June 16, 1959: George Reeves, star of The Adventures of Superman, dies. How remains a mystery.
George Keifer Brewer was born on January 5, 1914 in Woolstock, Iowa, and grew up outside Los Angeles in Pasadena, California. He studied acting at the famed Pasadena Playhouse, and appeared in his first film in 1939. He played Stuart Tarleton, one of Scarlett O'Hara's suitors, in Gone with the Wind. Delays, and the making of some "quickies," meant that GWTW was actually the 5th movie with him to be released. In the meantime, Warner Brothers' studio convinced him to change his stage name to George Reeves.
He appeared in a few more forgettable films until 1943, and, frustrated by this, enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to the Army Air Forces, which enabled him to appear in their stage production, and later the film version, of Winged Victory.
After World War II, his film career did not have much of a restart. But in 1951, he was cast as DC Comics' superhero Superman, replacing Kirk Alyn, who had starred in 2 film serials. Superman and the Mole Men was the title. The word "and" is key: It's not "vs.," because the Mole Men, aliens, were not the bad guys. The bad guys were the townspeople who were frightened of them and attacked them. It was an allegory for the Red Scare.
It was the 1st feature film to feature a DC superhero -- although the Fawcett Comics character Captain Marvel, a.k.a. Shazam, had appeared in one, and the character would later be bought by DC -- and it was so successful, that, on September 19, 1952, The Adventures of Superman premiered in syndication. Superman and the Mole Men was recut and used as a two-part episode of the series. The show became so successful that Reeves is the only actor who appeared in Gone With the Wind who is better remembered for doing something else. Such is the power of Superman.
Jack Narz, later known as a game-show host, narrated the opening, which was adapted from a previous radio show about the character:
Narrator: Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!
Onlooker 1: Look! Up in the sky!
Onlooker 2: It's a bird!
Onlooker 3: It's a plane!
Onlooker 4: It's Superman!
Narrator: Yes, it's Superman: Strange visitor from another planet, who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men! Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way!
Film of downtown Los Angeles was used to stand in for Superman's fictional adopted hometown of Metropolis, and L.A.'s City Hall was focused on as the home of the Daily Planet, where Clark Kent worked. According to the comic books, Clark wanted to become a journalist so that he could hear news reports of disasters as they were happening, so he could then help out as Superman.
In hindsight, Reeves' Clark wasn't especially "mild-mannered." If, like the characters, the viewer didn't know he was also Superman, he would appear to be a believable big-city reporter.
At first, Lois Lane, fellow reporter who loved Superman but thought considerably more of Clark as a reporter than she thought of him as a man, though sometimes suspecting his dual identity, was played by Phyllis Coates, as she was in Superman and the Mole Men. But Coates was so heavily in demand as an actress that she was unavailable for the 2nd season, and Noel Neill, who had played Lois in the 1948 and 1950 film serials with Kirk Alyn, stepped back into the role.
Jack Larson played young photographer Jimmy Olsen. John Hamilton played Perry White, publisher and editor of the Daily Planet, using all of Perry's attributes from the comics: His gruff demeanor, balanced by his willingness to stand by his reporters no matter what, his cigar-smoking, his devotion to Metropolis (in this TV version, he was said to have once been the city's Mayor), and his angry retort, "Don't call me chief!" Robert Shayne played a character created for the series, Police Inspector Bill Henderson, an ally of the Planet, and thus also of Superman.
Because TV budgets were low, especially then, there were no appearances by the traditional supervillain opponents of Superman: No Lex Luthor, no Brainiac, no Mr. Mxyzptlk. Even less-dangerous foes like the Prankster and the Toyman couldn't be shown, because their gadgets would have cost too much to build and have their use staged for the cameras.
So this version of Superman mainly fought gangsters. Eventually, some of the stories, involving threats from space, got a little silly. But most of the stories have Superman himself as the only fantasy-based thing, and, even after 70 years, they hold up -- better than the budget-restricted special effects do.
Like a lot of shows, even up to the 1970s, they relied heavily on stock footage, to the point where, if Superman was flying from left to right on the screen, instead of his usual right to left, the image was simply reversed, so that his S crest looks backwards, like the one worn by the comic book character Bizarro.
One thing I never got over: A gunman would fire all six shots at Superman, knowing that the first shot just bounced off him, and then throw the gun at him -- and Superman would duck! If the bullets didn't hurt him, why would the gun? Because Reeves wasn't invulnerable: Unlike the bullets, which weren't actually hitting him, the thrown gun would have, and would have hurt him more than the breakaway chairs that he was sometimes hit with.
In 1955, the show began to be filmed in color, because the producers figured it would be easier to sell once color TV sets became common. They weren’t wrong, they were just premature: Eventually, being in color is what saved the show in reruns.
What turned out to be the last first-run episode aired on April 28, 1958. Shortly thereafter, Hamilton died. There was talk of doing another season in 1959, with the White role recast. But would Reeves do it? Those who knew him did not agree: Some said he loved playing the role, others recalled him saying that he was "wasting his life."
Reeves had been married to Ellanora Needles from 1940 to 1950. While filming The Adventures of Superman, he had a relationship with Toni Mannix, a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer, and the wife of Eddie Mannix, an executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Ironically, Eddie was serving as MGM's "fixer," covering up the private misdeeds of the studios' stars, so their careers wouldn't be ruined. But he had no place to talk: He was already cheating on Toni, and had cheated on his 1st wife as well. Supposedly, he approved of the affair with George, so long as it didn't reach the public.
By 1959, George had broken up with Toni, and become engaged to a socialite named Leonore Lemmon. On the night of June 15, George and Leonore hosted a party at George's house, at 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive in Los Angeles. The party was still going on between 1:30 and 2:00 AM on June 16, when a gunshot was heard from upstairs. George was dead, from a bullet to the head, at the age of 45.
The Los Angeles Police Department investigated, and ruled it a suicide, based on Leonore's statement that George was depressed, because he couldn't get the parts he wanted. But the gun was found at George's feet; there were no fingerprints on the gun, including his; no gunpowder residue was found on his hands; the bullet was recovered from the bedroom ceiling, and the spent shell casing was found under his body.
There are those who believe that George was murdered. Eddie Mannix had connections to organized crime. However, since he had approved of the affair with Toni, and of the fact that it didn't reach the public, he wouldn't seem to have much motive. In contrast, Toni had been very upset over the end of the affair, and it's been suggested that she used her husband's Mob connections to have George killed.
Whatever the truth is, if they knew it, they took it to their graves: Eddie Mannix had a bad heart, and, still married to Toni, died in 1963; while Toni lived until 1983; and Leonore Lemmon lived until 1989. George Reeves was buried at Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum, in the Los Angeles suburb of Altadena, California.
Reeves' death put a stop to any hope of continuing The Adventures of Superman: Unlike any of the other actors, he was irreplaceable. Robert Shayne died in 1992, Jack Larson in 2015, and Noel Neill in 2016. As of June 16, 2022, Phyllis Coates is the last surviving castmember.
Superman is bulletproof; George Reeves was not. An urban legend got around that Reeves thought he really was Superman, and tried to fly, and jumped off a room, and that's how he died. In 1978, Christopher Reeve was cast in Superman: The Movie. Another urban legend got around the Chris was George's son. Not only is George not known to have had any children, but, unlike Chris, he had an extra S on the end of his name, and it wasn't his real name, anyway.
UPDATE: Phyllis Coates died in 2023.
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June 16, 1959 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-1 at Yankee Stadium. Art Ditmar outpitched Billy Pierce. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4. But this game would be an anomaly: The Yankees had one of their few bad seasons from 1918 to 1964, finishing just 79-75; while the White Sox would win their 1st American League Pennant in 40 years.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams singled as a pinch-hitter.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Roberto Clemente did not play. Ernie Banks hit a home run.
* The St. Louis Cardinals swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-1 and 5-2 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Stan Musial did not play in the opener, but went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Hank Aaron went 1-for-5 with an RBI.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 at Seals Stadium in San Francisco. Frank Robinson went 3-for-4. Willie Mays went 2-for-4.
* The Baltimore Orioles and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 18. The O's won the 1st game, 5-2. The Tigers won the 2nd game, 2-0. Frank Lary pitched a 6-hit shutout. Al Kaline was injured, and did not play in either game. Over the 2 games, Brooks Robinson went 2-for-8 with 2 RBIs.
* And the Kansas City Athletics and the Washington Senators were rained out at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 15. The Senators won the 1st game, 1-0. Camilo Pascual pitched a 3-hit shutout. The A's won the 2nd game, 6-2. Over the 2 games, Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-7 with a walk for the Senators, and Roger Maris went 2-for-7 with an RBI for the A's.
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