Had she even pulled the trigger herself? On June 16, 1959, actress Phyllis Coates was woken up around 4:30 a.m. by a very strange phone call. [17] Reeves fit the rugged requirements of the roles, and, with his retentive memory for dialogue, he did well under rushed production conditions. The stairs turn and continue upward to the bedroom where George slept. 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. 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. Entering the house from the street side, you walk into the living room. Eddie Mannix wasnt just a heavy in Hollywood, he was also rumored to have mob connections. Reeves mother hired a high-powered lawyer to get the case reopened, but he quickly dropped his new client for reasons unknown. He left the bulk of his estate to Toni Mannix. No one is entirely certain who was even at the house that night. Like an optical illusion, from one angle the details clearly show a man who, in a moment of distress, made a tragic decision. No photos of the body were taken and the crime scene was not properly searched or dusted for prints. Reeves and Sherman impressed the casting director by performing seven pages of script in a single take without pause. Reeves blood alcohol content that night was .27 percent. Conspiracy theories abound and Reeves death has remained the stuff of Hollywood legend for over five decades since. He was also engaged to Leonore Lemmon, a New York showgirl. Lemmon stayed awake and about thirty minutes later three friends dropped by for a visit. But from another, the death of George Reeves looks a lot like murder. 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. On the night of June 15th, 1959, Reeves and Lemmon went out to dinner and the two reportedly drank a great deal. Character actor Ben Welden had acted with Reeves in the Warner Bros. days and frequently guest-starred on Superman. He complained to friends, columnists, and his mother of his financial problems. After, they returned home and continued drinking. 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. And how had the fatal bullet ended up in the ceiling whilst the shell rested underneath his body? Finally, theres the fiancee. 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. 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. A long Broadway run followed, before a national tour and a movie version. A funeral was held on Wednesday, June 30. [17] He was drafted in early 1943. Authorities ruled it a suicide, but was it? (1942), a war drama for Paramount Pictures, which signed Reeves up for two films a year. 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). Tall and chisel jawed, Reeves was the perfect choice to play the all American hero in the syndicated television show the Adventures of Superman. 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. Between the start of production on Gone With the Wind and its release 12months later, several films on his Warner contract were made and released, making Gone With the Wind his first film role, but his fifth film release. While this may have been the final act for George Reeves Superman, it was the first act in what would become one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the role. The story told by those there that night is full of holes, the evidence perplexing and poorly handled. Reeves was extremely intoxicated when he died, and also pumped full of painkillers to treat the injuries he received in his recent car accident. And they call me Superman!). [38] The bullet that killed Reeves was recovered from the bedroom ceiling, and the spent shell casing was found under his body. However, a number of suspicious details about the case have long piqued the interest of gossip mongers and armchair detective alike. Was the star of 50s TV show The Adventures of Superman murdered? He was lucky to escape with head injuries that required him to take powerful painkillers right up until the night he died. Robert (Bobby) was writing a book about boxer Archie Moore. 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. On June 16, 1959, Reeves died from a single gunshot wound in the bedroom of his Benedict Canyon home. Leonore Lemmon was, by all accounts, a bit of a hell-raiser. If anything, it seemed like Reeves career was on the up. Loved the commercial..how cool! And then there were the bruising and other marks on Reevess body. Attempting to showcase his versatility, Reeves sang on the Tony Bennett show in August 1956. However, it was obvious that many parts of the investigation were not performed as they should have been. Robert Condon, a writer interested in writing a biography on George, stayed in the house. George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Iowa in 1914five months into his parents' marriage. . A shot was heard. He kept his private life discreet, including a romantic relationship with Toni Mannix, wife of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer general manager Eddie Mannix. They married on September 22, 1940 in San Marino, California, at the Church of Our Savior. 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]. This is the house, and home, that Superman actor George Reeves lived and died in. Following the path so many women have taken throughout Hollywood history, Reeves turned to directing, producing, and writing when he couldnt get the roles he wanted. Perhaps the toxic mixture of alcohol and painkillers had led to a fatal misjudgment? Was his role to distract the house guests and facilitate the entry of a hitman to do away with Reeves? In 1959, however, negotiations began for a renewal of the series, with 26episodes scheduled to go into production. He was 45 years old. Quick Description: The actor George Reeves house where TV's "Superman," was found dead of a head gunshot wound on June 16, 1959. The police also appeared to be behaving in a careless manner. Like so many men of his generation, the war derailed his life plans. Reeves' friend Rory Calhoun told a reporter "No one in Hollywood believed the suicide story." Death 06/10/1945 - Rebaul N.G. If this was the case, then clearly he had not fired the gun himself, and another party was involved. 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. George Reeves from "Superman" had a mysterious death that saw him die from a single gunshot wound to the head. 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. Contraversy continues. (Reeves and Crane both dyed their hair red to portray the Tarleton twins.) Its a bird! If it was Reeves that pulled the trigger then in all likelihood it was because he had had enough of his life, for whatever reason. Hes going upstairs to shoot himself, she allegedly said. His death was officially classified as. 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. But the strange death of Superman is not a parlour game. The recent feature film, "Hollywoodland" is about this questionable death of a popular celebrity. Embattled New York Rep. George Santos said Thursday that he is "fully cooperating" with the House Ethics Committee, which is . Around one in the morning they were joined by two of the neighbors, at which point Reeves, who had already been in bed, stomped downstairs to yell at his guests. Except for the second season, the Superman schedule was brief (13 shows shot two per week, a total of seven weeks out of a year), but all had a "30-day clause", which meant that the producers could demand their exclusive services for a new season on four weeks' notice. 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. Show more. Reeves initially had no autopsy and his body was swifted embalmed. 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. [14], While studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, Reeves met his future wife, Ellanora Needles, granddaughter of circus magnate John Robinson. 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. 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. Michael Hayde firmly believes that George Reeves was murdered.