At around1 am, William Bliss and Carol Van Ronkel came by for an impromptu meeting. Inside the Mysterious Death of George Reeves, the Original Superman Reeves was born five months into their marriage (the reason Reeves's mother subsequently claimed a false April birth date for her son, something he was unaware of until . Multiple gunshot suicides are rare, so if these shots were contemporary to Reeves death, it seems unlikely he was the shooter. Some after his death said it was a profound depression and frustration with his career that led to the night in question. Reeves new girlfriend, who had since moved in, was a New York socialite named Leonore Lemmon, with whom he was rumored to be engaged. Their suspicions werent entirely fueled by grief and denialthe evidence was puzzling. Advertisement. Witnesses in the house who behaved a little oddly but heard the whole thing. Present in the house at the time of the incident were Leonore Lemmon (who had been Reeves's fiancee at the time), William Bliss, writer Richard Condon, and Carol . Reeves usually had an open door policy, but not after midnight. The series went on the air the following year, and Reeves was amazed at becoming a national celebrity. 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. While he and Lemmon were supposed to get married only a few days after his death, Lemmon allegedly had soured on him after she realized the older Superman wasnt quite the loaded Hollywood player she thought he was. It was a bullet to the head. The Mysterious Circumstances Surrounding George Reeves' Death By Just over a year after the war started, Reeves was called up. Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images Phyllis Coates and George Reeves in The Adventures of Superman. Superman actor George Reeves is beloved for his portrayal of the character, and this is an in-depth look back at his life and tragic death. George Reeves, 45, TV's indestructible "Man of Steel," Superman, was dead by his own hand and the flowing cloak would flow no more. Some even say George Reeves appears at the foot of the bed every now and then, dressed as Superman. 1. In their book Hollywood Kryptonite, Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger make a case for the involvement of MGM vice president and fixer Eddie Mannix. Hes been murdered. This kind of phone call would not have been out of the ordinary for Lois Lane, the character Coates famously played on TV. His dad left the family shortly after and his mother moved with her infant son to California. They got home around 11 p.m. A couple hours later, Carol Van Ronkel and William Bliss stopped by for a drink. This includes accusations of murder directed at his fiance and ex-girlfriend. The film suggests three possible scenarios: accidental shooting by Lemmon, murder by an unnamed hitman under orders from Eddie Mannix, and suicide. Everyone involved is now dead, and little or no evidence from the crime scene remains. [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. Reeves' will, dated 1956, bequeathed his entire estate to Toni Mannix, much to Lemmon's surprise and devastation. Loved the commercial..how cool! The Mannixs relationship was unusual even by the standards of Hollywood. When his mother moved to California to be with her sister, it was said Reeves never saw his father again. Michael Hayde firmly believes that George Reeves was murdered. She was absolutely terrified of going to hell", Lozzi told the LA Times. And how had the fatal bullet ended up in the ceiling whilst the shell rested underneath his body? A funeral was held on Wednesday, June 30. [39] Despite the unanswered questions, Reeves' death was officially ruled a suicide, based on witness statements, physical evidence at the scene, and the autopsy report. In the documentary Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Jack Larson said that when he first met Reeves, he told him that he enjoyed his performance in So Proudly We Hail! Reeves himself believed Mannix was behind the succession of sinister events that dogged Reeves in the run up to his death, including silent midnight phonecalls and the kidnapping of his beloved Schnauzer Sam. The story told by those there that night is full of holes, the evidence perplexing and poorly handled. The Day Superman Died, George Reeves Death House - YouTube 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. In 1957, the producers considered a theatrical film Superman and the Secret Planet. He was lucky to escape with head injuries that required him to take powerful painkillers right up until the night he died. A detective examines the mysterious death of George Reeves, the star of the television series Adventures of Superman (1952). However, many studios were slowing down their production schedules, and some production units had shut down completely. She continued, 'He's opening a drawer to get the gun.' gruesome and unsolved murder of the Black Dahlia. 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. While Reeves was depressed at the time of his death, there were oddities at the crime scene. 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. Two additional bullets were discovered embedded in the bedroom floor. 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. 2 min read. ", Death of Superman may not have been a suicide, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Reeves&oldid=1139854102, Credited erroneously onscreen as playing Brent Tarleton (see above), This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 06:25. The Mysterious Death of Superman. Reeves found himself unemployable. The coroner ruled it suicide. The ballistics looked all wrong too. In actual fact The Adventures of Superman was due to return in 1960, with a higher pay packet for Reeves and the promise that he would be able to direct more of the episodes, something he had enjoyed doing on the last three shows of the previous season. 1959: Los Angeles police arrive at the home of 45-year-old actor George Reeves, famous for his role as TV's Superman, and find him naked and dead of a gunshot wound to the head. Authorities ruled it a suicide, but was it? Its impossible to ever know whats truly going on in someones head, especially on a night of heavy drinking, but it did seem that Reeves was taking steps to fix his situation. The Mysterious Death of Superman George Reeves It wasn't Kryptonite that killed Superman. Reeves worried he would be typecast as a childrens actor. If you are lucky enough, the homeowners may allow you to tour the home's grounds and possibly the interior as well. 'See thereI told you so! And was Eddie, a man suspected of killing his first wife Bernice Fitzmaurice, behind the bullet to the head that ended the actors life? Reeves himself was also severely under the influence, with a blood alcohol level of .27 and, because the actor had long enjoyed playing with unloaded weapons, it was thought possible he accidentally shot himself while doing so. George Reeves: The Death of Superman | The Unredacted Up in the sky! Reeves and Toni Mannix split in 1958 and Reeves announced his engagement to society playgirl Leonore Lemmon. CleverJourneys: American Crime Chronicles Two Los Angeles police officers arrived at 1579 Benedict Canyon at almost 3 a.m., June 16, 1959. The police arrived within the hour. Lemmon had called them after she and her party guests had found Reeves dead in his bedroom. And they call me Superman!). In 1960, Reeves was awarded a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the TV industry. Had the jilted older woman taken things one step too far and shot Reeves in a jealous rage? They found George Reeves upstairs on his bed, with a Luger between his feet and a bullet hole in his head. Gina Dimuro is a New York-based writer and translator. The characters involved range from colorful to drunk to suspicious, having by now taken any secrets they may be hiding to their gravesIn . And so, almost forty years later, we are left wondering. Character actor Ben Welden had acted with Reeves in the Warner Bros. days and frequently guest-starred on Superman. 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. It was a minor role, but he and Fred Crane, both in brightly dyed red hair as "the Tarleton Twins," were in the film's opening scenes. The home has not changed much since the mid-fifties. The long Broadway run was followed by a national tour and a movie version. 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. 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. From 1952 to 1958 he starred in 104 episodes, but by the late 50s it had declined in popularity and it was put into hiatus after its sixth season. For whatever reason, though, in my ten-plus years of living in Los Angeles, I had yet to stalk the former Supermans home. 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. 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. The ex-girlfriend who couldn't let go Beginning in 1948, Reeves had a 10-year. Lemmon and Reeves had a stormy relationship but, at least according to her, were engaged to be married. Another rumor was that a car was heard speeding away from the house as well. But not even Lane could have imagined that the dead boy was none other than Superman George Reeves himself. George Reeves Home - Beverly Hills, CA - Superman Super Site Two people who might have had strong motives were Toni and Eddie Mannix. 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. 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. Inside the Mysterious Death of George Reeves, the Original - yahoo.com After two seasons, Reeves was dissatisfied with his salary and the show's one-dimensional role. Nevertheless, the end of his iconic role reportedly hit him hard and at 45, typecast, unemployed and overweight, he found himself reduced to appearing in commercials and celebrity boxing matches. If he had really fallen backwards onto a freshly ejected shell case it should have been hot enough to have burnt his skin, yet no such marks were evident at the autopsy. During the dinner, they had argued. The official ruling was suicide. There were also bruises on Reeves head and body. However, these were never investigated and Giesler strangely refused to work on the case any longer. 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. 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. On the night of his death the pair had gone for dinner with writer Richard Condon, who was staying with the couple whilst he worked on a biography of Archie Moore, the prizefighter Reeves had been due to fight in a celebrity boxing match later that year. George Reeves mother Helen Bessolo never accepted the official verdict and hired private investigators to to reopen the investigation into his death. He won critical acclaim for the role and garnered considerable publicity. Besides, the gun was not a revolver and it was quite evident whether it was chambered or not. THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (1951-1957) - unknown actor (left) with George Reeves as "Superman." 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? It is located in a fairly modest area, even though the asking price in 1995 was $625,000. Warners loaned him to producer Alexander Korda to co-star with Merle Oberon in Lydia, a box-office failure. She had talked to him days before, and, according to her, he was in a splendid state of mind. She had the body exhumed, and a second autopsy was performed. [31] However, Reeves and his partner failed to find financing, and the film was never made. 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? Inside the Mysterious Death of George Reeves, the Original Superman Attempting to showcase his versatility, Reeves sang on the Tony Bennett show in August 1956. Reeves and Sherman impressed the casting director by performing seven pages of script in a single take without pause. Coates had become a mutual friend of both her Superman co-star and Tony Mannix. In reality, George Reeves life was a far cry from that of his heroic television counterpart. 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. [26] He was reportedly making $5,000 (about $50,000 in today's dollars) per week, but only while the show was in production (about eight weeks each year). 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. [17], However, Reeves was inspired by So Proudly We Hail! 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]. But this wasn't the conclusion of the police officers who arrived at 1579 Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, in the early hours of June 16, 1959. The issues wasnt just career frustration. The costume Reeves donned as Superman on TV. The . Ruled as a. George Reeves - Turner Classic Movies . SUPERMAN MURDER SOLVED! - PressReader Everyone involved decided that it had been a suicide. . 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.
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