HGB Ep. 526 - The Life and Afterlife of Superman, George Reeves

 Moment in Oddity - Convict Baseball (Suggested by: Chelsea Flowers)

Baseball is a popular sport with so many fans invested in how their team will perform and whether they will make it to the World Series. Back in 1911, there were only 16 major league baseball teams. In Wyoming, an avid fan of the game was Big Horn County Sheriff Felix Alston, whom the governor selected to be the new warden of Wyoming State Penitentiary. Alston decided to create his own baseball team with the inmates that were in his charge. The lineup consisted of a shortstop convicted of manslaughter, first baseman for rape, third baseman for grand larceny, a center fielder for forgery, second baseman for breaking and entering and a right fielder by the name of Joseph Seng who was convicted of first degree murder and was facing the hangman's noose. As shocking as it may be, this team of convicts was quite impressive on the baseball diamond. The Wyoming State Penitentiary All-Stars had the proper uniforms and looked like professional ball players in every sense. The team played their first game on July 18th in 1911, the same date that Joseph Seng was granted a stay of execution due to his appeal to the Wyoming Supreme Court. The team of convicts played the Rawlins Juniors with a win of 11-1 with Seng hitting 2 homeruns during the game. The game itself was held on prison grounds along with the next two games the All-Stars played against the Juniors. It was said that the outside team may have been intimidated by playing within the prison walls. The game was reported on in various newspapers with headlines like "Slayer Scores Home Runs". After 3 games of the Convict All-Stars beating the Rawlins Juniors, the fourth and final game was played outside of the prison walls. The house was packed and again, the convicts bested the Juniors with a final score of 15-10. This would be the final game for the Wyoming State Penitentiary All-Stars. Joseph Seng still had a stay appeal out with Governor Carey in hopes that his execution would be commuted. Despite his performance and success with the penitentiary's baseball team along with good behavior, Seng's stay of execution was denied and he was hung on May 24th, 1912. The sport of baseball is ingrained in much of American culture, but the thought of a penitentiary team beating and exceeding any state teams certainly is odd. 

This Month in History - Daytona 500m Inaugural Race

In the month of February, on the 22nd, in 1959, the inaugural Daytona 500 NASCAR race was held. It was the second race of the 1959 NASCAR Grand National Series season and was the first race to be held at the Daytona International Speedway. Previous Daytona races consisted of the Daytona Beach and Road Course where competitors would race on pavement and then the beach, returning to the pavement to finish the race. The Daytona Speedway is a race track which consists of a four turn superspeedway. The inaugural race boasted 41,921 spectators. Of the 59 cars that began the first race, 20 were convertibles. Many vehicles dropped out due to various issues. Initially Johnny Beauchamp was declared the winner but due to the photo finish, Lee Petty was ultimately declared the winner of the first Daytona 500.

The Life and Afterlife of Superman, George Reeves

Superman is a beloved comicbook hero. He's all about truth and justice. Clark Kent, his alter ego, is a lovable nerd. Filling his shoes isn't easy, but George Reeves managed to do it and he did it well. But not because his own life reflected the ideal that Superman exuded. Reeves' life was complicated. And it came to an abrupt end when he was just 45-years-old in 1959. The death of George Reeves is a controversial topic. The coroner’s report ruled that the final results indicated that Reeves had committed suicide. Many people do not agree with that assessment. Could this have been murder? And is that mystery possibly why George Reeves' spirit seems to be at unrest.

The Death of Superman was big news in 1992. Mainstream media covered the death of Superman in the DC comic book and people were shocked that the impossible had happened. How could Superman die? He was invincible. For those of us who grew up watching reruns of the original Superman series starring George Reeves and the various Superman movies starring Christopher Reeves, we knew it was possible for Superman to die. Both of the Reeves were forever associated with their roles as Superman. And both were cut down way too early. Comic book Superman was resurrected, but Christopher and George both moved on to whatever there is after this life. 

Life for George Reeves began on January 5, 1914. He was born George Keefer Brewer to Donald Carl Brewer and Helen Lescher. His mother Helen had become pregnant out of wedlock and she and Donald eloped. The marriage did not last long, ending shortly after George was born. Helen eventually moved to California and married a man named Frank Bessolo who adopted George when he was thirteen-years-old. That marriage lasted for 15 years, but Helen grew tired of it and left Frank while George was away visiting family. When George returned home, his mother told him that Frank had committed suicide, which was not true. Lying to George seemed to come easy for her. She not only lied about the divorce, but she even lied to him about his birth date, probably to conceal that she was pregnant before marriage.

George discovered acting in high school and really enjoyed performing. He also took up boxing and really enjoyed that as well, but his mother forced him to quit, so that his face would not be damaged. George attended Pasadena Junior College after high school and he continued acting there. He then studied acting at the Pasadena Community Playhouse where he met Ellanora Needles. The couple started dating and married on September 21, 1940. Ellanora stuck mostly to theater acting, but George wanted bigger things. In 1939, he got a bit part as one of the red-headed Tarleton twins who tried for Scarlett O'Hara's hand in "Gone with the Wind" and then he got the lead in a play at the Pasadena Playhouse that led to Warner Brothers offering him a contract. It was Warner Brothers that changed his name to George Reeves.

Old Hollywood was a hard place. Contracted actors did not have much freedom when it came to the roles they played. Reeves was very disappointed with the work offered to him by Warners Brothers. Most of the roles were in B films and forgettable. Warner Brothers and Reeves mutually agreed to dissolve his contract and he moved on to 20th Century Fox. Things weren't much better here and the studio released him after a few films, so George set off as a freelancer. His main desire was to make westerns and after a screen test with Harry Sherman, he was signed to make several Hopalong Cassidy films. Paramount Pictures then signed him to do two films a year. Making the war film "So Proudly We Hail!" inspired him to join the military. World War II had started and Reeves was drafted in 1943.

Reeves was assigned to a performance crew with the U.S. Army Air Forces and spent most of his time entertaining troops and making training films. After his time in the Army was up, he returned to Hollywood and continued to have small parts in films. He traveled to New York and tried radio for a while, but Hollywood always called him back. Television was starting to really take hold during this time and the film industry was feeling threatened. Most actors would find that if they started doing television work, they could kiss their film career goodbye. And this seems to have happened for George when he was cast as Superman. 

The Adventures of Superman TV series launched in 1952. This would be the first TV series to feature Superman. George Reeves was hired to play Clark Kent/Superman with Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane. Producer Robert L. Lippert, Director Lee Sholem and Scriptwriter Robert Maxwell worked together to make a 58-minute black-and-white film called "Superman and the Mole Men," which served as a pilot for the series. Production continued on the first season, but money ran out before anything was aired. Kellogg's had sponsored the Superman radio series, so they agreed to sponsor the TV series. Everything was back on and the first episode dropped in September. This wasn't the pilot. That would later be split into a two-parter and became the unofficial season one finale. The cast was stunned with how popular the series became. The series ran for six seasons and produced 104 episodes and burned into the collective American memory, "Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!"

This part would bring Reeves the fame he had been seeking and he even directed three episodes. A fondly remembered moment for George Reeves' Superman was his appearance on the "I Love Lucy" Show. This was a crossover episode titled “Lucy and Superman,” and it aired on January 14, 1957. Reeves adapted his character to the comedic setting perfectly. And yet, Reeves had real fears about what playing the character would do to his career. The show was catered to a younger audience, making leading man roles difficult to get. On top of that, the filming schedule was grueling and the stars were locked into the series, having to be available on a 30 day notice of a new season starting. This made it impossible to take any parts, if they were offered. Reeves referred to his Superman costume as a “monkey suit” and he was poorly paid, only receiving a small raise after threatening to leave after three seasons. Despite not being crazy about being Superman, George tried his best to be a good role model and gave up smoking.

Other areas of George's life didn't contribute to a squeaky-clean image. His love life was a mess and would lead to his ultimate demise and the reason why the Superman series would end in 1959. It's star would be dead. To lead us into the mysterious and tragic circumstances of his death, we first need to look back on the Hollywood of the 1950s. This time in Hollywood was post-World War II and the film industry was in decline. The studio contract system was on the verge of coming to an end as independent productions started gaining strength. Television had become a source of major competition. Families wanted to stay at home and watch shows together rather than head out to the movies. There were five "major" Hollywood studios, MGM, Paramount, Fox, Warner Brothers, and RKO, and the 1950s proved to be a difficult period as societal pressure forced them to change. One didn't make it through, RKO, and others were sold or changed management. This was all behind the scenes. In front the scenes were the actors and the studios were forever having to clean up the wreckage left behind by many of their top stars.

During Hollywood’s contract days, it was a practice of all studios to have men that they called “fixers.” Fixers took care of the scandals and other issues that contract players found themselves involved with. Fixers helped to beat criminal charges and to hide affairs and such. They kept the press quiet on certain matters. Eddie Mannix was MGM Studios fixer. He was a very powerful man in Hollywood. Mannix was an Irish Catholic guy from New Jersey. One of his early jobs was working as a bouncer at Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey and then he got involved with movie production and was hired by MGM Studios. By 1924, he was the main muscle for the studio, making sure that it kept its good public image. From 1924 to 1962, he covered up affairs, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, abortions, rapes, addictions and maybe even murder. Mannix and his crew were always on the scene of a crime involving an MGM star before the police. Mannix was a tough guy and not someone to mess around with. So messing around with his wife wouldn't be a good idea.

Toni Lanier was an actress and dancer who was one of the Ziegfeld Follies showgirls and famously known for her beautiful long legs. She was Eddie Mannix's second wife. The couple had married in 1951. The marriage was volatile and both Eddie and Toni had affairs. Toni’s most notorious affair was with George Reeves. She was eight years older than him and it apparently started before he was cast to play Superman. The affair was fairly public and Eddie seemed not to care as he was carrying on his own affair. George stayed in the relationship with Toni for several years, but finally broke it off in 1958 after meeting socialite Leonore Lemmon in New York. Toni was devastated and would not leave George alone. She took to stalking him and sitting outside his home and crying. This didn't keep George from asking Leonore to marry him. They were to be married in June of 1959, but that never happened because George died from a fatal gunshot on June 16th of that year. People claimed that Leonore was bad for George.

George Reeves had bought a home on Benedict Canyon Drive, north of Sunset Boulevard in the Beverly Hills area. He wasn't flush with cash, so many people believe that Toni Mannix either helped him with a downpayment or bought the house for him. The house cost around $12,000 and was a split level ranch house with George's bedroom on the second floor above the living room. The circumstances as to what happened on the evening of the 15th, going into the early morning hours of the 16th, are murky. Most narratives agree that Reeves had a few friends at his home: his fiancée Leonore Lemmon, neighbor Carol Van Ronkel, William Bliss and the writer Richard Condon. Condon and Van Ronkel were believed to be having an affair and Condon was staying as a guest at George's house. Leonore and George arrived home at 11pm after having dinners and drinks. The drinking continued at home and Leonore was fighting with George. He seemed to be getting cold feet about marrying her. She wasn't happy about the prospect of heading back to New York. She was 36 and feeling the pressure to get married and start a family. 

Reeves headed up to bed alone at midnight. Around 1am, he came back downstairs, probably to tell everybody to shut-up. He hung out for a while, but was very agitated and apologized to Condon about his foul mood and then he returned to his bedroom. Lemmon then announced, "He is going to shoot himself." The group could hear a drawer being opened upstairs and Lemmon said, "He is getting the gun out now and he is going to shoot himself." Shortly thereafter, a shot rang out and Bliss ran upstairs to find Reeves naked on the bed and dead with a bullet wound to his head. The group waited 45 minutes before calling the police, which has caused there to be suspicions as to what was going on during that time. Although the fact that they were all drunk probably had something to do with it.

The police and most people believe that Reeves committed suicide. He had been drinking and was depressed with the state of his life and his acting prospects. He could not shake the role of Superman and all independent projects he tried to start, never got off the ground because he could not find funding. George was found lying naked, face up on his bed with a gunshot wound to his head. His feet were on the floor and the gun was between them. The shell casing was underneath his body. The bullet was in the ceiling to the left of his head. The path indicated that Reeves probably leaned his head down towards the gun. The police spent a week investigating. Leonore broke the evidence seal on the house and took $4,000 in traveler's checks and took off to New York, never to return. So that left the scene contaminated. Much of the investigation was botched. The body was washed before the autopsy was conducted. The body was also not checked for gunpowder burns and the hands were never tested for gunpowder. There was no explanation for several bruises found on Reeves' face and chest. Multiple bullet holes were found in the house, particularly the floor of the master bedroom. There was a story that Leonore once shot a gun in the house. George may have done the same and sometimes people who are going to shoot themselves fire a practice shot a little while before.

Despite the official ruling of suicide, many people are not satisfied with that conclusion. George was dissatisfied, but was he suicidal? He left behind no note. And it's unusual for someone to kill themselves when they are naked. He never said anything about wanting to die. Why would he come downstairs and complain about noise and then just go upstairs and shoot himself? And let's not forget about Toni who was stalking George and very upset. She was married to THE Fixer. Had Eddie fixed his wife’s problem? Was he jealous that she was so hung up on George? Did she hire someone herself because she had been rejected? After all, the home George died in was bought for him by Toni. The Guardian reported in 2006, "Years later, another cast member, Phyllis Coates, who played Lois Lane, told Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, authors of Hollywood Kryptonite, an often speculative examination of the case, that she had received a very disturbing phone call at 4.30am on the morning of Reeves' death. It came from Toni Mannix, beside herself with anxiety. 'She was hyperventilating and ranting,' recalled Coates. 'She said, 'The boy is dead. He's been murdered.'" One story claims that on her deathbed, Toni confessed to a priest that she had had George killed. Although that seems like it would've been hard with a house full of witnesses. 

Leonore has also been looked at as a suspect. Her account of the evening was full of holes and some claim that she might have witnessed what happened or shot George herself. There may have been a fight with the gun involved and it accidentally went off. She also claimed that she never made the comments that seemed to detail Reeves' play-by-play suicide. Stories also claim that death threats had been received by George for months before his death. There is also the issue with the bullet casing being under Reeves' body although bullet casings can go flying around and perhaps the casing fell onto the bed before his body slumped over it. We’ll probably never know what happened for certain. Reeves was buried at Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena, California. 

George’s soul appears to be at unrest and still hanging out at his Benedict Canyon home. George’s full body apparition has been seen in the home and sometimes it is wearing his Superman costume and points at the ceiling. Strange lights appear in the home and the distant echo of a gunshot is heard. The smell of gunpowder seems to hang in the air. Police officers were once called out by neighbors when they claimed they heard screaming and gunshots. Neighbors claim to see the apparition on the front lawn at times. The house was used as a set in the 1980s and many of the cast and crew claimed to see the ghost for themselves when in the house.

Toni had inherited the house and she struggled for years to keep the place rented. One set of renters claimed that one evening while they were hosting a party, the room that had formerly been George’s bedroom had been torn apart. The sheets were stripped from the bed and clothes were everywhere. When they returned downstairs, all the drinks had been moved to the kitchen. On another occasion, the bed in the bedroom was moved across the floor. The couple’s dog would bark at something unseen and slink away. Noises continued to come from the bedroom and the couple finally moved out. A newlywed couple was thrilled to see that the house was for rent for a very reasonable price. Shortly after they moved in, they were awakened by the sound of a gunshot. A couple days later the smell of gunpowder hung in the air. These two things happened enough over the next couple of weeks that the couple broke their lease and left. Another couple moved out the same day they moved in after encountering the ghost of Reeves. And still another couple saw the ghost of Reeves in the nude and he was groaning.

Superman Curse

Did George Reeves commit suicide or was he murdered? Has this unsolved mystery led to his spirit being at unrest? Does George still haunt his home? That is for you to decide!