50th Anniversary of George "Superman" Reeves Death

[The Voice of Reason]

June 16th marks the 50th anniversary of George Reeves death.
Even today there are still people who don't believe that Reeves took his own life.
What's your opinion?
Personally I think that Reeves and his then girlfriend got into a heated argument and she went for his gun. The gun accidently went off killing Reeves.

 

[landtuna]

I think he forgot to take his anti-Kryptonite pill.

 

[ShawnHill1]

I guess it kinda explains why one of the HBO channels aired the movie "Hollywoodland" over the weekend.

 

[bpatrick]

There is one theory I don't know if anyone's ever
mentioned that directly involves Reeves' fiancee,
Lenore Lemmon. Apparently she had learned of
his affair with Toni Mannix, wife of an MGM executive
(and according to this theory, Eddie Mannix did not
hire a hit man to knock Reeves off because he was
having an affair of his own). At any rate, on the night
Reeves was killed, he and Ms. Lemmon had been to a
restaurant, where everyone in the place could hear
them arguing. When they returned to Reeves' house,
a couple of friends dropped by. It was around 1 AM,
and Reeves--tired and on medication from an auto accident--
said something like, "You can sit up and talk all night if
you want; I'm going to bed."

Now supposedly Ms. Lemmon told her guests, "He's going
to kill himself," and no sooner had she said it than she heard
a gunshot. There's one problem here, and this is where the
theory kicks in: sounds from Reeves' bedroom could not be
heard in his living room. So according to the theory, Ms.
Lemmon shot him (the bullet holes in the wall seem to indicate
that she wasn't much of a shot), then waited 30-45 minutes
to call the police, giving her and the guests time to come up
with alibis. Then the police subjected her to a cursory questioning,
let her go, and never questioned her again; supposedly the next
day she left for Las Vegas.

While I prefer to believe that Reeves shot himself while on a
mixture of alcohol and painkillers, Lenore Lemmon had a motive.
But if you think back over some famous Hollywood deaths (Thelma
Todd comes to mind), you'll find that the Beverly Hills police never
seems to finish an investigation.

 

[radioman148]

This story has been debated for years. The common story at the time was Reeves was depressed because he was typecast and couldn't get another job in Hollywood.
Jack Larsen & Noel Neill have always insisted that he was not depressed and in fact had just been given new scripts for another season of Superman which was to be filmed for the 1960 season.
Since John Hamilton died in 1958 they had hired the guy, who's name escapes me, from the late 40s serials to play Perry White.

Just like JFK, We'll never know for sure what really happened.

 

[RicoGregg]

This story has been debated for years. The common story at the time was Reeves was depressed because he was typecast and couldn't get another job in Hollywood.
Jack Larsen & Noel Neill have always insisted that he was not depressed and in fact had just been given new scripts for another season of Superman which was to be filmed for the 1960 season.
Since John Hamilton died in 1958 they had hired the guy, who's name escapes me, from the late 40s serials to play Perry White.

Just like JFK, We'll never know for sure what really happened.

Radioman's last sentence is quite correct, but I tend to believe that Reeves took his own life due to career depression.

Case in point: Reeves probably got an early inkling that he could wind up being typecast when he was cast in the all-time classic film "From Here to Eternity." The film was tested before it was officially released. During testing, Reeves had what was a much larger part before the released version. During testing, every time that he appeared on screen, the test audiences starting laughing and some would yell "Look, it's Superman!" or "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" and other audience members would start laughing. After about 90% of Reeves' scenes were deleted, he was seen only in one brief segment in the final version.

I'm just speculating that that was an early red flag to him. Who knows for sure? ???

 

[radioman148]

This story has been debated for years. The common story at the time was Reeves was depressed because he was typecast and couldn't get another job in Hollywood.
Jack Larsen & Noel Neill have always insisted that he was not depressed and in fact had just been given new scripts for another season of Superman which was to be filmed for the 1960 season.
Since John Hamilton died in 1958 they had hired the guy, who's name escapes me, from the late 40s serials to play Perry White.

Just like JFK, We'll never know for sure what really happened.

Radioman's last sentence is quite correct, but I tend to believe that Reeves took his own life due to career depression.

Case in point: Reeves probably got an early inkling that he could wind up being typecast when he was cast in the all-time classic film "From Here to Eternity." The film was tested before it was officially released. During testing, Reeves had what was a much larger part before the released version. During testing, every time that he appeared on screen, the test audiences starting laughing and some would yell "Look, it's Superman!" or "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" and other audience members would start laughing. After about 90% of Reeves' scenes were deleted, he was seen only in one brief segment in the final version.

I'm just speculating that that was an early red flag to him. Who knows for sure? ???

Rico--I tend to agree with you, but it makes for a better story if they can add more to it.

 

[4dude]

Was George Reeves CHRIS's father??

God bless them both regardless..........

 

[KML0224]

No, he was not. Also note the spelling...Superman of the 70s and 80s was Christopher REEVE.

 

[biggguy]

This has always been a topic that fascinated me, and I've done all the research that I can.....

Personally, I think Leonore Lemmon was involved- but I personally think that the actual killing was done by people Eddie Mannix brought in....

My theory was Lemmon and Mannix were both involved.....from what I have read the Reeves/Lemmon romance was just about on its last legs anyways....as another poster mentioned, Eddie Mannix, who was a notorious womanizer and for years turned a blind eye towards Reeve's affair with his wife Toni, as it kept her happy (and Toni kept George happy as well- she bought him the house he lived and died in as well as most of the other things he had) and a happy Toni didn't ask many questions about Eddie's comings and goings.

You also have to remember that Leonore Lemmon was little more than a NYC party girl- sort of a "good time Charlene" of dubious lineage- just upscale enough to be able to fit in to the "better" gatherings around town. From what I've seen and read, she had sort of a "whirlwind" romance with Reeves that wound up being an engagement.

My personal opinion was when Lemmon figured out that Reeves wasn't going to really marry her, as a woman scorned she went to Eddie Mannix to try to get some satisfaction out of the situation- and you must remember that Mannix operated on the fringes of the "mob" in his executive role at MGM, and had the connections to get just about anything done he deemed necessary. At this point Mannix was probably more than ready to do something about Reeves, as his parting with Toni Mannix probably made life hell on earth for Eddie.

So, Lemmon and Mannix got together- Mannix paid Lemmon off for her assistance, and sent hired goons to take care of Reeves. The bedroom in Reeves' house could be pretty much accessed with inhabitants of the living room being aware of what was transpiring. So, while Lemmon was telling Reeves' guests about his "suicide", the hired guns were probably doing their thing...even the primitive forensics of the time proved that Reeves couldn't have shot himself.

Lemmon then proceeded to get out of town as quickly as she could afterwards while keeping appearances, and quickly slipped out of the spotlight, where she stayed. However, the final joke was on her- as Reeves' entire estate was left to Toni Mannix.

This is my take on what happened. Unfortunately, no one will ever know the truth, as all the principals have long left this earth. The local police investigation was a joke- Eddie Mannix saw to that, as he had extensive experience "fixing" trouble with the law for the MGM and their people...

 

[bpatrick]

The Mannix/Lemmon conspiracy, if you want to
call it that, does sound credible; what I said about
Eddie Mannix is just one version, since other accounts
say he would hire goons to get about anything he wanted.
And yes, Reeves did leave the bulk of his estate to Toni
Mannix.

The actor who was to replace John Hamilton was Pierre
Watkin, who had indeed played Perry White in the '40s
movie serial. Jack Larson still maintains that Reeves was
not prone to depression; not only was he about to start
making new "Superman" episodes, he was also leaving for
Spain in a few days to start a movie. But again, he was
mixing alcohol and painkillers--a potentially lethal combination
that could have induced depression.

The producers of "From Here To Eternity" always swore that
what you saw of Reeves on-screen was his entire work on that
picture. But I've heard that story for years--that audiences
began laughing when he appeared on-screen, and all but that
one scene was cut. So like everything else connected with this
thread, we'll never know.

One thing is for sure: Reeves may have been a party animal
when he wasn't working but he was the consummate professional
when he was: always on time, always knew his lines, not the
temperamental "star." He cared very deeply about his young fans--
so much so that when he read in the paper one morning that a kid
had jumped from a second-floor window trying to fly and broken nearly
every bone in his body, Reeves clipped the article, took it to the studio
with him, and talked producer Whitney Ellsworth into putting in a scene
where Reeves, as Superman, looks straight at the camera and says,
"No one--but no one--can do the things Superman does--and that
goes especially for flying!".

I think it was Earle Marsh who said, "Sadly, Reeves didn't live long
enough to watch his audiences grow up."

 

[Mark Giardina]

I question Jack Larson's creditability. During interviews he gave in the 1970s, he said that he believed Reeves was murdered. Now he is claiming it was a suicide.

As for Reeves' role in "From Here to Eternity" I read that there was no prior public screening where people shouted "There's Superman!" Reeves' appearance in that movie was just what you saw. His role was never that major in the picture to begin with.

When it comes to my own theory about his death, for years I also thought he was murdered. However a few years ago a personal friend of mine, who never displayed any emotional problems, killed himself. So I wondered if Reeves was capable of doing the same thing? So I can't honestly say that Reeves might have had a moment of reflection on his career and just decided to end it all. After all Reeves may have signed up to play Superman again in 1960, but that doesn't mean he didn't feel he was typecast.

"So Proudly They Hail" was perhaps the only movie he made that was considered good. Before Superman, he appeared in a series of low budget "B" flicks and he made no bones about feeling his career had come to an end by appearing on television.

Also remember that when Reeves took the role of Superman, he was 37 years old, in great shape, and with a full head of hair. In the 1957 color versions, one could see that his hair was thinning, he had gained weight, and he was approaching his mid-forties.

Maybe Reeves underwent a mid-life crisis on June 16, 1959 and decided to end it all.

We will never know for sure.

 

[radioman148]

>>I question Jack Larson's creditability. During interviews he gave in the 1970s, he said that he believed Reeves was murdered. Now he is claiming it was a suicide>>

I did not know that Larsen changed his mind and is now claiming suicide.
Where did you see this?

 

[Mark Giardina]

I did not know that Larsen changed his mind and is now claiming suicide.
Where did you see this?

I went to You Tube when Larson, Noel Neill, and the late Robert Shayne appeared with Tom Synder back in the 1970s to discuss the "Adventures of Superman." During that interview Larson told Synder he thought that Reeves' death was suspicious and would not rule out foul play.

Then on another interview program a few years later he said he believed that Reeves killed himself because he was typecast as Superman. (Even though he then later made the statement Reeves was thrilled to be playing Superman again).

From Wikipedia: "A false but often-repeated story suggests that he was upset when his scenes as Sergeant Maylon Stark in the classic film From Here to Eternity were cut after a preview audience kept yelling "There's Superman!" whenever he appeared on screen. Eternity director Fred Zinnemann, the screenwriter Daniel Taradash and others have maintained that every scene written for Reeves's character was shot and included as part of the released film. Zinnemann has also asserted that there were no post-release cuts, nor was there even a preview screening. Everything in the first production draft of the script is still present in the final product seen since 1953."

 

[radioman148]

I did not know that Larsen changed his mind and is now claiming suicide.
Where did you see this?

I went to You Tube when Larson, Noel Neill, and the late Robert Shayne appeared with Tom Synder back in the 1970s to discuss the "Adventures of Superman." During that interview Larson told Synder he thought that Reeves' death was suspicious and would not rule out foul play.

Then on another interview program a few years later he said he believed that Reeves killed himself because he was typecast as Superman. (Even though he then later made the statement Reeves was thrilled to be playing Superman again).

From Wikipedia: "A false but often-repeated story suggests that he was upset when his scenes as Sergeant Maylon Stark in the classic film From Here to Eternity were cut after a preview audience kept yelling "There's Superman!" whenever he appeared on screen. Eternity director Fred Zinnemann, the screenwriter Daniel Taradash and others have maintained that every scene written for Reeves's character was shot and included as part of the released film. Zinnemann has also asserted that there were no post-release cuts, nor was there even a preview screening. Everything in the first production draft of the script is still present in the final product seen since 1953."

I don't doubt what you heard, but in recent years I've heard Larsen continue to be quoted as saying that Reeves would never have killed himself.
Maybe he can't make up his mind.

 

[Mark Giardina]

I don't doubt what you heard, but in recent years I've heard Larsen continue to be quoted as saying that Reeves would never have killed himself.
Maybe he can't make up his mind.

Well it could be age. Larson turned 81 this year and perhaps his memory is fading. But go to You Tube and type in Tom Synder and the Adventures of Superman and you can see the interview.

I also think Larson appeared on that Robert Stack show, Unexplained Mysteries, where he talked about Reeves death.

Wikipedia is not the best source either, but as you saw in my previous post, the director and screenwriter for the movie "From Here to Eternity" both claimed that Reeves role was never cut because people recognized him as "Superman." Yet I remember Larson making that claim during his interview with Tom Synder.

 

[pqgeorge]

This story has been debated for years. The common story at the time was Reeves was depressed because he was typecast and couldn't get another job in Hollywood.
Jack Larsen & Noel Neill have always insisted that he was not depressed and in fact had just been given new scripts for another season of Superman which was to be filmed for the 1960 season.
Since John Hamilton died in 1958 they had hired the guy, who's name escapes me, from the late 40s serials to play Perry White.

Just like JFK, We'll never know for sure what really happened.

I would have to agree. Since a half-century has passed since George Reeves tragic death back in 1959, we virtually have no further information about his death other than what was issued back then by the media and a lot of the hearsay from the tabs at the time. IMHO, I doubt very strongly that George Reeves took his own life. It just did not fit his persona. The man was getting ready to be married. He was already all set for a new season of The Adventures of Superman. And though he was not actually extraordinary rich, by Los Angeles standards, the man was quite well off and was still getting plenty of residuals as a result of his many years in the title role. He basically had all the reason to live. I suspect foul play had a role. But, since most of the principals of the scenario have long since deceased, more than likely we'll never know the truth.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

And though he was not actually extraordinary rich, by Los Angeles standards, the man was quite well off and was still getting plenty of residuals as a result of his many years in the title role.

From books that I've read Reeves did make some decent money ($50,000 a year) during the last few seasons of Superman, but he either gave it away to friends in need, and lived beyond his means.

There is a touching story that Reeves financially helped out John Hamilton, who played Perry White, on numerous occasions. Hamilton, and his son, was living in an apartment above a grocery store, just making ends meet, and Reeves would give Hamilton money to help him pay his bills.

Toni Mannix, his former married girlfriend, was the one who purchased both Reeves car and his house, plus provided him with plenty of spending money. When Reeves split with Mannix and ended up with Lenore Lemmon, both of them spent money like there was no tomorrow. That is one of the reasons that Reeves decided to tape more episodes of Superman because he needed the cash.

The late Robert Shayne ( Inspector Henderson) said there were no residuals paid to the cast of Superman otherwise they (the cast) would have been rich by now considering how many years the show has been on the air because of reruns.

 

[radioman148]

I don't doubt what you heard, but in recent years I've heard Larsen continue to be quoted as saying that Reeves would never have killed himself.
Maybe he can't make up his mind.

Well it could be age. Larson turned 81 this year and perhaps his memory is fading. But go to You Tube and type in Tom Synder and the Adventures of Superman and you can see the interview.

I also think Larson appeared on that Robert Stack show, Unexplained Mysteries, where he talked about Reeves death.

Wikipedia is not the best source either, but as you saw in my previous post, the director and screenwriter for the movie "From Here to Eternity" both claimed that Reeves role was never cut because people recognized him as "Superman." Yet I remember Larson making that claim during his interview with Tom Synder.

Speaking of Larsen's age it was originally listed that he was born in 1933, then 1931, & finally 1928.
Those Hollywood people love to fudge on the truth.

 

[radioman148]

This story has been debated for years. The common story at the time was Reeves was depressed because he was typecast and couldn't get another job in Hollywood.
Jack Larsen & Noel Neill have always insisted that he was not depressed and in fact had just been given new scripts for another season of Superman which was to be filmed for the 1960 season.
Since John Hamilton died in 1958 they had hired the guy, who's name escapes me, from the late 40s serials to play Perry White.

Just like JFK, We'll never know for sure what really happened.

I would have to agree. Since a half-century has passed since George Reeves tragic death back in 1959, we virtually have no further information about his death other than what was issued back then by the media and a lot of the hearsay from the tabs at the time. IMHO, I doubt very strongly that George Reeves took his own life. It just did not fit his persona. The man was getting ready to be married. He was already all set for a new season of The Adventures of Superman. And though he was not actually extraordinary rich, by Los Angeles standards, the man was quite well off and was still getting plenty of residuals as a result of his many years in the title role. He basically had all the reason to live. I suspect foul play had a role. But, since most of the principals of the scenario have long since deceased, more than likely we'll never know the truth.

Noel Neill toured with George in 1958. They had an act where she sang & he played bass fiddle & there were others in the group. She said he seemed happy although he did drink.
We'll never know for sure.