george reeves wife

(1942), a war drama for Paramount Pictures, who signed Reeves up for two films a year. Reeves was then transferred to the Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture Unit, where he made training films. George Reeves would never be anybody but Superman. Select "More search options" to: Search for a memorial or contributor by ID. They had no children and divorced ten years later. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and gave Reeves the distinction of appearing in two "Best Picture" films. Like many of the wives of stars in the Army Air Force's Broadway play "Winged Victory," she was given a bit role. Reeves's career as Superman had begun with Superman and the Mole Men, a film intended both as a B-picture and as the pilot for the TV series. While there, she married actor George Reeves in 1940. 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. Eddie Mannix, despite his mob connections and fearsome reputation, didn't seem to mind his wife's relationship with Reeves. About. They had no children and divorced 10 years later. Jim Beaver , Other Works Publicity Listings “There’s no question now George Reeves was murdered!” says a source, who examined secret forensic documents. “The cold-blooded killer was Toni Mannix. She acted in many other plays, primarily in California, usually as Ellanora Needles or as Ellanora Reeves or simply Ella-Nora. She made a few, mostly uncredited, bit part appearances using the name Sarah Spencer and then retired from acting. American actress, primarily on the stage, who played a few small roles in films. (Some sources contend that it may not have been looked for, as gunshot residue testing was not routinely performed in 1959. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, unbeknownst to the majority of his legion of fans, George Reeves was keeping a huge and potentially damaging secret. [12] The Bessolo marriage lasted 15 years, ending in divorce, with the couple separating while Reeves was away visiting relatives. It didn’t take the officers long to identify the deceased as George Reeves, the 45-year-old actor who had become famous for playing the only bulletproof character on television: Superman. Nevertheless, he had a romantic relationship with a married ex-showgirl eight years his senior, Toni Mannix, wife of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer general manager Eddie Mannix. [24] As for Port of Entry, Reeves was never able to gain financing for the project, and the show was never made. [citation needed] The two were subsequently cast together in eleven films. Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Death of George Reeves – The Original Superman", "The Life and Tragic Death of 'Superman' Star George Reeves — Plus the Actor in his Own Words", "7 super things you might not know about George Reeves", "Was Superman star George Reeves a suicide – or murder victim? [17], Released from his Warner contract, he signed a contract at Twentieth Century-Fox, but was released after only a handful of films, one of which was the Charlie Chan movie Dead Men Tell. If one thought that George’s divorce from his first wife after 10 years of marriage was yet another blow, it would be followed by one of the biggest windfalls he would ever receive. However, Lemmon stated in interviews with Reeves' biographer Jim Beaver that she and Reeves had not accompanied friends to the restaurant but rather to wrestling matches. He is most remembered for Television's first Superman. In June 1951, Reeves was offered the role of Superman in a new television series[23] titled Adventures of Superman. While there, she married actor George Reeves in 1940. He dumped her for Lemmon, which reportedly left Mannix devastated. She was behind the whole thing! Reeves, Noel Neill, Natividad Vacío, Gene LeBell, and a trio of musicians toured with a public appearance show from 1957 onward. Widowed, she died at 83, survived by two daughters from her marriage to Rose. [33] Reeves had been made a "Kentucky Colonel" during a publicity trip in the South, and the sign on his dressing room door was replaced with a new one that read "Honest George, also known as Col. Reeves", created by the show's prop department. [citation needed] According to Larson, Reeves also said he would feel better about the role if he knew he had any adult fans, and never learned that Adventures of Superman had adult fans even during its original broadcast run.[17]. George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer on January 5, 1914, in the tiny farming community of Woolstock, Iowa. According to biographer Jim Beaver, Reeves did not know for several years that Bessolo was still alive. Reeves worked tirelessly with Toni Mannix to raise money to fight myasthenia gravis. But the scandalous and suspicious way he met his death in 1959 could not have been further removed from his role as the Man of Steel. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Mannix, a woman married to MGM studio “fixer” Eddie Mannix, and Reeves had a serious affair with her. Twentieth Century-Fox loaned him to producer Alexander Korda to co-star with Merle Oberon in Lydia,[17] a box-office failure. to put his budding acting career on hold and enlist in the U.S. Born Ellanora Robinson Needles Jr. into a renowned circus family, she attended the Pasadena Community Playhouse as an acting student. Newspapers and wire-service reports quoted LAPD Sergeant V.A. The report made by the Los Angeles Police states, "[Reeves was]... depressed because he couldn't get the sort of parts he wanted." |  Neither Leonore Lemmon nor other guests who were at the scene made any apology for their delay in calling the police after hearing the fatal gunshot that killed Reeves; the shock of the death, the lateness of the hour, and their state of intoxication were given as reasons for the delay. The producers looked elsewhere for a new star.[25]. In their book Hollywood Kryptonite, Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger make a case for the involvement of Toni Mannix, the wife of MGM vice president and fixer Eddie Mannix, with whom Reeves had been having an affair. Directed by Lew Landers. His zodiac sign is Capricorn. Reeves reportedly never saw his father again. He is best known for his role as Superman in the 1952–1958 television program Adventures of Superman. Bliss ran upstairs into Reeves' bedroom and found him lying across the bed dead, his naked body facing upward and his feet on the floor. [31] However, Reeves and his partner failed to find financing, and the film was never made. After blowing off steam, he stayed with the guests for a while, had a drink, and then returned upstairs again in a bad mood. Peterson as saying: "Miss Lemmon blurted, 'He's probably going to go shoot himself.' The torrid affair Reeves had with the wife of a studio executive might hold the key to the truth. Reeves and Toni Mannix split in 1958, and Reeves announced his engagement to society playgirl Leonore Lemmon. [17] He avoided cigarettes where children could see him and eventually quit smoking. In 1953, Reeves played a minor character, Sergeant Maylon Stark, in From Here to Eternity. Another Superman stage show was scheduled for July[32] with a planned stage tour of Australia. Bass was forced into the Confederacy with George Reeves. He kept his private life discreet. [14] They married on September 22, 1940, in San Gabriel, California, at the Church of Our Savior. The film suggests three possible scenarios: accidental shooting by Lemmon, murder by an unnamed hitman under orders from Eddie Mannix, and suicide. This was a cruel and common practice during the Civil War. It was a minor role, but he and Fred Crane were in the film's opening scene. A beautiful policewoman is asked to pose as Superman's wife in order to help him break up a … He freelanced, looking to find work in westerns. Hollywoodland is a 2006 American neo-noir period mystery film directed by Allen Coulter and written by Paul Bernbaum. {googleads} His "Other" Life. He first gained recognition for the WB drama series Felicity (1998–2002). Reeves's film career began in 1939 when he was cast as Stuart Tarleton (incorrectly listed in the film's credits as Brent Tarleton), one of Scarlett O'Hara's suitors in Gone with the Wind. or * wildcards in name fields.? According to Larson, Reeves said that if Mark Sandrich had not died, he would not be there in "this monkey suit". There are also several Hatcher families who are known to have close ties to the Burton family, in fact some Burton lineages show "Hatcher DNA" rather than Burton. Reeves was apparently scheduled to marry Lemmon on June 19 and then spend their honeymoon in Tijuana. Mannix. He was 40 years old and wished to quit and move on with his career. During the second season, Reeves appeared in a short film for the Treasury Department entitled Stamp Day for Superman, in which he caught the villains and told children why they should invest in government savings stamps. [38] Despite the unanswered questions, Reeves' death was officially ruled a suicide, based on witness statements, physical evidence at the scene, and the autopsy report. PICTURED: BEN AFFLECK as George Reeves. Statements made by the witnesses to the police and to the press essentially agree. He complained to friends, columnists, and his mother of his financial problems. [12] His Gone with the Wind screen credit reflects the change. While studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, Reeves met his future wife, Ellanora Needles. In 1927, Frank Bessolo adopted George as his own son, and the boy took on his stepfather's last name, becoming George Bessolo. American Actor George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer on 5th January, 1914 in Woolstock, Iowa USA and passed away on 16th Jun 1959 Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA aged 45. 'See there—I told you so! In real life George Reeves did have an affair with Toni Mannix (together in pic on left), who was the wife of MGM executive Eddie Mannix. If George Reeves' wife Jane was a Burton as previously believed, her family's origins may be the source of the belief that the family was associated with Drewry's Bluff in Virginia. The second half of the show was Reeves out of costume and as himself, singing and accompanying himself on the guitar. At this time, Reeves and his mother moved from Iowa to her home of Galesburg, Illinois.[10]. [17] His friend Teddi Sherman introduced him to her producer father Harry Sherman, who asked Reeves to do a screen test with Teddi for the Hopalong Cassidy films. In 1960, Reeves was awarded a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the TV industry. He was acting in Pasadena when he was 21, and scored his first film role in Gone with the Wind in 1939. Two additional bullets were discovered embedded in the bedroom floor. He served as national chairman for the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation in 1955. He appeared in a pair of outdoor thrillers with Ralph Byrd. Homer Trippe is very henpecked by his wife, and Mrs. Trippe also dominates the life of her daughter, dismissing her boyfriend Dan as merely a delivery clerk. [18] He was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces and performed in the USAAF's Broadway show Winged Victory. These roles did little to advance Reeves' career, and his contract with Warners was dissolved by mutual consent. Young George Reeves got his big break when he was cast as Stuart Tarlton in Gone With The Wind in 1939. The story presents a fictionalized account of the circumstances surrounding the death of actor George Reeves (played by Ben Affleck), the star of the 1950s film Superman and the Mole Men and television series Adventures of Superman. When he returned, his mother told him his stepfather had committed suicide. [17] He was drafted in early 1943. '"[29] His good friend Bill Walsh, a producer at Disney Studios, gave Reeves a prominent role in Westward Ho the Wagons! He was Movies (Actor) by profession. All three bullets had been fired from the weapon found at Reeves' feet, though all witnesses agreed they heard only one gunshot, and there was no sign of forced entry or other physical evidence that a second person was in the room. George Corley Wallace was born in Clio, Alabama on August 25, 1919. The findings of a second autopsy, conducted at Giesler's request, were the same as the first, except for a series of bruises of unknown origin about the head and body. However, many studios were slowing down their production schedules, and some production units had shut down completely. Attempting to showcase his versatility, Reeves sang on the Tony Bennett show in August 1956. In the documentary Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Jack Larson described how when he first met Reeves he told him that he enjoyed his performance in So Proudly We Hail! He was the son of Don Brewer (father) and Helen Lescher (mother). (1956), in which Reeves wore a beard and mustache. The series went on the air the following year, and Reeves was amazed at becoming a national celebrity. Kent then rushed offstage to return as Superman, who came to the rescue and fought with the bad guy. Jack Larson and Noel Neill both remembered Reeves as a noble Southern gentleman (even though he was from Iowa) with a sign on his dressing room door that said "Honest George, the people's friend". Reeves and Sherman impressed the casting director by performing seven pages of script without pause in a single take. A shot was heard. George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor. [28] He appeared as Superman on I Love Lucy (Episode #165, "Lucy and Superman") in 1957. Reeves angrily came downstairs and complained about the noise. [17] Warner changed his professional name to George Reeves. Many of Reeves' friends and colleagues didn't believe that he had committed suicide but that his death was related to the Mannix situation. Official Sites, View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro. [17], However, Reeves was inspired by So Proudly We Hail! Reeves began acting and singing in high school and continued performing on stage as a student at Pasadena Junior College. According to these witnesses, Lemmon and Reeves had been dining and drinking earlier in the evening in the company of writer Condon, who was ghostwriting an autobiography of prizefighter Archie Moore. Immediately after completing it, Reeves and the crew began production of the first season's episodes, all shot over 13 weeks in the summer of 1951. The woman on the other end of the line was a woman named Toni Mannix. In the partially fictional Reeves biography Hollywood Kryptonite Reeves is murdered by order of Toni Mannix as punishment for their breakup. Matt Reeves (born April 27, 1966) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. The 2006 film Hollywoodland, starring Ben Affleck as Reeves and Adrien Brody as a fictional investigator loosely based on actual detective Milo Speriglio, dramatizes the investigation of Reeves' death. [41] In 1985, he was posthumously named one of the honorees by DC Comics in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great. [17] Reeves appeared in five Hopalong Cassidy westerns before being cast as Lieutenant John Summers opposite Claudette Colbert in So Proudly We Hail! [1][2][3][4][5][6], Reeves was born January 5, 1914[7][8] as George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, the son of Donald Carl Brewer and Helen Lescher. [37]) The bullet that killed Reeves was recovered from the bedroom ceiling, and the spent shell casing was found under his body. American actress, primarily on the stage, who played a few small roles in films. At the beginning of his life, George Reeves was a Midwesterner by birth but, as he grew older, he made his way out to California with his mother. There she had met and married Frank Joseph Bessolo by 1920, according to that year's federal census. She continued, 'He's opening a drawer to get the gun.' (Reeves and Crane both dyed their hair red to portray the Tarleton twins.) According to commentaries on the Adventures of Superman DVD sets, multiple scripts would be filmed simultaneously to take advantage of the standing sets so that, for example, all the "Perry White's office" scenes for three or four episodes would be shot the same day and the various "apartment" scenes would be done consecutively. American actor George Reeves flexes his bicep while actress and comedian Lucille Ball touches his muscle during the episode 'Lucy and Superman' of... George Reeves stars as "Superman" and Jack Larson as "Jimmy Olsen" George Reeves stars as "Superman" with unknown cameraman. Reeves's father married Helen Schultz in 1925. Reeves is interred at Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena, California. Her hubby, Eddie Mannix, was Hollywood’s famed mobbed up “fixer” and the death scene was staged to look like suicide to save his wayward wife. She sounded very disturbed and was hyperventilating as she rasped, The boy is dead. Sorens?n or Wil* Search for an exact birth/death year or select a range, before or after. Endings And Beginnings. Later that year, Franklin Reeve married Helen Schmidinger, a Columbia University graduate student. One of her classmates, Teddi Sherman, was the daughter of producer Harry Sherman, and like many Playhouse students she was given a small role, under the name Shelley Spencer, in one of Sherman's films, Leather Burners (1943), in which her husband also appeared. Reeves and Lemmon had an argument at the restaurant in front of Condon, and the three of them returned home. * Great Moons of Krypton!!! Keanu Charles Reeves (/ k i ˈ ɑː n uː / kee-AH-noo; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Like Reeve (as in Christopher), Reeves (as in George), born in 1914 in Iowa (per Biography), started out as an actor. George and Toni's affair lasted for over seven years. This kind of phone call would not have been out of the ordinary for Lois Lane, the character Coates famously played on TV. By all accounts, it was an open secret, with Eddie being well aware and even approving of his wife's extra curricular activities. He was able to play against type and starred as a villainous gold hunter in a Johnny Weissmuller Jungle Jim film. Reeves grew up mainly in Pasadena with his overbearing and possessive mother Helen, who gave George the name of her second husband, one … ; Include the name of a spouse, parent, child or sibling in your search. He performed on live television anthology programs, as well as on radio, and then returned to Hollywood in 1951 for a role in a Fritz Lang film, Rancho Notorious.[22]. Henderson, Jan Alan, Speeding Bullet, M. Bifulco, 1999; Helen Roberta Lescher Brewer Bessolo (1894–1964) was the daughter of George Christian Lescher and Eliza Jane McKenzie, she died in a Pasadena hospital on June 18, 1964. However, he had allegedly announced the engagement to his friends and occasionally called her "my wife." Sprawled naked on his bed, Reeves had been shot in the head after a late night party at his house. [26] He was reportedly making $5,000 (about $48,000 in today's dollars) per week, but only while the show was in production (about eight weeks each year). Separated from his wife (their divorce became final in 1950), Reeves moved to New York City in 1949. She did not make another film until 1950, by which time she had divorced Reeves and had married Beverly Hills attorney Edward M. Rose. Except for the second season, the Superman schedule was brief (13 shows shot two per week, a total of seven weeks out of a year), but all had a "30-day clause", which meant that the producers could demand their exclusive services for a new season on four weeks' notice. The story follows a 1950s private detective who, investigating the mysterious death of 'Superman' star George Reeves, uncovers unexpected connections to his own life as the case turns more personal. Here’s a SUPER picture of model/actress Joi Lansing as Sgt. Hes been murdered. |  In 1957, the producers considered a theatrical film Superman and the Secret Planet. They married on September 22, 1940, in San Gabriel, California, at the Church of Our Savior. Born Ellanora Robinson Needles Jr. into a renowned circus family, she attended the Pasadena Community Playhouse as an acting student. Barbara Pitney Lamb married Tristam B. Johnson, a stockbroker, in 1959. Reeves was born five months into their marriage[9] and the couple separated soon after Reeves's birth. I know he enjoyed the role, but he used to say, 'Here I am, wasting my life. He was the son of a farmer who decided to go University of Alabama Law School, where he graduated in 1942. [13], While studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, Reeves met his future wife, Ellanora Needles, granddaughter of circus magnate John Robinson. replaces one letter. During the war, William Reeves son, George organized a cavalry regiment for Grayson County, Texas. The police arrived within the hour. For several generations, George Reeves is the definitive Superman, having played the character on the big screen in the 1951 film Superman and … Contemporaneous news items indicate that Reeves' friend Gene LeBell was wrestling that night—yet LeBell's own recollections are that he did not see Reeves after a workout session earlier in the day. George Reeves is having an interesting moment behind-the-scenes in “The Superman Silver Mine”, episode 6 of season 6 of “Adventures of Superman” (1958). And then there was George Reeves, who also played Superman, but in the 1950s TV series. When his mother moved to California to be with her sister, it was said Reeves never saw his father again. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records 1938–1946, dated March 24, 1943, Speeding Bullet, 2nd Ed, by Jan Alan Henderson, p. 151. By mid 1959, contracts were signed, costumes refitted, and new teleplay writers assigned. The planned revival of Superman was apparently a small lifeline. He was born on January 4, 1914 at Woolstock, Iowa, United States. On June 16, 1959, actress Phyllis Coates was woken up around 4:30 a.m. by a very strange phone call. After Gone with the Wind was filmed, Reeves returned to the Pasadena Playhouse and was given the lead role in the play Pancho. A noise was heard upstairs. He was American by natinoanliy. A month later, having uncovered no evidence contradicting the official finding, Giesler announced that he was satisfied that the gunshot wound had been self-inflicted, and withdrew.[40][38]. Ellanora Needles, Actress: Prisoners in Petticoats. Later, Reeves's mother,[11] who was of German descent, moved to California to stay with her sister. Others suggested that Eddie Mannix, rumored to have Mafia ties, ordered Reeves killed.[42]. Reeves, however, earned additional income from personal appearances. Enslaved men forced into Confederate gray to fight the Army that was fighting to free them.It was a lot to ask of a man who was constantly reminded that his life was in the … Reeves died of a gunshot wound to the head in the upstairs bedroom of his home in Benedict Canyon between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. on June 16, 1959, according to the Los Angeles Police Department report. Between the first and second seasons of Superman, Reeves got sporadic acting assignments in one-shot TV anthology programs and in two feature films, Forever Female (1953) and Fritz Lang's The Blue Gardenia (1953), but by the time the series was airing nationwide, Reeves found himself so associated with Superman and Clark Kent that it was difficult for him to find other roles. Actors Alan Ladd and Gig Young were reportedly skeptical of the official determination. Vacio and Neill accompanied him in duets.[30].

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