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Biography
Reeves film career began in 1939. He was featured in minor roles, one being as one of Vivien Leigh's suitors in the initial scene of Gone With the Wind. In 1942 he won acclaim for his part in So Proudly We Hail!.
Military service
Military service then interupted his career. Reeves enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps and appeared in war training films. Reeves found leading parts lacking after the war and at one point was forced to earn a living digging septic systems.
Superman
Reeves, offered the role of Superman in a television series, was reluctant at first to take the role. Like many actors, he considered television to be unimportant and thought that few would see his work. He was astonished when he became a national celebrity. He became so well known that he was often forced to do personal appearances as Superman. This was always embarrassing for the actor because he pointed out that many children would often test his super powers by physically assaulting him. In one instance, a youngster came up to him with a loaded gun and said that he was going to shoot bullets off Superman's chest!
Reeves first appeared as the Superman character in 1951 in a theatrical feature called Superman and the Mole Men. It was effectively a pilot for the TV series, whose regular episodes began filming soon after, during 1951 and 1952. That film was edited down to a two-part episode for the TV series, retitled The Unknown People. The original film was seldom seen after its initial release, but it is on the DVD of the first season which was released in the fall of 2005.
The Superman TV series The Adventures of Superman was broadcast in first-run from the fall of 1952 through the spring of 1959, a total of 104 episodes. In addition, Reeves appeared as Superman in a Government short film, entitled "Stamp Day for Superman." In this, Superman's job was to catch some crooks and tell kids why they should invest in government bonds. Reeves also appeared as Superman in an episode of I Love Lucy in 1956.
After Superman
After the series went off the air, Reeves found himself so typecast as Superman that it was difficult for him find other roles and this was said to have deeply saddened him. One example sometimes cited is that he was upset when his scenes in the classic film From Here To Eternity were all cut after a preview audience kept yelling "Superman!" whenever he appeared. There is no truth to the rumor that his scenes were cut, however. Director Fred Zinneman, screenwriter Daniel Taradash, and various crew members have all stated for the record that every scene written for Reeves's character was shot and that every one of those scenes is part of the film as released. Nothing of Reeves's work was cut, and director Zinneman even made clear that there was no preview screening, nor were there post-release cuts. Everything in the first draft of the script featuring Reeves's character is still present in the final product as seen in 1953 and as seen today. Despite the falsity of this particular rumor, Reeves did indeed find it almost impossible to obtain roles outside the Superman character. His good friend Bill Walsh, a producer at Disney Studios, gave Reeves a role in what would be the actor's final feature film, Westward Ho the Wagons. In that film, Reeves's face was altered with a false beard -- presumably to prevent easy recognition of the famed face of Superman.
Death
Cover of the June 16, 1959 New York Post.
In the early morning hours of June 16, 1959, three days before a planned wedding to Lenore Lemmon, Reeves went to bed after a long night with guests. Shortly thereafter, a shot rang out, and he was found dead in his bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head. An official inquiry concluded that the death was suicide. His disbelieving mother conducted an investigation of her own, which was inconclusive.
With suicide the official verdict, much speculation resulted as to whether it was because of his failed career. It was also noted that he had suffered a concussion in an auto accident shortly before that event, leading some to suspect that his mental health had been compromised. These facts are recounted in Gary Grossman's 1976 book, Superman: Serial to Cereal. At that time, suicide was the predominant presumed cause of death, and various reasons were cited to justify or explain it.
In recent years, there have been questions raised again as to whether Reeves' death was really a suicide, or whether it was a murder covered up by Hollywood insiders, similar to the claims about suspicious (or allegedly suspicious) deaths of other Hollywood notables (such as Marilyn Monroe, Thelma Todd and Paul Bern).
The 1996 book Hollywood Kryptonite, by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, discusses the issues, the doubts by friends and relatives, the forensic evidence as to whether suicide was even physically possible, whether the shooting was properly investigated by police, and alternative theories. The book makes an interesting argument for Reeves having been the target of a "hit" due to having spurned a long-time lover with mob connections. The hypothesis is that the aforementioned car accident was also an attempted hit. There is no question that Reeves' circle of friends included some unsavory characters. There are groups trying to muster support for re-opening the investigation. However, the allegations and unanswered questions are unlikely ever to be resolved, due to the passage of time and the deaths of apparently everyone who might know the truth of the matter, so for the present, suicide remains the official cause of death.
Other Reeve(s)
Because of the similar surnames, people sometimes surmise that George Reeves is related to Christopher Reeve, an actor who would later portray Superman on the big screen. The similarity is coincidental: the two are not related, as the last names differ in spelling. Nor is there any relation between him and Steve Reeves, the actor/bodybuilder from the same era; nor any known relation to a character actor named Richard Reeves a.k.a. Dick Reeves, who appeared in several "Superman" episodes. George Reeves changed his last name from Brewer when entering show business.
Footnote
^ Reeves' Mausoleum plaque erroneously lists his birthdate as "1/6/1914", or 6 January 1914. A variety of sources (such as FindaGrave[2]) assert that his actual birthdate was 5 January 1914.
