The death of George Reeves, one of the first actors to play Superman on screen, remains a mystery more than six decades later. He died at just 45 years old from a single gunshot wound to the head, officially ruled as suicide, but the circumstances have led to numerous alternative theories.
Official ruling and lingering doubts
Reeves' death was officially ruled as suicide by a gunshot wound, but the lack of physical evidence, conflicting witness statements and a difficult private life left skeptics with a wealth of evidence to question this story. Many hypothesised that he may have been accidentally shot by his fiancée, Leonore Lemmon, after a night of drinking, per Straight Dope. Another theory looks at Reeves' affair with Toni Mannix and thus the friction with her husband Eddie Mannix, a Hollywood producer.
Reeves died of a single gunshot wound to the head after an evening out with his fiancée, Lemmon, according to The Guardian. Returning home at 11pm, Reeves went to bed while Lemmon invited writer Robert Condon and two other friends over, according to The Telegraph. In the early hours of the morning, Reeves went downstairs to ask the party to keep the noise down. But then came Lemmon’s alleged, eerie words: “He’s going upstairs to shoot himself.”
Conflicting evidence and witness accounts
The fatal shot allegedly sounded between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. on June 16, at his 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive home in Los Angeles, according to a report by the LA Police Department. The guests reportedly heard a sound from the bedroom but didn't immediately call the police, and Lemmon later claimed that she was "only kidding" when she made the comments.
When authorities did arrive at the scene no fingerprints on the gun were found, nor was any gunpowder. The witnesses also said they only heard one shot, but a total of three bullets fired from the gun were found. There was also a shell under his body which was shown not to be consistent with a suicide. After a medical coroner's report, the death was ruled as a suicide and the case was never reopened.
Friends and family challenge the suicide theory
Noel Neill, his costar from Adventures of Superman, recalled him being "so full of life" and denied reports that he was "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." Neill flagged the "unexplained facets" around Reeves' death and questioned why there were so many things that "were never explained."
Reeves' mother, Helen Bessolo was convinced her son had been murdered. She hired an attorney to reinvestigate the death and succeeded in getting a second autopsy. The second procedure revealed that there were unexplained bruises on his head and body, but ultimately her attorney accepted the suicide explanation.
Alternative theories and alleged confessions
Author Jim Nolt, studied the mystery and concluded that Lemmon allegedly accidentally killed Reeves after they got into an argument over her guest’s noise levels. 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 died in 1989. The other theory regarding Reeves’ lover Toni, the wife of the manager of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio. Her husband knew of the relationship. Reeves ended his relationship with Toni in 1959 and Toni was in bits. Some even thought it drove Toni to murder, whilst others thought it was her husband Eddie, who allegedly had ties to the mob. Eddie died in August 1963, while Toni died in September 1983. Fifteen years after Toni died, publicist Edward Lozzi alleged that he overheard her confessing to a priest that she had Reeves killed. Lozzi told the Los Angeles Times "she was absolutely terrified of going to hell."
Even more strangely, Phyllis Coates, who played Lois Lane alongside Reeves in Adventures of Superman claimed Toni called her around 4:30 a.m. the night Reeves died and said: "The boy is dead. He’s been murdered," according to All That's Interesting.
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