Reeves died at the age of 45, from a gunshot wound to the head. George Reeves death home- Beverly Hills, CA - Waymarking By midnight on the night of June 16, 1959, only Lenore and writer Robert Condon were still at his house with him. Inside the Mysterious Death of George Reeves, the Original Superman He Grew Up Thinking He Was Italian. If this was the case, then clearly he had not fired the gun himself, and another party was involved. Many photos shown in various magazines in the past indicated that George's bedroom windows could be seen from the street. When George Reeves died in 1959, the death was quickly considered to be one that was self-inflicted. Theyd take one look at me and say it was impossible.. 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). 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? 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! He was found dead in his bedroom at 1:59 a.m. on June 16, 1959 in his modest home in Los Angeles' Benedict Canyon. Reeves returned to Hollywood in 1951 for a role in a Fritz Lang film, Rancho Notorious. Amazingly, George Reeves shot part of a Kelloggs Corn Flakes commercial (the cereal company was the sponsor of Adventures of Superman) inside of his actual Benedict Canyon home. 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. Advertisement. Reeves was then transferred to the Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit, where he made training films. On June 15, George and Leonore had gone out to a rather boozy dinner, to celebrate the upcoming marriage. And George Reeves was not unable to find work, he was not broke, he was not a suicidal depressed person. 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. First, Reeves was found naked. Was the coroner's verdict right after all? There were also bruises on Reeves head and body. And so, almost forty years later, we are left wondering. Twentieth Century-Fox loaned him to producer Alexander Korda to co-star with Merle Oberon in Lydia,[17] a box-office failure, after which he freelanced, looking to find work in westerns. I told you, hes shot himself., When the cops arrived on the scene, Lemmon told them she had been only kidding when she made her strange remarks. In their book Hollywood Kryptonite, Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger make a case for the involvement of MGM vice president and fixer Eddie Mannix. 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. 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. 11 Homes That Are Haunted By Dead Celebrities - Business Insider Learn about George Reeves death and the true story behind the Hollywoodland movie starring Ben Affleck as TV's Superman. Stalk It: George Reeves former home is located at 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills. Superman was dead, and there were no heroes coming in to save the day. Faster than a speeding bullet! He appeared in a pair of outdoor thrillers with Ralph Byrd. More powerful than a locomotive! 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. Toni Mannix - Wikipedia She died alone in her apartment over New Year 1989, her body not found for four days. So I figured this was the perfect time to do so and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there last weekend. 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. 1579 Benedict Canyon Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. George Reeves Facts. He was working on creating a fulfilling career for himself. The brown-shingled bungalow, which was built in 1947, boasts 2 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 1,717 square feet. (1942), a war drama for Paramount Pictures. 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. The actor was discovered laying face up on his bed, naked, with a single gunshot wound to his right temple and a .30 caliber Luger on the floor in between his lifeless feet. 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. Seeing the neighbors, he told them, Get out. George lived at 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive, in the Beverly Hills area. Reeves established his own production company and conceived a TV adventure series called Port of Entry, which would be shot on location in Hawaii and Mexico. You can watch George Reeves Kelloggs Corn Flakes commercial by clicking above. The official verdict was that Reeves had committed suicide, the weight of his troubles having become too much for him to bear. Later, Reeves's mother,[12] who was of German descent, moved to California to stay with her sister. mostrar anuncios y contenido personalizados basados en perfiles de inters; medir la efectividad de los anuncios y el contenido personalizados, y. desarrollar y mejorar nuestros productos y servicios. In 1957, the producers considered a theatrical film Superman and the Secret Planet. The coroner ruled it suicide. [15] They married on September 22, 1940, in San Gabriel, California, at the Church of Our Savior. Another rumor was that a car was heard speeding away from the house as well. George Reeves, whose work as TV's Man of Steel would set the Superman screen standard for decades, died in his Benedict Canyon home from a gunshot to the head. Whilst highly speculative, some corroboration to this comes from Reeves own Lois Lane, actress Phyllis Coates. This theory goes that Lemmon was drunk and unhappy that night and shot her soon-to-be-husband. 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. The long Broadway run was followed by a national tour and a movie version. [17] Reeves fit the rugged requirements of the roles, and, with his retentive memory for dialogue, he did well under rushed production conditions. Lemmon stayed awake and about thirty minutes later three friends dropped by for a visit. Due to their advanced state of inebriation the party guests were not entirely coherent, but they all seemed to agree on the suicide story. Tragic Hollywood; Beautiful, Glamorous, And Dead - Facebook [17] His friend Teddi Sherman introduced him to her father, producer Harry Sherman, who asked Reeves to do a screen test with Teddi for the Hopalong Cassidy films. Reeves' will, dated 1956, bequeathed his entire estate to Toni Mannix, much to Lemmon's surprise and devastation. Reeves was extremely intoxicated when he died, and also pumped full of painkillers to treat the injuries he received in his recent car accident. The report made by the Los Angeles Police states, "[Reeves was] depressed because he couldn't get the sort of parts he wanted." 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]. There were 104 episodes of The Adventures of Superman before the cancellation ax fell in 1958. The husband of Reeves jilted lover was the infamous Eddie Mannix, a fixer at MGM during the golden age of studios, when his job was to make stars problems vanish. This is however not the case as it it the guest bedroom that faces the street. 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. Cancel OK Your account 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. The woman on the other end of the line was a woman named Toni Mannix. Whatever the case may be, no charges were ever filed and Reeves death remains one of the most talked about Hollywood scandals to this day. And did that scandal involve one of the most powerful men in the movie business, Toni Maddoxs husband Eddie? However, many of his friends and colleagues believe the actor was murdered, his death the stormy culmination of a tangled love life. Para obtener ms informacin sobre cmo utilizamos tus datos personales, consulta nuestra Poltica de privacidad y Poltica de cookies. 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? 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. Death Of George Reeves Source: Biography. June 16, 1959. Who all was in the house that night? [17] He avoided smoking cigarettes where children could see him and eventually quit smoking. Waymarkly is the premiere Waymarking app for iOS. Inside the Mysterious Death of George Reeves, the Original Superman 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. Then check out 48 photos that capture vintage Hollywood. Further to this, a later search of the bedroom found two extra bullet holes. [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. The stairs turn and continue upward to the bedroom where George slept. Reeves, however, earned additional income from personal appearances. In June 1951, Reeves was offered the role of Superman in a new television series[23] titled Adventures of Superman.