Leading Men George Reeves
The Adventures Of Superman (TV)/ Clark Kent - Superman
Gone With The Wind/ Brent Tarleton
Jungle Jim/ Bruce Edwards
So Proudly We Hail/ Lt. John Summers
The Blue Dahlia/ Police Capt. Sam Haynes
George Reeves was an American actor who was best known as Clark Kent/ Superman on the 1950's TV series. Unfortunately this role type cast him and it was difficult after that for him to resume his leading man career.
He was born at Woodstock, IA in 1914 the son of George Keefer Brewer and Helen Roberta Lescher.
Reeves was educated at Pasadena Junior College.
He was a skilled amateur boxer and musician. Being interested in acting he interned at the famous Pasadena Playhouse and was discovered there. He was then offered the role of Brent Tarleton in the epic film Gone With The Wind.
For the next decade or so Reeves worked for Warner Brothers, Fox and Paramount Studios.
He was the male lead in So Proudly We Hail (1943) that promoted him to near stardom but World War Two interrupted his career and it never regained it's momentum.
After the war with his career on the downswing Reeves moved to New York for live television which gave him a career that movies never did.
He accepted the role of Superman in 1951. It was this choice that typecast him and Reeves had few film roles and acting jobs after the series ended.
Reeves made his film debut in an uncredited role in the film Espionage Agent in 1939.
The film roles of George Reeves were:
Espionage Agent (1939) as Warrington's Secretary
The Monroe Doctrine (short) (1939 as John Sturges
On Dress Parade 1939) as Southern Soldier In Trench
Gone With The Wind (1939) as Brent Tarleton
Four Wives (1939) as Laboratory Man
The Fighting 69th (1940) as Jack O'Keefe
Calling Philo Vance (1940) as Steamship Clerk
Virginia City (1940) as Major Drewery's Union Telegrapher
'Til We Meet Again (1940) as Johnny Coburn
Tear Gas Squad (1940) as Joe McCabe
Torrid Zone (1940) as Sancho
Gambling On The High Seas (1940) as Reporter
Pony Express Days (1940) as Buffalo Bill Cody
Ladies Must Live (1940) as George Halliday
Argentine Nights (1940) as Eduardo "El Tigre" Estaban
Calling All Husbands (1940) as Dan Williams
Knute Rocke All American (1940) as Distraught Player
Always A Bride (1940) as Mike Stevens
Father Is A Prince (1940) as Gary Lee
Meet The Fleet (1940) as Benson
The Strawberry Blonde (1941) as Harold
The Lady & The Lug (1941) as Doug Abbott
Dead Men Tell (1941) as Bill Lydig
Blood And Sand (1941) as Capt. Pierre Lauren
Lydia (1941) as Bob Willard
Man At Large (1941) as Bob Grayson
Blue, White And Perfect (1942) as Juan Ortega O'Hara
The Mad Martindales (1942) as Julio Rigo
Hoppy Serves A Writ (1943) as Steve Jordan
Border Patrol (1943) as Don Enrique Perez
Buckskin Frontier (1943) a Surveyor
Leather Burners (1943) as Harrison Brooke
Colt Comrades (1943) as Lin Whitlock
So Proudly We Hail ! (1943) as Lt. John Summers
The Kansan (1943) as Jesse James
Bar 20 (1943) as Lin Bradley
Winged Victory (1944) as Lt. Thompson
Time To Kill (1945) as Frank
Airborne Lifeboat (1945) as Pilot
Champagne For Two (1947) as Jerry Malone
The Sainted Sisters (1948) as Sam Stokes
Jungle Goddess (1948) as Mike Patton
Thunder In The Pines (1948) as Jeff Collins
Jungle Jim (1948) as Bruce Edwards
The Mutineers (1949) as Thomas Nagle
Special Agent (1949) as Paul Devereaux
The Great Lover (1949) as Williams
Samson And Delilah (1949) as Wounded Messenger
The Adventures Of Sir Gallahad (1949) as Sir Gallahad
The Good Humor Man (1950) as Stuart Nagle
Superman And The Mole Men (1951) as Superman/Clark Kent
Bugles In The Afternoon (1952) as Lt. Smith
Rancho Notorious (1952) as Wilson
The Blue Gardenia (1953) as Police Capt. Sam Haynes
From Here To Eternity (1953) as Sgt. Mahlon Stark
Forever Female (1953) as George Courtland
Westward Ho The Wagons (1956) as James Stephen
George Reeves starred as Clark Kent/ Superman for six seasons on television from 1952 to 1958. Phyllis Coates was his Lois Lane for the first season. Noel Neill became Louis Lane for the second through the sixth season.
Reeves was married to Ellanora Needles from 1940 through 1950 but the marraige ended in divorce.
In real life George Reeves was a conservative.
He also made many tours as Superman and enjoyed meeting his young fans.
Reeves stood up for his friends. He defended Noel Neill in the year she took over the role of Lois Lane because the director was bullying her. He also stood up for Robert Shayne (Inspector Henderson) when he was accused of left wing sympathies.
Reeves role in the film From Here To Eternity was supposed to jump start his career again. Unfortunately most of it was cut from the final version of the film and he was not even listed in the credits.
George Reeves was supposedly to have committed suicide by shooting himself in July of 1959. This is one of Hollywood's unsolved mysteries.and much controversy still surrounds his death. His mother felt all along that he had been murdered.
His long time relationship with Toni Maddix, the wife of MGM executive Eddie Mannix, as well as a very jealous fiance Lenore Lemmon have also thrown an aura of mystery on his death.
Some strange facts relating to his death is that his friends who supposedly found Reeves' naked body on his bed waited 45 minutes before notifying the police.. There were additional bullet holes in the floor of his room and shell casings were found in unusual places. Also there were bruises found on Reeve's' body.
It's strange that most of his friends that met at Reeves' home that night were never seen again as a group.
Many of his friends and co-workers do not believe that Reeves committed suicide.
Hollywood Kryptonite by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schioenberger delves into the mystery of Reeves' death. It is a good book concerning this subject matter.
In addition to the above, there have been several books written about Reeves death. Check Amazon.com for the ones available.
There is a film entitled Hollywoodland which is about the subject of Reeves' death as well.
As you can see, I am a fan of Mr. Reeves. He is one of my "super" favorites , pardon the pun.
I do not believe personally that George Reeves committed suicide. There are too many unconventional facts regarding this case.
In addition to Reeves role as Superman on TV, I also enjoyed him in the films So Proudly We Hail, Gone With The Wind, From Here To Eternity, Jungle Jim, The Blue Gardenia, Dead Men Tell, Thunder In The Pines, Jungle Goddess and Hoppy Serves A Writ.
Louie The Movie Buff