George Reeves, one of the first actors to portray Superman on screen, died in 1959 from a single gunshot wound to the head at the age of 45. Although the death was officially recorded as suicide, the case remains a subject of speculation and dispute to this day.
Official ruling and doubts
The death was officially ruled as suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but the absence of physical evidence, contradictory witness accounts and a turbulent personal life gave sceptics considerable grounds to dispute this conclusion. Reeves' friend Rory Calhoun said at the time: "No one in Hollywood believed the suicide story."
According to an LA Police Department report, the fatal shot allegedly rang out between 1:30am and 2am on June 16 at his home at 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive in Los Angeles. Reeves had arrived home at 11pm and retired to bed while his fiancée, Leonore Lemmon, invited writer Robert Condon and two other friends over, according to The Telegraph.
Conflicting evidence
In the early hours, Reeves came downstairs to ask the gathering to keep the noise down. Lemmon allegedly said: "He's going upstairs to shoot himself." Guests reportedly heard a noise from the bedroom but did not immediately contact the police, with Lemmon later claiming she was "only kidding" when she made the remarks.
When officers arrived, no fingerprints were discovered on the weapon, nor was any gunpowder residue found. Witnesses said they heard only a single shot, yet a total of three bullets fired from the gun were recovered. A shell casing found beneath his body was also seen as inconsistent with suicide. Following a medical coroner's report, the death was officially ruled as suicide and the case was never reopened.
Friends and family reject suicide
Noel Neill, his co-star from Adventures of Superman, remembered him as being "so full of life" and firmly rejected claims that he had been "depressed." Neill said: "I just saw George as someone so full of life, with so much going for him. 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."
Reeves' mother, Helen Bessolo, was adamant that her son had been murdered. She enlisted a lawyer to reopen the investigation and managed to secure a second autopsy. The subsequent examination revealed unexplained bruising on his head and body, yet her attorney ultimately accepted the suicide verdict.
Theories and later claims
Author Jim Nolt concluded that Lemmon allegedly killed Reeves by accident following a heated row over the noise her guest was making. Nolt told Unsolved Mysteries: "I think this made Leonore Lemmon very angry, that he treated her friend like that. She went upstairs and I think an argument started. I think George told her that he had no plans to marry her, and that she became very angry and pulled out a gun. And I don't think on purpose, but I think accidentally, shot George." Lemmon passed away in 1989.
A separate theory centres on Reeves' affair with Toni Mannix, the wife of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio manager, whose husband was fully aware of the relationship. Reeves ended the relationship in 1959, leaving her devastated. Some speculated this drove Toni to commit murder, while others pointed the finger at her husband Eddie, who allegedly had connections to the mob. Eddie died in August 1963, while Toni passed away in September 1983.
Fifteen years after Toni's death, publicist Edward Lozzi claimed he overheard her confessing to a priest that she had arranged Reeves' killing. Lozzi told the Los Angeles Times "she was absolutely terrified of going to hell." Phyllis Coates, who portrayed Lois Lane alongside Reeves, claimed that Toni contacted her at around 4:30 am on the night of Reeves' death, stating: "The boy is dead. He's been murdered," according to All That's Interesting.
