George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 June 16, 1959) was an American actor. According to the statements given to the police (statements that were no doubt slurred), Reeves came down to ask them to be quiet, they convinced him to stay for a drink, and then he stomped his way back upstairs. 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. As far as Reeves was concerned, one has to wonder if he had any regrets. Two, Eddie Mannix killed the actor in revenge for upsetting his wife. The producers wouldnt give me a job. However, a number of suspicious details about the case have long piqued the interest of gossip mongers and armchair detective alike. Due to their advanced state of inebriation the party guests were not entirely coherent, but they all seemed to agree on the suicide story. Peterson as saying: "Miss Lemmon blurted, 'He's probably going to go shoot himself.' [1][2], His death at age 45 from a gunshot remains controversial. George Reeves former residence is rather small, especially by Hollywood standards. Witnesses in the house who behaved a little oddly but heard the whole thing. 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. The characters involved range from colorful to drunk to suspicious, having by now taken any secrets they may be hiding to their gravesIn . Stalk It: George Reeves former home is located at 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills. In June 2021, an episode of the internet series BuzzFeed Unsolved discussed the death of Reeves and possible theories. Many studios were slowing down their production schedules, however, and some production units had shut down completely. After two seasons, Reeves was dissatisfied with his salary and the show's one-dimensional role. 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. When George Reeves, who had achieved international fame by playing Superman for five years on TV, was found dead by gunshot in 1959, the death was officially recorded as a suicide. Reeves blood alcohol content that night was .27 percent. The second half of the show was Reeves out of costume as himself, singing and accompanying himself on the guitar. But this had no official status and could not overrule the coroner's verdict of suicide. June 16, 1959. Who all was in the house that night? The main reason Reeves was said to have committed suicide was depression over his declining fortunes as an actor. During the second season, Reeves appeared in a short film for the Treasury Department entitled Stamp Day for Superman, in which he caught the villains and told children why they should invest in government savings stamps. If the Hollywood stories are to be believed, any death involving a girl and a gun is suspicious. [27], His good friend Bill Walsh, a producer at Disney Studios, gave Reeves a prominent role in Westward Ho the Wagons! George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Iowa in 1914five months into his parents' marriage. If anything, it seemed like Reeves career was on the up. The areas which appeared in the commercial include the den; the master bedroom (where the actor died); and the backyard. She sounded very disturbed and was hyperventilating as she rasped, The boy is dead. Is there any truth in the persistent rumours that Reeves was murdered? Finally, theres the fiancee. In their book Hollywood Kryptonite, Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger make a case for the involvement of MGM vice president and fixer Eddie Mannix. George's fiancee Lenore Lemmon claims that in . The home is currently a private residence but photos can be easily taken from the street. The people in the house were quite intoxicated and weren't much help to the investigation even waiting over 30 minutes before calling the police. 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. After the war, Reeves returned to Hollywood. Reeves knew the show could potentially be popular, but it was almost because of that that he was reticent to take it on. Reeves then apologized, and the group sat around talking. Reeves mother hired a high-powered lawyer to get the case reopened, but he quickly dropped his new client for reasons unknown. At around 2am that morning, two police officers arrived at 1579 Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, the house Reeves had been living at with his new fiance Leonore Lemmon during the previous few months. Two people who might have had strong motives were Toni and Eddie Mannix. Tell them I was down here!. He won critical acclaim for the role and garnered considerable publicity. [18] He was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces and performed in the USAAF's Broadway show Winged Victory. Multiple gunshot suicides are rare, so if these shots were contemporary to Reeves death, it seems unlikely he was the shooter. Finally, a single shot rang out. 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. Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images Phyllis Coates and George Reeves in The Adventures of Superman. 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. Warners loaned him to producer Alexander Korda to co-star with Merle Oberon in Lydia, a box-office failure. The Suspicious Death of George Reeves. After Gone with the Wind was filmed, Reeves returned to the Pasadena Playhouse and was given the lead role in the play Pancho. Shortly after, she began her affair with Reeves, who at 10 years her junior, she referred to as the boy. This theory centres around the mysterious WIlliam Bliss, a stranger to both Reeves and Leonore Lemmon, whose presence in the house that night has never been adequately explained. Both would later commit suicide . [17] He was drafted in early 1943. There were 104 episodes of The Adventures of Superman before the cancellation ax fell in 1958. 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. Robert Condon, a writer interested in writing a biography on George, stayed in the house. The woman on the other end of the line was a woman named Toni Mannix. George Reeves (born George Keefer . Leonore Lemmons behaviour after Reeves death did little to allay suspicions she may have had more involvement than she was letting on. Reeves was apparently scheduled to marry Lemmon on June 19 and then spend their honeymoon in Tijuana. She and Eddie had used his underworld connections to have Reeves killed. George Reeves' death was ruled a suicide, . The year before Reeves death he abruptly ended his relationship with Mannix, leaving her for the younger New York socialite Leonore Lemmon. CleverJourneys: American Crime Chronicles Two Los Angeles police officers arrived at 1579 Benedict Canyon at almost 3 a.m., June 16, 1959. At around1 am, William Bliss and Carol Van Ronkel came by for an impromptu meeting. (1942), a war drama for Paramount Pictures. 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. Lemmon and Reeves had a stormy relationship but, at least according to her, were engaged to be married. A few minutes later a shot was heard and the foursome ran upstairs. There was a real man behind the superhero, whose tragic early death will likely forever be a mystery. 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. Reeves returned to Hollywood in 1951 for a role in a Fritz Lang film, Rancho Notorious. 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. Coates was amongst many of Reeves friends and co-stars who did not believe he would have killed himself. Actors Alan Ladd and Gig Young were reportedly skeptical of the official determination. For whatever reason, though, in my ten-plus years of living in Los Angeles, I had yet to stalk the former Supermans home. A noise was heard upstairs. Leonore Lemmon fled to New York right after Reeves died--but first emptied his house of liquor bottles and $4,000 in traveler's checks. The first photo above looks into the living room from the backyard. Shortly after they arrived, Reeves came downstairs to find out what the commotion was. 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]. I remember watching Superman on tv, George Reeves Kelloggs Corn Flakes CommercialFilmed in his Home, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), I blogged about during my Haunted Hollywood theme last year, 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills. For some reason Reeves had contorted his head so it was tilted upwards at the point of firing, as the bullet was found embedded in the ceiling. George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 - June 16, 1959) was an American actor. Father George Thomas Reeves. 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. After all these years, what happened that night at 1579 Benedict Canyon remains obscure and controversial. 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. A detective examines the mysterious death of George Reeves, the star of the television series Adventures of Superman (1952). By midnight on the night of June 16, 1959, only Lenore and writer Robert Condon were still at his house with him. Ruled as a. The house was bought in the early 1950's for $12,000. Next, read about the gruesome and unsolved murder of the Black Dahlia. Reeves was extremely intoxicated when he died, and also pumped full of painkillers to treat the injuries he received in his recent car accident. 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]. His work on the show would earn him fame as the Original Superman, even though that wasnt technically true. [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. [31] However, Reeves and his partner failed to find financing, and the film was never made. Separated from his wife (their divorce became final in 1950), Reeves moved to New York City in 1949. Mannix, who had ties to the mob, had him whacked due to the affair. Reeves would frequently bemoan the role he felt so trapped in, with particular disdain reserved for the crude and repetitive scripts that often required little more of him than to turn up at the end and have the villains bullets bounce off his chest. However, it was obvious that many parts of the investigation were not performed as they should have been. The recent feature film, "Hollywoodland" is about this questionable death of a popular celebrity. Since a 9mm Luger generally ejects its shells to the right, it's hard to conceive what position the actor must have been in when he fired for it to have ended up underneath him. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series Adventures of Superman (1952-1958). See real George Reeves photos, and pics of the real Eddie Mannix, Toni Mannix, Leonore Lemmon and others. At around 1.20am, a bad tempered Reeves had admonished the trio for their noise, before returning upstairs. On 16 June 1959, George Reeves retired to his bed at 12, after going out for dinner with his fianc, Leonore. According to legend, the house at 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive in Los Angeles where actor George Reeves died of a gunshot wound to the head early in the morning of June 16, 1959 is haunted. The planned revival of Superman was apparently a small lifeline. It was also widely believed that Toni, to whom Reeves bequeathed his entire estate, may have shot him in a jealous rage after hearing news of his engagement, or that her husband, E.J. Loved the commercial..how cool! [1][2][3][4][5][6], Reeves was born January 5, 1914,[7][8] as George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, the son of Donald Carl Brewer and Helen Lescher. Was it true she was heard to say He is going to shoot himself, after Reeves had left the party to go back to bed? And George Reeves was not unable to find work, he was not broke, he was not a suicidal depressed person. The costume Reeves donned as Superman on TV. All was not well behind the scenes in Metropolis. Their suspicions werent entirely fueled by grief and denialthe evidence was puzzling. Reeves also enjoyed playing with an unloaded gun. Reeves died of a gunshot wound to the head in the upstairs bedroom of his home at 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive[34] in Benedict Canyon between 1:30 and 2:00a.m. on June 16, 1959, according to the Los Angeles Police Department report. He had a string of B-list movies after that, and was slowly working his way up to leading man status when bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor. 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.. They decided that he had not committed suicide. Catalog; For You; Globe. 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 Reeves initially had no autopsy and his body was swifted embalmed. According to the Argus observer, "George Reeves, 45, was found dead in his upstairs bedroom of this house . In 1952, the struggling ABC Network purchased the show for national broadcast, which gave him greater visibility. No scandals were too big to be neutralised by Eddie, from covering-up Clark Gable accidently killing actress Tosca Roulien, to tracking down and buying up every copy of a porn film starring Joan Crawford. Was his role to distract the house guests and facilitate the entry of a hitman to do away with Reeves? At his funeral, he was laid to rest in the same suit that he wore on the TV show as "Clark Kent." 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 death of the original Superman is one of those American mysteries that may never fully add up. 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. Just over a year after the war started, Reeves was called up. George Reeves death home- Beverly Hills, CA - Infamous Crime Scenes on Waymarking.com. Later that year, he was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces and performed in the USAAF's Broadway show Winged Victory. 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. He was getting work as a director, and he had agreed to do another season of Superman, in which he would also direct quite a few episodes of. [28] He appeared as Superman on I Love Lucy (Episode #165, "Lucy and Superman") in 1957. Separated from his wife (their divorce became final in 1950), Reeves moved to New York City in 1949. Regardless of the plausibility of these theories, its likely that the identity of whoever fired the bullet that killed the Man of Steel will remain a mystery. Reeves found himself unemployable. More adept with withering, foul mouthed put downs, violence was not really her style. His passing even became the subject of the 2006 biographical docudrama Hollywoodland, in which Ben Affleck plays the Pasadena-bred television star. Televisions beloved Superman was dead at the tender age of 45. George went to bed at 12:30 AM. Whilst highly speculative, some corroboration to this comes from Reeves own Lois Lane, actress Phyllis Coates. Mother Victoria Alice Mason. Another rumor was that a car was heard speeding away from the house as well. The characters involved range from colorful to drunk to suspicious, having by now taken any secrets they may be hiding to their graves. 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. [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. 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. In typical fashion, Reeves and Lemmon went out for a boozy night on the town. If you are lucky enough, the homeowners may allow you to tour the home's grounds and possibly the interior as well. 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. 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! 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. We have always known that house guest Robert Condon, Carol Van Ronkel and William Bliss were there. Character: . Born George Keefer Brewer in 1914 in Woolstock, Iowa to Helen Lescher and Don C. Brewer, young George would grow up in Ashland, Kentucky and later in Pasadena California where his sister also lived. 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]. When he returned, his mother told him his stepfather had committed suicide. 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). Entering the house from the street side, you walk into the living room. Death Of George Reeves Source: Biography. The house where actor George Reeves, TV's "Superman," was found dead of a gunshot wound on June 16, 1959. Its a plane! Reeves was then transferred to the Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit, where he made training films. In reality, George Reeves life was a far cry from that of his heroic television counterpart. A noise echoed: See, hes opening the drawer to get the gun. Then a shot: I told you, hes shot himself.. The subsequent police report seem to accept the whole story at face value. That position was taken over by Frank . On the night of his death, George had several friends over. The following is taken from the official autopsy report: Exactly what happened that night was never fully resolved, due to varying drunken accounts. However, many studios were slowing down their production schedules, and some production units had shut down completely. The issues wasnt just career frustration. Reeves' will, dated 1956, bequeathed his entire estate to Toni Mannix, much to Lemmon's surprise and devastation. Si quieres personalizar tus opciones, haz clic en Gestionar configuracin de privacidad. Clearly she had the motive, and through her ruthless and well connected husband she certainly had the means. The Iowa-born actor got his big break when he was hired to play one of Scarlett OHaras suitors in 1939s Gone with the Wind. In contemporary news articles, Lemmon attributed Reeves' alleged suicide to depression caused by his "failed career" and inability to find more work. Up in the sky! She even commissioned a second autopsy, which concluded that Reeves was possibly murdered. The actors were poorly paid, and even after Reeves received a raise after trying and failing to leave the show after three seasons, he found himself struggling for money, unable to get the roles he really wanted, and taxed for time given the all-consuming nature of his Superman commitments. A month later, having uncovered no evidence contradicting the official finding, Giesler announced that he was satisfied that the gunshot wound had been self-inflicted and withdrew.[41][39]. His body was later cremated and interred at the Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, which I blogged about during my Haunted Hollywood theme last year. Like so many men of his generation, the war derailed his life plans. Had Reeves gotten cold feet about their supposed wedding, or been caught on the phone to Toni Mannix? Reeves would later recall the impact Sandrich's death had on his career. 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. . 1. He was 40 years old and wanted to quit and move on with his career. Another location that has long been woven into the fabric of Hollywood lore is George Reeves former Benedict Canyon bungalow, where in the early morning hours of June 16th, 1958 the Adventures of Superman star was found dead from a single gunshot wound to the head. A SHOT rang out. Later, Reeves's mother,[12] who was of German descent, moved to California to stay with her sister. [40], Reeves' mother thought the ruling premature and peremptory, and retained attorney Jerry Giesler to petition for a reinvestigation of the case as a possible homicide. She also had a reputation as a gold digger, having married twice before for money. The home has not changed much since the mid-fifties. Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty ImagesPhyllis Coates and George Reeves in The Adventures of Superman. The Los Angeles county coroner said its was a suicide, but family & friends say it was a love triangle murder. The police arrived within the hour. SUPERMAN MURDER SOLVED! The events surrounding his death have been the subject of much conjecture ever since. This theory goes that Lemmon was drunk and unhappy that night and shot her soon-to-be-husband. 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. Lemmon says George Reeves committed suicide. Many, though, believed the investigation had been rushed and this may have been a case of homicide. George Reeves' Ghost. 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. While it's true that Reeves depressed at the time of his death, there were some inconsistencies at the crime scene that raised some red flags not only back then but still to this day. Some even say George Reeves appears at the foot of the bed every now and then, dressed as Superman. The official verdict was that Reeves had committed suicide, the weight of his troubles having become too much for him to bear. You can watch George Reeves Kelloggs Corn Flakes commercial by clicking above. 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). Hollywood comic, Lou Lubin, is on right. Character actor Ben Welden had acted with Reeves in the Warner Bros. days and frequently guest-starred on Superman. It is located in a fairly modest area, even though the asking price in 1995 was $625,000. The half-hour films were shot on tight schedules; at least two shows were made every six days. According to the autopsy report, Reeves had taken his .30 caliber German Luger pistol, placed it near his right temple and pulled the trigger. Look! Reeves usually had an open door policy, but not after midnight. 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. They found George Reeves upstairs on his bed, with a Luger between his feet and a bullet hole in his head. Why had Lemmon waited for so long - 45 minutes or so, to call the police? 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! 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". He left the bulk of his estate to Toni Mannix. 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. 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. Conspiracy theories abound and Reeves death has remained the stuff of Hollywood legend for over five decades since. When the police did arrive, they found no sign . Reeves new girlfriend, who had since moved in, was a New York socialite named Leonore Lemmon, with whom he was rumored to be engaged. It is located in a fairly modest area, even though the asking price in 1995 was $625,000. The story told by those there that night is full of holes, the evidence perplexing and poorly handled. According to Jim Nolts fabulous Superman-themed The Adventures Continue website, the house has remained largely unchanged since the time Reeves lived there over fifty years ago. Flickr CommonsThe costume Reeves donned as Superman on TV. The show was a smashing success, drawing huge audiences each episode. Firstly, TV had just become ubiquitous in households across the country, but television as a medium was still seen as the lowbrow younger sibling to films high art. He appeared in a pair of outdoor thrillers with Ralph Byrd and in a Sam Katzman-produced serial, The Adventures of Sir Galahad. If this was the case, then clearly he had not fired the gun himself, and another party was involved. 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. And that was the scene that was set on June 15, 1959. Includes the ability to log visits, view logs, save and filter offline Waymarks and use beautiful offline maps! If anyone could put the heat on Superman it was Eddie. Is her confession credible? In a wild turn of events, the alleged problem with this situation was not the affair itselfjilted husband Eddie had his own liaisons outside of the marriage and allegedly had no problem with his wifes relationship with Reeves. Cancel OK Your account Further to this, a later search of the bedroom found two extra bullet holes. 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 legend, the house at 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive in Los Angeles where actor George Reeves died of a gunshot wound to the head early in the morning of June 16, 1959 is haunted. After, they returned home and continued drinking.
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