon had called them after she and her party guests had found Reeves dead in his bedroom. Despite these suspicions, the Los Angeles Police Department officially ruled the death a suicide, on little more than a cursory investigation. 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. Toni Lanier Mannix (born Camille Bernice Froomess; February 19, 1906 - September 2, 1983) was an American actress and dancer in early motion pictures filmed with soundtracks, known as "talkies".Going by the name Toni Lanier, she became known in Hollywood circles for her extramarital relationship with future husband MGM studio head Eddie Mannix, who was married at the time to Bernice Fitzmaurice. Who shot TV's Superman? - Los Angeles Times This prevented long-term work on major films with long schedules, stage plays that might lead to a lengthy run, or any other series work.[24]. Last edited on 17 February 2023, at 06:25, Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Death of George Reeves The Original Superman", "The Life and Tragic Death of 'Superman' Star George Reeves Plus the Actor in his Own Words", "7 super things you might not know about George Reeves", "11 Homes That Are Haunted by Dead Celebrities", "Was Superman star George Reeves a suicide or murder victim? According to publicist Edward Lozzi, who had befriended Toni during her last years as a widow in Beverly Hills, what she had done weighed heavily on the now elderly Mannix. 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?
