George Reeves - Definition and Overview

George Bessolo Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer) (January 6, 1914–June 16, 1959) was an American actor, best known for playing the role of Superman on television in the 1950s.

Besides playing Superman on TV, he also had minor roles in a number of movies, including Gone With the Wind, and From Here to Eternity.

During World War II, Reeves enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps and appeared in war training films.

In the early morning hours of June 16 1959, three days before a planned wedding to Lenore Lemmon, he went to bed after a long night with guests. Shortly thereafter, a shot rang out, and he was found dead in his bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head. An official inquiry concluded that the death was suicide. However, some friends and associates disputed this explanation, and fans have speculated in the years since as to whether his death was actually a murder, and if so, at whose hand, or whether he faked his own death and disappeared.