george reeves' death house george reeves' death house

The recent feature film, "Hollywoodland" is about this questionable death of a popular celebrity. The official finding was suicide, but some believe that he was murdered or the victim of an accidental shooting. His work on the show would earn him fame as the Original Superman, even though that wasnt technically true. Gina Dimuro is a New York-based writer and translator. [17] Reeves appeared in five Hopalong Cassidy westerns before being cast as Lieutenant John Summers opposite Claudette Colbert in So Proudly We Hail! Why had Lemmon waited for so long - 45 minutes or so, to call the police? Mannix, who had ties to the mob, had him whacked due to the affair. He won critical acclaim for the role and garnered considerable publicity. 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. More sinister still, did Eddie Mannix, a man whose job it was to make Hollywood scandals go away, pull some of his underworld strings and hire a hitman to erase the man who had so grievously upset his wife? 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. Its Superman! The iconic intro blazed into American households on Sept. 19, 1952. Everyone involved is now dead, and little or no evidence from the crime scene remains. The house where George lived is fairly modest for the area, but the asking price in 1995 was $625,000. Great article tho. When Officers Johnson and Korby entered the . How do we create a person's profile? 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. Hes going upstairs to shoot himself, began her callous recital after Reeves left the room. [13] His Gone with the Wind screen credit reflects the change. At his funeral, he was laid to rest in the same suit that he wore on the TV show as "Clark Kent." The 2006 movie, Hollywoodland starring Ben Affleckas Reeves, explores his life and relationships in greater detail. At around1 am, William Bliss and Carol Van Ronkel came by for an impromptu meeting. Two additional bullets were discovered embedded in the bedroom floor. He appeared in a pair of outdoor thrillers with Ralph Byrd and in a Sam Katzman-produced serial, The Adventures of Sir Galahad. The events surrounding his death have been the subject of much conjecture ever since. Superman had been cancelled and Reeves had struggled to find the serious work he craved. For instance, Lemmon and her friends pulled a Conrad Murray by failing to call the police until about thirty minutes after discovering the body, and each seemed to have a differing account of the evening due to their inebriated states. Reeves worried he would be typecast as a childrens actor. 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? For whatever reason, though, in my ten-plus years of living in Los Angeles, I had yet to stalk the former Supermans home. Bud Collyer had voiced the Man of Steel on the radio from 1940 to 1951, and Kirk Alyn played the role in two 15-part movie serials that ended in 1950. As TVs original Superman, George Reeves was the ultimate hero to millions of children. 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. I don't know what happened to George. Flickr CommonsThe costume Reeves donned as Superman on TV. Many, though, believed the investigation had been rushed and this may have been a case of homicide. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records 19381946, dated March24, 1943, Speeding Bullet, 2nd Ed, by Jan Alan Henderson, p. 151. Even outside of the world of comic books, bullets sometimes do funny things, and that was certainly the case in the death of George Reeves. Or perhaps Toni took matters into her own hands and simply had her husband cover it up. According to Condon, Lemmon was in an combative mood that night, and had made somewhat of a scene in the restaurant. I have been researching a full-scale 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? According to the Argus observer, "George Reeves, 45, was found dead in his upstairs bedroom of this house . A script was commissioned from David Chantler, who had written many of the TV scripts. Seeing the neighbors, he told them, Get out. Those guests were neighbour Carol Van Ronkel, her lover Robert Condon, and another neighbour, William Bliss. A photo of a smiling Reeves and the sign appears in Gary Grossman's book about the show. 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. During the dinner, they had argued. Fellow actors Gig Young and Alan Ladd publicly doubted that Reeves took his own life. The gun fell to his feet and the shell was found underneath him. The producers wouldnt give me a job. In June 1951, Reeves was offered the role of Superman in a new television series[23] titled Adventures of Superman. Reeves usually had an open door policy, but not after midnight. 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. Meanwhile, DC Comics was planning a television adaptation of its most famous character. The show was a smashing success, drawing huge audiences each episode. Lois & Clark - The New Adventures of Superman, Superman/Shazam! Effectively living an open marriage, Eddie tolerated, even liked Reeves, and himself maintained a younger mistress. [14], While studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, Reeves met his future wife, Ellanora Needles, granddaughter of circus magnate John Robinson. One variation on this theory is that Reeves accidentally shot himself playing a game of Russian Roulette. The subsequent police report seem to accept the whole story at face value. Eddie Mannix wasnt just a heavy in Hollywood, he was also rumored to have mob connections. 1. By midnight on the night of June 16, 1959, only Lenore and writer Robert Condon were still at his house with him. On June 16, 1959, actress Phyllis Coates was woken up around 4:30 a.m. by a very strange phone call. At around 1.20am, a bad tempered Reeves had admonished the trio for their noise, before returning upstairs. 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. The 45-minute delay in getting help, in this scenario, was the time it took for her and her house guests to cover up the murder. Was his role to distract the house guests and facilitate the entry of a hitman to do away with Reeves? Everyone involved decided that it had been a suicide. Witnesses in the house who behaved a little oddly but heard the whole thing. Show more. [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). Michael Hayde firmly believes that George Reeves was murdered. It all seemed so simple. They married on September 22, 1940 in San Marino, California, at the Church of Our Savior. Reeves would later recall the impact Sandrich's death had on his career. 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. When George Reeves died in 1959, the death was quickly considered to be one that was self-inflicted. Years later, William Bliss, one of the party guests who had originally told police Leonore Lemmon was downstairs with them when the shot was heard, changed his story. George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 June 16, 1959) was an American actor. 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. 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. ", 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. It was then that Lemmons actions became truly strange. The report made by the Los Angeles Police states, "[Reeves was] depressed because he couldn't get the sort of parts he wanted." Sprawled naked on his bed, Reeves had been shot in the head after a late night party at his house. Mannix died in 1983 at the age of 77--her husband Eddie had died in 1963. 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. 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. Copyright (c) 2023 Groundspeak, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Its not like my George to do a thing like that, his mother told the press. Puedes cambiar tus opciones en cualquier momento haciendo clic en el enlace Panel de control de privacidad de nuestros sitios y aplicaciones. 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. Noel Neill was quoted as saying that the cast of Superman was ready to do a new series of the still-popular show. (Some sources contend that it may not have been looked for, as gunshot residue testing was not routinely performed in 1959). A SHOT rang out. But not even Lane could have imagined that the dead boy was none other than Superman George Reeves himself. The ex-girlfriend who couldn't let go Beginning in 1948, Reeves had a 10-year. 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. But unable to find work, perhaps George felt he had little choice but to return to a part that clearly caused him much anguish. It is located in a fairly modest area, even though the asking price in 1995 was $625,000. Lemmon stayed awake and about thirty minutes later three friends dropped by for a visit. In reality, George Reeves life was a far cry from that of his heroic television counterpart. Reeves and Toni Mannix split in 1958 and Reeves announced his engagement to society playgirl Leonore Lemmon. George Reeves former residence is rather small, especially by Hollywood standards. Hes going upstairs to shoot himself, she allegedly said. On June 16, 1959, actress Phyllis Coates was woken up around 4:30 a.m. by a very strange phone call. The police also appeared to be behaving in a careless manner. Newspapers and wire-service reports quoted LAPD Sergeant V.A. [19][20][21], Discharged at the war's end, Reeves returned to Hollywood. 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. 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. Reeves blood alcohol content that night was .27 percent. Includes the ability to log visits, view logs, save and filter offline Waymarks and use beautiful offline maps! Reeves mother refused to believe her son had killed himself and hired famous Hollywood lawyer Jerry Giesler to investigate further. He was able to play against type and starred as a villainous gold hunter in a Johnny Weissmuller Jungle Jim film. George Reeves hit the television jackpot when he landed the dual role of Clark Kent/Superman in the television series The Adventures of Superman.