George Reeves

George Reeves (January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor.

 Biography 
Reeves was born with the name of George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, U.S., son of Don Brewer and Helen Lescher. He moved to California at a young age with his mother Helen. Reeves started acting in high school and then continued to serve on student productions. In 1943, 17 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Reeves enrolled in aviation until the end of World War II, putting his acting career on hold. 

After a successful career, Reeves died on June 16, 1959. However, the manner of death is controversial. He was officially found to have committed suicide, but some people think he was murdered or a shooting victim.Henderson, Jan Alan, Speeding Bullet, M. Bifulco, 1999; 

 Career 
He began his career playing small roles in short movies and movies as Ride, Cowboy, Ride (1939 short). In the classic movie starring Clark Gable, Gone with the Wind (1939), Reeves played of role Stuart Tarleton. In the 1940 Reeves continued to make appearances in movies such as Blood and Sand (1941) with Tyrone Power, So Proudly We Hail! (1943), Winged Victory (1944), Samson and Delilah (1949), and the Western starring by William Boyd Border Patrol (1943), Colt Comrades (1943), Bar 20 (1943). George Reeves got his first starring role in 1948 movie Jungle Goddess (1948), as Mike Patton, an explorer rescuing a young woman who has been kidnapped by an African tribe. He also accompanied Johnny Weissmuller in the Tarzan saga Jungle Jim (1948).

In the 1950s Reeves starred in several movies including Rancho Notorious (1952) with Marlene Dietrich - Arthur Kennedy and directed by Fritz Lang, Bugles in the Afternoon (1952) with Ray Milland, The Blue Gardenia (1953) by Fritz Lang, and without being listed in the credits had a role in Fred Zinnemann movie, From Here to Eternity (1953) with Burt Lancaster, Reeves as Sgt. Maylon Stark.

 Superman 
He started work in television in 1948, and in 1952 he was hired to play the double character of Superman and Clark Kent in Adventures of Superman. The series was a success without precedent in American television and made Reeves famous. George Reeves played Superman for 102 episodes broadcast between 1952 and 1958.

 Television work 
Reeves had guest appearances in television series such as Kraft Television Theatre (1949-1952), Believe It or Not (1950), The Ford Television Theatre (1952), Fireside Theatre (1952), and I Love Lucy (1957) playing Superman.

References

Other websites





Category:1914 births
Category:1959 deaths
Category:Actors from Iowa
Category:Actors who committed suicide
Category:American movie actors
Category:American television actors
Category:Suicides by firearm in the United States