George Reeves
George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, to Helen Roberta (Lescher) and Donald C. Brewer. He was of German, English, and Scottish descent. Reeves was raised in Pasadena, California, and educated at Pasadena Junior College. He was a skilled amateur boxer and musician. He interned as an actor at the famed Pasadena Playhouse, and was discovered there. He was cast as Brent Tarleton in Gone with the Wind (1939). Over the next ten years he was contracted to Warners, Fox and Paramount. He achieved near-stardom as the male lead in So Proudly We Hail! (1943), but war service interrupted his career, and after he returned it never regained the same level. While in the Army Air Corps he appeared on Broadway in "Winged Victory", then made training films. Career difficulties after the war led him to move to New York for live television. It was television where he achieved the kind of fame that had eluded him in films, as he was cast in the lead of the now-iconic Adventures of Superman (1952). He got a few film roles, but he was mostly typecast as Superman, and other acting jobs soon dried up. His career had slid to the point where he was considering an attempt at exhibition wrestling when he committed suicide by shooting himself. Controversy still surrounds his death, due mainly to the fact of his longtime affair with Toni Lanier (aka Toni Mannix), the wife of MGM executive E.J. Mannix. Many of Reeves' friends and colleagues didn't believe that he had committed suicide but that his death was related to the Mannix situation. However, no credible evidence has ever been produced to support that contention.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver
Spouse (1) Ellanora Needles (21 September 1940 - 16 October 1950) (divorced)
Other relationship Toni Lanier AKA Toni Mannix his death
Trivia (29)
editSalary (2)
editAdventures of Superman (1952) $1,000 /episode
Adventures of Superman (1952) $2,500 /week
You can find people similar to George Reeves by visiting our lists Unsolved deaths in the United States and 1959 suicides.
| Full name at birth | George Keefer Brewer
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| Claim to fame | Portraying Superman in Adventures of Superman
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| Date of birth | 5 January 1914
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| Place of birth | Woolstock, Iowa, USA
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| Date of death | 16 June 1959
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| Age | 45 (age at death)
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| Place of death | Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, California, USA
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| Cause of death | Apparent suicide (died of a gunshot wound to the head)
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| Resting place | Mountain View Cemetery Pasadena Mausoleum, Sunrise Corridor Altadena, California, USA 34°11′02″N 118°08′59″W / 34.1840°N 118.1497°W / 34.1840; -118.1497
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| Occupation | Actor, Director
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PERSONAL DETAILS
| Height | 6' 2" (188 cm)
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ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| Net worth | $1,000,000 USD
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| High school | Polytechnic School (1929), Pasadena, California, USA
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| University | Pasadena Junior College
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![George Reeves - Yours Retro Magazine Pictorial [United Kingdom] (August 2024)](http://img3.bdbphotos.com/images/130x130/z/z/zzfz3vr4eitavae.jpg?skj2io4l)
![George Reeves - Yours Retro Magazine Pictorial [United Kingdom] (August 2024)](http://img3.bdbphotos.com/images/130x130/h/e/hehy48hvyyc48yh4.jpg?skj2io4l)
- Is portrayed by Ben Affleck in Hollywoodland (2006)
- During the hiatus of the Superman TV series, Reeves made guest appearances around the country. In one appearance he appeared at Kennywood Amusement Park just outside of Pittsburgh; the next year he was also slated to appear and billboards had advertised that fact, however that was the year that he committed suicide and Kennywood had to find a replacement act; the act which replaced Reeves was Guy Williams as Zorro. The billboards whitewashed over the Superman ad to add Zorro, but the Superman logo could still be seen underneath the ad for Zorro.
- A false story has circulated that Reeves auditioned for the role of Samson in Samson and Delilah (1949) but lost the role to Victor Mature. Reeves was never under consideration for the role of Samson. However, he was given a role as the Wounded Messenger at the recommendation of Mature, who was very loyal to his friends from his student days at the Pasadena Community Playhouse. Many of the smaller roles in Samson and Delilah were played by Mature's friends from Pasadena.
- A skilled musician, he appeared briefly with his "Adventures of Superman" (1952) co-star Noel Neill in a touring county-fair act in which she sang and he played guitar and upright bass, following his performance of a wrestling/judo act as Superman (versus "Mr. Kryptonite," "Gene LeBell").
- A false story has circulated that George Reeves was hired to play detective Milton Arbogast in the movie Psycho (1960) and filmed a few of his scenes with the rest of the cast just a week before his death. There is no truth to this rumor whatsoever. Reeves died on June 16, 1959, almost two months before Alfred Hitchcock decided to make a film of "Psycho." Work on the script began in October, 1959, four months after Reeves's death. Filming began in November, 1959, five months after Reeves's death. At the time of Reeves's death, Hitchcock was on a world tour promoting North by Northwest (1959). (Source: "The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock," by Donald Spoto.) George Reeves did not live long enough to even know a film of "Psycho" was planned, much less actually appear in it.
George Reeves is known for his role in the TV series Adventures of Superman (1952) - director.
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