I don't buy into the suicide story. The story of him offing himself does not add up. There were no fingerprints found on the gun, no powder burns were on George's head wound. No powder burns were on his hands. The shell to the bullet that killed him was found underneath his body... the gun on the floor was between his feet...the bullet that killed him was in the ceiling. Other bullet holes were in the floor. There were bruises on George's body. The police were not called for about thirty to forty-five minutes after Reeves' death. And George Reeves was not unable to find work, he was not broke, he was not a suicidal depressed person. The show was not going to be canceled, George Reeves had plenty of money, and his over all prospects were great. He was going to star in and direct thirteen of the twenty-six episodes of another season of
The Adventures of Superman in 1959. Scripts for a Fall, 1959 season of the
Adventures of Superman were being prepared in May, 1959. Character actor Pierre Watkin had been hired to play Perry White's brother while Mr. White was on an extended vacation (since John Hamilton/Perry White had actually died of a heart attack in October, 1958). George Reeves was going to star in and possibly direct a Superman movie called
Superman and the Secret Planet. The script for the movie was written in 1957 by Jackson Gillis.
http://www.supermanbook.com/filmstri..._id=0410260874
George was also going to direct a science fiction movie called
Return to Earth starring Phyllis Coates, he sent her a script, and he had signed to do the movie in Spain, for which he was to be paid $75,000 and the day before he died he bought $4,000 in travelers checks for the trip to Spain. He also had plans to direct an adaption of the 1954 novel
The Deserter by author Lowell Barrington.
http://www.jimnolt.com/deserter.htm
George, Noel Neill, Jack Larson and Gene LeBell, George's friend and personal trainer, were going to leave for Australia, George and Gene LeBell were going to put on a live Superman wrestling show to promote
The Adventures of Superman which had been sold to an Australian TV network from which George Reeves was to receive $20,000. He was also being paid $25,000 for exhibition boxing matches with Archie Moore. George Reeves was a former boxer and anxious to get into the ring with one of his boxing heroes. Speaking like the fan that he was, he said, "The Archie Moore fight will be the highlight of my life."
http://www.genelebell.com/stories.html
Gene LeBell was there at George's house the morning before George died, training George. Upon hearing of George's demise, he went to the house and the police unceremoniously threw him out. They said to him, "If you know what is good for you, you will get the hell out of here before we arrest you!" He is the one who saw, in George's bedroom where George was found dead, the throw rug had been moved and there were bullet holes in the floor, under the throw rug. He tripped over the rug and discovered the bullet holes. He has never believed George Reeves had killed himself, and with good reason.
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/t...alanhenderson1
And George didn't hate being Superman. A large painting of himself in the Superman costume dominated his living room wall. It is hard to believe that George Reeves would hang a life-size image if he hated the role. He just wanted some adult fans. He wanted to be respected and taken seriously. George Reeves told actor Milton Frome, "I only wish I knew whether or not I even have one fan who's an adult." Superman producer/director Tommy Carr, who also became a good friend of George's recalled in the book,
Superman Serial to Cereal, "George would have loved to be around now to see what's happening. He often told me, 'I wish I had fans other than screaming kids. Just once I'd like to get an adult to come up and say, 'Hey, I love what you're doing and I appreciate the work you've done.' But," adds Carr, "He never got that."
http://www.supermanbook.com/quoteGeo..._id=0205632909
And even though he wished he had some adult fans, he didn't neglect his kid fans. George Reeves was the national chairman of "The City Of Hope" Cancer research hospital and visited sick kids in hospitals and shook their hands and appeared on "The City Of Hope" Telethons on local L.A., California TV and in "The City Of Hope" parades and he raised money for the L.A., California division of United Cerebral Palsy and he appeared on UCP Telethons on local L.A., California TV and at Thanksgiving he would cook up a bunch of food, and cook up a bunch of turkeys and take it to underprivileged Hispanic people so that those people could have a holiday. George called himself "Honest George The People's Friend!" He truly was a hero in real life.
That's Superman.
George Reeves met Leonore Lemmon at Toots Shor's Restaurant in New York City in 1957. Leonore Lemmon was infamous in New York as the only woman ever tossed out of the Stork Club for fist-fighting. I believe George Reeves was murdered by Leonore Lemmon in 1959. They were seen arguing that night at the Scandia Restaurant and Paul's Steak House and at George's house about getting married. Merrill Sparks, was the piano player for Paul's Steak House that used to be at Burton Way and Doheney Drive in Los Angeles, and he said he saw George and Leonore come into the restaurant the night of his death and have dinner. After dinner Leonore was chatting up all the patrons of the bar, getting free drinks. George sat at the piano bar all by himself to listen to Sparks play. Sparks said during his break, which is around 9:30 p.m., he saw George and Leonore waiting for their car. Leonore was going on at George about getting married - which was one of her favorite subjects. According to Sparks, she was saying that she wanted to get married in Baja California. George just stood there quietly and put up with all of Leonore's shenanigans, and they got in the car and went to Reeves home.
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/t...alanhenderson2
Janet Bliss showed up and caught a glimpse of George just as she was about to knock on the door. It made her uncomfortable -- George walking around with his shirt off (which was all she could see through the window), having an argument with Leonore in front of everyone. She decided to skip this particular party, and she went home. This book excerpt is from The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine by E.J. Fleming.
He was trying to get away from Leonore Lemmon and he was ready to go back to work. Upset that George Reeves was backing out on her marriage plans, I believe Leonore Lemmon shot and killed him during the drunken argument that night and said it was a suicide. The police were not called for about thirty to forty-five minutes after Reeves' death, but Lemmon never explained why she waited so long to notify the authorities. Bill Bliss had told Millicent Trent that when after the shots rang out, Leonore came downstairs and said, “Tell them I was down here, tell them I was down here!”
http://www.glasshousepresents.com/Fred_Crane.htm
Leonore Lemmon claimed to know New York City gangster Frank Costello and another gangster named Joe Adonis and guys like that, she was like a mafia groupie, and this likely caused Bill Bliss and the other guests, whom were not George's friends, to cover for Leonore, shut up and not get involved.
George Reeves's body was washed and embalmed, on Leonore Lemmon's request, before a formal autopsy could be performed. Leonore Lemmon was also having an affair with a powerful lawyer named Ed Bennett Williams who represented mafia dons and this information was found in a book about Ed Bennett Williams called The Man to See, written by Evan Thomas.
Williams may have pulled a few strings and was able to have George immediately embalmed.
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/t...alanhenderson3
Edward Bennett Williams strongly advised Leonore not to speak to the press.
Leonore Lemmon attempted, without success, to claim a share of George Reeves's estate. Leonore Lemmon left California to New York the day after Reeves's death and never returned. Leonore Lemmon became an alcoholic, got fat, suffered from Dementia and died in 1989. The fact that her name began with L's like Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Lori Lemaris and Linda Lee/Supergirl is also really bizarre. Leonore Lemmon wasn't anything like those girls in Superman comic books.
These book excerpts are from Superman vs. Hollywood by Jake Rossen.
Here's a detailed chronology of George Reeves with a wealth of information by George Reeves expert Jim Nolt.
http://www.jimnolt.com/cal.htm
Jim Nolt also believes that Leonore Lemmon murdered George Reeves. Jim Hambrick, creator of the Superman Museum, believes that Leonore Lemmon murdered George Reeves, and many others do as well.
But you can't kill a legend. George Reeves is immortalized in 104 episodes of
The Adventures of Superman, and his appearance on
I Love Lucy. George Reeves lives on.
Much of Hollywoodland is fiction. Noel Neil said, "I didn't care for how my friend George Reeves was portrayed. The George Reeves they portrayed beards no resemblance to the George Reeves I worked with, cared about and knew. I didn't see any of George's wit, charm, warmth, humor, intelligence or charitable spirit of giving to others in that film. First and foremost, George truly cared about the welfare of children, and I didn't see that aspect in the film. George's always upbeat and always positive personality didn't come through here, either. He was pretty much the person you saw on the screen: caring, professional, and often very humorous. I worked with George on the show from 1953 to the end of the run, and we traveled the fair circuit together in 1957 for many weeks, so I knew George well, and he simply was not the depressed, suicidal drunkard that was presented in this film. It's a myth that George constantly felt typecast and had some sort of angst about being in the role. Not once did I ever hear George voice discontent about being Superman, and I believe he truly enjoyed his work; and he was too smart to let it guide who he was as a person and as a performer. He had a warm, multifaceted personality. It would have helped to show the real George as he truly was, and not primarily as this unrecognizable figure. He was far better than that, and those of us who truly knew him have said that, but it seems no one is listening. I have no doubt whatsoever that Ben Affleck is probably a good and honorable person. I can see that he tried very hard in the role. But it takes a great actor to portray another great actor, and Ben Affleck is no George Reeves. I think the film is about creating a product that sells tickets. It has little to do with giving George a fair shake. I saw him two days before his death and he talked about a couple of films he was going to be making, taking a tour of Australia, and directing most of the new 1959 episodes. George was enjoying life to the fullest. He was happy and almost gleeful. Further, there are just too many unexplained facets about his death that were never explained, such as the many extra bullet holes. You only hear about the four or five in the floor, but there were many others that were in the walls. I had a friend whose husband was later hired to repair the drywall in George's bedroom. He said the place was literally riddled with bullet holes."
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/t...ws/noel-neill2
