George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 June 16, 1959) was an American actor. 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. On June 16, 1959, actress Phyllis Coates was woken up around 4:30 a.m. by a very strange phone call. The Mannixs relationship was unusual even by the standards of Hollywood. Great article tho. Superman birth place and death house (George Reeves) 50,169 views Dec 23, 2016 Like Dislike Share Save LandumC goes there 147K subscribers George Reeves (Superman) birth location and the. George Reeves - Superman Homepage Reeves found himself unemployable. After Gone with the Wind was filmed, Reeves returned to the Pasadena Playhouse and was given the lead role in the play Pancho. He won critical acclaim for the role and garnered considerable publicity. Reeves' will, dated 1956, bequeathed his entire estate to Toni Mannix, much to Lemmon's surprise and devastation. 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. [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. The woman on the other end of the line was a woman named Toni Mannix. Hollywoodland (2006) - IMDb He left the bulk of his estate to Toni Mannix. (1956), in which Reeves wore a beard and mustache. The death was quickly ruled a suicide, but several of those near and dear to the actor believed there was no way he would have killed himself. Other evidence that casts doubt on this scenario is the lack of burn marks on Reeves back. George Reeves' Death Remains Shrouded In Mystery To This Day Had the usually diligent actor neglected to maintain his prized Jaguar properly or was this, as some have suspected, a murder attempt by Toni Mannix? 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? To this day, there are three possible scenarios that explain the death of George Reeves. Leonore Lemmon was, by all accounts, a bit of a hell-raiser. 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. A gentle man in real life, given to moods, he was despondent because "everyone thought of him as Superman, not as an actor" and now that the show was no longer shooting, he couldn't get a job. He was 40 years old and wanted to quit and move on with his career. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records 19381946, dated March24, 1943, Speeding Bullet, 2nd Ed, by Jan Alan Henderson, p. 151. 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 The 2006 movie, Hollywoodland starring Ben Affleckas Reeves, explores his life and relationships in greater detail. Reeves worked tirelessly with Toni Mannix to raise money to fight myasthenia gravis. On 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. Attempting to showcase his versatility, Reeves sang on the Tony Bennett show in August 1956. However, a number of suspicious details about the case have long piqued the interest of gossip mongers and armchair detective alike. There were also fresh bruises on the body. George Reeves as Superman CASE DETAILS The gun had no fingerprints on it Early one morning in June of 1959, Los Angeles police raced to a high priced Hollywood Hills home. June 16, 1959: George Reeves, Superman, Felled by Speeding Bullet 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. A SHOT rang out. By midnight on the night of June 16, 1959, only Lenore and writer Robert Condon were still at his house with him. He was found dead in his bedroom at 1:59 a.m. on June 16, 1959 in his modest home in Los Angeles' Benedict Canyon. Lemmon says George Reeves committed suicide. 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. In 1952, the struggling ABC Network purchased the show for national broadcast, which gave him greater visibility. 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. Everyone involved decided that it had been a suicide. Entering the house from the street side, you walk into the living room. The night Superman died and an enduring mystery was born. [18] He was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces and performed in the USAAF's Broadway show Winged Victory. If this was the case, then clearly he had not fired the gun himself, and another party was involved. And that was the scene that was set on June 15, 1959. The same cast was very quickly taken on for a television series, The Adventures of Superman, sponsored by Kellogg's cereal, which began airing late in 1952. 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). Reeves's film career began in 1939 when he was cast as Stuart Tarleton (albeit incorrectly listed in the film's credits as Brent Tarleton), one of Vivien Leigh's suitors in Gone with the Wind. gruesome and unsolved murder of the Black Dahlia. The coroner ruled it suicide. The Suspicious Death of George Reeves. The Mysterious Death of Superman | What Lies Beyond 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. George lived at 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive, in the Beverly Hills area. He was also engaged to Leonore Lemmon, a New York showgirl. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series Adventures of Superman (1952-1958). THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (1951-1957) - unknown actor (left) with George Reeves as "Superman." 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. Copyright (c) 2023 Groundspeak, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Some sources contend that it may not have been looked for, as gunshot residue testing was not routinely performed in 1959). Superman had been cancelled and Reeves had struggled to find the serious work he craved. Warners loaned him to producer Alexander Korda to co-star with Merle Oberon in Lydia, a box-office failure. Fellow actors Gig Young and Alan Ladd publicly doubted that Reeves took his own life. 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. There was a real man behind the superhero, whose tragic early death will likely forever be a mystery. No charges were ever brought against anyone in connection to the case. A few minutes later a shot was heard and the foursome ran upstairs. 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. On June 16, 1959, actress Phyllis Coates was woken up around 4:30 a.m. by a very strange phone call. 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. EXPLOSIVE new forensic evidence reveals Superman actor George Reeves didn't commit suicide he was murdered and a GLOBE investigation has uncovered the sordid truth behind the "perfect crime" and sinister cover-up of nearly 60 years! Larson had suffered a similar career downturn to Reeves after series was cancelled, and like his Superman co-star had struggled to break free of the typecasting associated with such an iconic role. The windows above the living room are the windows to George's bedroom. Your definitive source to filming locations and all things Hollywood! Flickr CommonsThe costume Reeves donned as Superman on TV. George Reeves Death, Hollywoodland Movie - Pics of Toni Mannix, Eddie Reeves reportedly never saw his father again. His personal life was not all red carpets and champagne. TV 'Superman' George Reeves Still Haunts Home Where He Died By mid 1959, contracts were signed, costumes refitted, and new teleplay writers assigned. George Reeves Superman Death | Snopes.com The second half of the show was Reeves out of costume as himself, singing and accompanying himself on the guitar. On the night of June 16, 1959, George Reeves was found dead in his bedroom from a gunshot wound to the head in his Benedict Canyon home, while his fiance Lemmon was downstairs hosting a party. '"[29], Reeves, Noel Neill, Natividad Vaco, Gene LeBell, and a trio of musicians toured with a public-appearance show from 1957 onward. Following an investigation, officers of the Los Angeles Police Department ruled the death a suicide, likely prompted by Reeves' alleged depression over the fact that he was experiencing financial . 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]. 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? Many photos shown in various magazines in the past indicated that George's bedroom windows could be seen from the street. In June 2021, an episode of the internet series BuzzFeed Unsolved discussed the death of Reeves and possible theories. Three shots were fired in the room: two on the floor and one in Reeves' head. Reeves died at the age of 45, from a gunshot wound to the head. After, they returned home and continued drinking. Advertisement. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! The home has not changed much since the mid-fifties. He directed the final 13 episodes of the series, and told the Evening Star that he was enthused about doing more.. Worst of all occurred on April 8th, when Reeves lost control of his Jaguar and careered into a cement pillar near his home in Benedict Canyon. According to Larson, Reeves also said he would feel better about the role if he knew he had any adult fans but never learned that Adventures of Superman had adult fans even during its original broadcast run.[17]. However, Superman producers offered him a salary increase, and he returned to the series. 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. Later that year, he was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces and performed in the USAAF's Broadway show Winged Victory. Sprawled naked on his bed, Reeves had been shot in the head after a late night party at his house. How do we create a person's profile? There she had met and married Frank Joseph Bessolo by 1927, according to that year's federal census. He died instantly and fell backwards, his feet still hungover the bed and his back on the mattress. 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.