George Reeves

George Reeves was born 5th January 1914, in the Woolstock city of Iowa, United States of America. He was born with the name, George Keefer Brewer. He is also known by a few other names, including George Bessolo, Steve Reeves, and Sgt. George Reeves. The actor is 6 feet 2 inches tall.

He was the son of Don Brewer and Helen Lescher. George never saw his father as his parents separated when he was just a few months old. His mother, Helen, got married to Frank Bessolo, and after 15 years of marriage, divorced him and lied to George that Frank had committed suicide. In 1940, Reeves tied the knot with Ellanora Needles, an actress. The wedding ceremony took place in the Beverly Hills of California’s Our Savior Church. Ellanora was his batch mate in college. However, the couple got divorced in 1950. He was also in a relationship with actress Toni Mannix, but eventually, the couple ended their relationship in 1958. George later got engaged to Leonore Lemmon, who was a society playgirl. The couple got married on 19 June 1958.

George is an alumnus of the Pasadena Junior College (now the Pasadena City College) in California. He was a student of acting and was also involved in the college theater society. He debuted in the American film cinema in 1939 with the movie, Gone with the Wind. Margaret Mitchell’s novel, Gone with the Wind, inspired this film. It was a Selznick International Pictures production and was directed by Victor Fleming. He was cast as a supporting actor and played the role of Stuart Tarleton. His performance in this film was well received.

He made short appearances in TV shows like The Clock, Actors Studio, Suspense, Believe It or Not, et al. In 1951, George did the TV series named, Superman and the Mole Men. He played the lead role in the movie. His character’s name was Clark Kent, aka Superman. This performance fetched him widespread popularity.

He was honored by DC Comics. On the 50th anniversary of the comic publisher, George was featured in the list, ‘Fifty Who Made DC Great’. He is the director of three episodes of the TV series, Adventure of Superman (1958). On 16th June 1959, the actor-director was found dead in his bedroom. He shot himself with a gun in the wee hours at around 1:45 am. It was a suicide. Failure in his career is considered to be the reason behind his suicide.