George Reeves

While growing up with my grandmother, Matilda Newberry, on Atherton Road in Flint, Michigan, I was a big fan of most of the programming we used to get on our old Capehart television during the 50's. Of course, most of the watching was done by the boarders she had in her home. It had 17 rooms and three floors, along with a huge basement.

There were sometimes as many as 20 boarders that she catered to on all three shifts of the day that worked for the nearby Fisher Body plant that supplied General Motors with bodies for Buick cars.

Most of the boarders knew me and were aware of the favorite programs that I enjoyed on the old black and white TV. Shows like Milton Berle, Jack Benny, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Sky King were well watched by all. One of my best liked was the Superman series that aired every week.

It was a story about an infant that came from a faraway planet called Krypton. He was sent away because the planet was to be destroyed by evil emperors that ran it. The rocket that carried the youth crashed at a farm area not far from a village called Smallville.

The Kent family adopted him and raised him as their own. They found out early on that he had super powers, which were useful in helping around the farm. Eventually, after losing his adopted parents, he went to Metropolis. where his dual identity of newspaper reporter and super crime fighter helped the police to combat crime in the big city.

The television series first aired in the early 50's, and the part of Superman was portrayed by actor George Bessolo, who took the professional name of George Reeves. He thought so much of his role that he started believing that he was, in fact, a Superman and had all the powers to go along with it.

Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa on January 5, 1914. His mother went through some troubled times and moved to the West Coast to raise her son. She met Frank Bessolo, and, in 1927, he adopted George and gave him his name. George began acting in 1939 and was soon contracted to Warner Brothers and given the name George Reeves.

In 1943, George was drafted into the Army and, some months later, was assigned to the Army Air Force Special Services, where he began to entertain troops. He continued to be involved in the film and entertainment industry until the middle of 1951.

In June 1951, Reeves was offered the role of Superman in a television series. He was initially reluctant to take the role because, like many actors of his time, he considered television to be unimportant and believed that few would see his work. He worked for low pay, even as the star, and was only paid during the weeks of production. The half-hour films were shot on tight schedules: at least two shows every six days.

According to various commentaries on the Adventures of Superman DVD sets, multiple scripts would be filmed simultaneously to take advantage of the standing sets, so all the "Perry White's office" scenes for three or four episodes would be shot the same day, all the various "apartment" scenes done consecutively, and so on.

George Reeves' career as Superman began with a film designed as both a theatrical B-picture and a pilot for the TV series, Superman and the Mole Men. Immediately after completing this short feature, Reeves and the crew began production of the first season's episodes, shot over 13 weeks during the summer of 1951. The series began airing during 1952-53, and Reeves was astonished when he became a national celebrity. In 1957, the struggling ABC Network picked up the show for national broadcast, which gave him and the rest of the cast even greater visibility.

The Superman cast had restrictive contracts preventing them from taking other acting jobs that might interfere with the series. The Superman schedule was brief (13 shows shot two per week, a total of seven weeks out of a year), but they all had a "30 Day Clause," which meant that the producers could demand their exclusive services for a new season on four weeks' notice. This prevented long-term employment on major films with long schedules, stage plays which might lead to a lengthy run, or other series work.

Reeves did not resent doing personal appearances as Superman, since these paid money beyond his meager salary, and his affection for young fans was genuine. However, small children often poked, punched, or kicked the "Man of Steel" to see if he really was invulnerable. Reeves nonetheless took his role model status seriously, avoiding cigarettes where children could see him, eventually quitting smoking altogether, and keeping his private life discreet.

Over the course of the 104 episodes, Reeves often showed gentlemanly behavior to his fellow actors. Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen, remembered that he enjoyed playing practical jokes on the crew and cast, as depicted during a scene in the biopic Hollywoodland. He insisted that his original Lois Lane, Phyllis Coates, be given equal billing in the credits in the first season. He also stood by Robert Shayne (who played Police Inspector William "Bill" Henderson) when Shayne was subpoenaed by FBI agents on the set of Superman. Shayne's political activism in the Screen Actors Guild in the 1940’s was used by his embittered ex-wife as an excuse to label him a communist. That statement was the furthest thing from the truth ever muttered. When Coates was replaced by Noel Neill (who had played Lois Lane in the Kirk Alyn serials), Reeves quietly defended her nervousness on her first day, when he felt that the director was being too harsh with her. On the other hand, he delighted in standing outside camera range, mugging at the other cast members to see whether he could break them up. By all accounts, there was a strong camaraderie among the principal actors.

After two seasons, Reeves expressed dissatisfaction with the one-dimensional role and the low salary. Now at 40 years old, he wished to quit the show and move on with his career. The producers of the show looked elsewhere for a new lead actor, allegedly contacting Kirk Alyn, the actor who had first portrayed Superman in the two original movie serials and who had initially refused to play the role on television. Reeves established his own production company and conceived a TV adventure series, Port of Entry, which would be shot on location in Hawaii and Mexico.

In 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. An often-repeated story suggests that he was upset when his scenes were cut as Sergeant Maylon Stark in the classic film From Here To Eternity after a preview audience kept yelling "There's Superman!" whenever he appeared on screen

Reeves continued to do the Superman parts until 1959, when he met his demise at his own hand. According to the Los Angeles Police Department report, between approximately 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. on June 16, 1959, George Reeves died of a gunshot wound to the head in the upstairs bedroom of his Benedict Canyon home. He was 45 years old.

According to all the witnesses, Lemmon (his intended) and Reeves had been dining and drinking earlier in the evening in the company of writer Condon, who was ghost-writing an autobiography of prizefighter Archie Moore. Reeves and Lemmon argued at the restaurant, and the trio returned home.

Contemporary 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. In any event, Reeves went to bed, but some time near midnight, an impromptu party began when Bliss and Carol Van Ronkel arrived. Reeves angrily came downstairs and complained about the noise.

After blowing off steam, he stayed with the guests for a while, had a drink, then retired upstairs again in a bad mood. The house guests later heard a single gunshot. Bliss ran into Reeves' bedroom and found George Reeves dead, lying across his bed, naked and face-up, his feet on the floor.

The headlines on the front page of the New York Post read, “TV's 'Superman' Kills Self.” The Man of Steel was no longer, and I had lost a boyhood idol. It was just 10 days until my 14th birthday.

I recently acquired a bunch of old television shows from the 50's on video and tape, and among them are many copies of the series that I enjoyed about the man from Krypton … Superman.

Rest in Peace, George, I'm still part of the world that still thinks that you could fly and do all the things you did on TV. You will always be my Superman.

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers

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