George Reeves Mysterious Death of TV's Original Superman

[Music] throughout history many strive to be in the public's eye while others reluctantly and sometimes unexpectedly just seem to end up there where did they come from what made them so special and what secrets did they hide till the end i'm your host ed doyle and these are tales of fame and fate george reeves as superman he could change the course of mighty rivers ben steele in his bare hands but even more deadly to him than kryptonite could george's fame that once took him to the top and then dropped him to the bottom as often fame does been too much to handle or was it jealousy and greed from a mere mortal man or woman that sealed george's fate in this episode of tales of fame and fate we will look at the life and the death of george reeves the original superman that started it all for movie and television's world of superheroes television's original superman didn't come from a planet far away that landed on a midwest farm no the original superman george kiefer brewer who would eventually change his name to george reeves was born on january 5th 1914 in woodstock iowa to his mother helen lescher and his father donald karl brewer judge's world would soon be one of turmoil right from the beginning very soon after his birth his mother and father would separate and his mother would soon uproot and move her and george to pasadena california it was here that george's mother would meet and marry frank joseph besello in the year 1919. george grew up a happy child with the care of besello who would officially adopt george in 1927 at the age of 13. bercello took george under his wing and never once mentioned to him that he was adopted george shared a very close relationship with his adopted father but things between helen and besello may have taken a turn for the worse when bercello would lose his job at a bank when the great depression hit like most families of the time life was a struggle for the family and it was rumored that helen was very unhappy with piscello after finally getting work as a salesman for the la brewing company george would leave to visit family in the east and while he was away helen and besello would divorce upon returning home asking where his father was helen told him that he had committed suicide little did george know that this was a lie his mother straight faced would lie to him possibly in an effort to make sure that george wouldn't look for him later in life one day george was helping his mother clean the house upon opening a draw he found tucked away in the back a picture of a man george held it and asked his mother who the man was without even realizing helen just said oh that's your real father learning this george pressed on he wanted to know more and when helen turned to him and realized what she had said she said no he's dead he shot himself in the head right after you were born in high school george decided to join the boxing team and he was a very good boxer he truly enjoyed the sport but his mother helen being as overprotective as always wanted him to quit boxing one day sobbing she took george aside and told him you have too pretty of a face to keep doing this boxing thing and you should stop it and do something else bowing to his mother's pressure george quit boxing and instead went to pasadena playhouse and started taking classes george reads throughout his social years was drawn to physical activities and loved the competition with others so even though he wasn't boxing any longer he found that through acting he could still engage in things that were physical and strenuous pouring all of what he had into the pot that he was playing and along with his natural charm succeeded at it he had said that he had gone to the playhouse just to satisfy his mother in the beginning and thought he would just learn the basics of getting on and off the stage but ended up liking it and stayed there for five years becoming a shakespearean actor during those years at the playhouse george reeves would marry eleanor needles a fellow playhouse actress she had said in later years that along came a richer gentleman and he swept her off her feet and she would leave george george was deeply hurt and after the divorce never spoke of her again in 1939 george reeves was offered his first movie role it wasn't big at all but it was a way to kick off a career he was offered the bit pot that would be filmed early on in the story of stuart teleton in gone with the wind before the filming began george was told by the studio that he would have to agree to have his hair dyed for the film which he agreed to in a signed document allowing them to do so and releasing them from any liability that may come from it george however also realized that once he signed this contract with warner brothers that his choices were much less important than those of the studio with no say in the matter the producers sent out a memo stating that the name george besello who plays the role of tarleton and gone with the win is now changed to george reeves george received great reviews for the part that he played in the movie but his next few movie roles turned out to be much less memorable he appeared in the movie's tear gas squad calling all husbands and men at lodge which none did well at all he continued being in films such as ride cowboy ride the fighting 69th torrid zone and even in the ritz brothers film argentina knights but none of them did much for his career george started to think that the acting career he had chosen may not be for him at all he had said that he knew a lot about horses but knew very little about how to get ahead in hollywood so he decided that maybe he should start trying to be in westerns reeves knew a fellow student in pasadena named teddy sherman who introduced george to her father who produced westerns he said that he was put to work as a villain in a beard but he would do whatever they asked for him around the lot teddy was the filmmaker's daughter and she was given a screen test to see if she could play the heroine in the hop along cassidy films george was also asked if he wanted to take the screen test with her and agreed to do so the screen test proved to be just what george needed as his performance of seven pages of dialogue was done without a hitch in one take impressed the studio put george under contract which would lead to a role in the movie so proudly we hail which became a box office hit george played a wounded world war ii soldier which would end up falling in love with a nurse trapped behind enemy lines and did so well that paramount pitchers signed him to a contract of two films a year because of that film george put his acting career on hold though he had said that he simply couldn't get the film out of his mind and that he wanted to enlist in the army he enlisted as george besello not wanting anyone to know that he was an actor he said that he only wanted to serve and not get any special duty because of his being an actor but his personality and charm was noticed right away and would end up getting split duty in which he did his regular job by day and would often give shows to his fellow troops at night george felt that he could not do both jobs and give what was needed for both of them to succeed so he asked that he be given one or the other whichever it may be he was assigned to the entertainment corps after serving for three years george came back to a hollywood that had changed the man that promised to make him a star producer mark sandridge had died george went on to be in b movies playing good and bad guys none of which did anything for his career he was back to the beginning [Music] the movie office dwindled and george was starting to hurt for money one day the cesspool at his home backed up he called the plumbing crew and when he was told that it would cost a hundred and fifty dollars to dig a new cesspool george offered to help dig which would save him twenty dollars he had said that he learned a lot that week working with the crew and when one of his neighbors needed to have his cesspool redone george offered to do it himself for a hundred dollars while waiting for rolls that's how george reeves would make a living digging cesspools he decided that he would move to new york and hope to get roles in broadway shows but unfortunately the only work that he could get would be on radio programs and a little bit of live drama television feeling dejected he moved back to hollywood george would get supporting roles in ranchero notorious and bugles in the afternoon but was told that he could probably make a living as a stock character but leading roles in stottom were unlikely in 1951 the movie superman and the mole men was about to begin filming george reeves auditioned for the role thinking it was just another part to play little did he know that this movie would actually be the beginning of the end of his career when george first heard of the audition for the superman movie he asked superman what's that about he had heard of the comic strip but had never even read one but needing the part he accepted as the filming began for the movie george would welcome his co-star phyllis coats who was playing lois lane by saying welcome to the bottom of the barrel one of the main reasons that george reeves was able to justify playing such a role was because of the potential impact that it would have on kids one of george reeve's passions was working with underprivileged and homeless children george had told the reporter that the idea he had was to use superman as a way to give children good entertainment without all the blood and the gore he said that he wanted the show to be able to teach kids lessons like patience and tolerance and especially that a man's color race or religion beliefs should be respected [Music] as the show developed both george and the story lines became more and more kid-friendly and less of a crime show as the original radio program had been george's popularity with children grew in leaps and bounds before he had become superman george had co-sponsored a club for underprivileged children named the mambo club one day he had gotten a call from the school early on in his television series saying that the kids wanted to meet superman george was excited he agreed and was ready to greet the 150 or so kids that the club had but when he arrived there were over 3 000 children waiting to meet him he managed to get to the club's hall to talk with all of them but they kept coming till finally the police had to be called to break it up and send the kids home the tv series was a grueling one for the actors and the crew they had to shoot two episodes a week and by the fifth season george reeves was getting tired of the scripts it was said that he was getting tired of the character and was beginning to show his age in 1955 george had told a reporter he would be making 13 more episodes which would total 104 he said i think that'll be it the media was now beginning to tire of superman also in 1956 george had gotten into a car accident the headline read superman sues for damages after wreck hurt like mere mortals [Music] in 1957 it was announced that the contract for the adventures of superman had come to an end george had a positive attitude about it though telling reporters that he had hoped that he could now turn his attention to directing a reporter asked him if he felt that by playing superman he had sold out his response was simply how can a starving actor sell himself out when the role came along i wasn't working and the way i look at it is that a working actor is a good actor it's as simple as that in 1958 george's life became a standstill projects he wanted to work on fell through he couldn't get any acting roles and is becoming more and more frustrated his personal life was a mess he had been having a relationship for several years with tony mannix who was the common-law wife of mgm's president eddie mannix in 1958 george began to date lenoir lemon a young new york socialite it was said that manix became furious when george broke off the relationship and she would harass both he and lemon to the point that a restraining order had to be filed to keep her away from them george kept trying to start new projects and trying to keep his personal life on an even level but the harassment from manix would continue and he would get more and more frustrated on monday june 15 1959 reeves had learned that kellogg's was going to put up the money to film one more season of the man of steel it is rumored that hearing this george went out to celebrate and had been drinking all day it was said that he went out to dinner with lenoir that evening and they had both gotten into an argument was it that she didn't want him to return to the role that basically ruined his career or was it something else they returned home and george had decided that he was going to go to bed after going up to his bedroom company happened to come over [Music] lenoir had been sitting and drinking with george's house guest robert condon the knock at the door came and it was condon's lover carol van ronkl who was there with a neighbor that no one really knew hearing the knock at the door reeves came down to greet them they all continued to drink with reeves clearly getting angry with the situation he apologized for his attitude and retreated to the upstairs bedroom on tuesday morning june 16th the police would discover george reeves lifeless body on his bed naked in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to the head and a gun between his feet the four completely inebriated witnesses that were in george's house the night before told police that after george went upstairs that lenore was worried that george was going to shoot himself she said that through the ceiling they could hear a drawer open and then moments later a gunshot william bliss the man that was with condon's lover said that he ran upstairs and entering george's room he found him dead on his bed none of them were interviewed long and they were all allowed to leave during the week-long investigation that followed lenoir returned to reeves home and breaking the seal that was on the door set by police she entered the home and then left with over four thousand dollars in travelers checks she had said that george had bought them for a honeymoon but strangely the police never found them during their investigation it seemed that only she knew where they were the investigation was hastily closed and ruled a suicide by gunshot george reeves was gone superman had met his match but was it suicide as the police said that it was his blood alcohol was indeed two times the legal level during the autopsy his career was in shambles and his personal life was a train wreck was this enough for george reeves to give up and end it all maybe but could it have been murder could it have been that all of them being so drunk that night before lenoir condon condon's lover and bliss the man that nobody knew could it be that arguments pursued that night and instead of george retiring to the bedroom and bliss going up after he heard a gunshot could bliss or someone else have followed reeves to the bedroom continued the argument pulled a gun and shot him another theory is that could reeves have mentioned to lenoir that he possibly may be seeing mannix again could lenore being so jealous enraged been the one to commit the murder the autopsy of reeve's body was done hastily his entire body was completely washed clean before the autopsy essentially removing any evidence that might remain on the body his hands were never tested for gsr and even though his top of his skull was removed for the autopsy it was never examined for gunpowder burns one of the stories later that came out saying that police found there were additional bullet holes found in the wall and the ceiling of reeves bedroom and most strange was a phone call that phyllis coates the original lois lane received at 4 30 in the morning from a frantic and hysterical tony manix yelling he's dead the boy is dead they've murdered him we'll never know what happened that faithful night to reeves but it is said that because of his persona and the way that he played the role of superman that the story lives on george reeves is entombed at mountain view cemetery and mausoleum at altadena california at memorial id 1284 there is a plate there that reads my beloved son superman

Channel: Tales of Fame and Fate

Views: 460,935

Keywords: Superman, George Reeves

Id: QZJmxCgI2VA

Length: 21min 51sec (1311 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 05 2020