Was the death of Superman actor George Reeves murder or a suicide?
George Reeves
George Reeves as Superman
CASE DETAILS
The gun had no fingerprints on it
Early one morning in June of 1959, Los Angeles police raced to a high priced Hollywood Hills home. Upstairs, they found the homeowner naked and sprawled across his bed. He was dead from a single gunshot wound to his right temple. The official ruling was suicide.
In the 1950s, millions of TV viewers knew actor George Reeves as Superman, the Man of Steel, both indestructible and invincible. Superman was a big hit and George was a big star. It was quite a leap for a guy who once dug septic tanks for a living.
Off camera, George Reeves was as much Romeo as Superman. He had a steady girlfriend named Toni Mannix, a former showgirl, eight years his senior. It was a classic younger man, older woman affair, but with a twist. She was rich, generous, and married. Her husband, Eddie Mannix, a former vice president at MGM, was a powerful force in Hollywood. According to writer and publisher Jim Nolt, Mannix actually encouraged his wife’s involvement with George Reeves:
“The relationship between George and Toni was a very open relationship. She took care of George very well. The car that he drove was bought by Toni and the house that he lived in was Toni’s house. But something happened in late ’58 that broke that relationship off.”
Reeves with Toni Mannix
Toni was devastated. But George soon hooked up with Lenore Lemmon, a twice-married café society girl. Jim Holt described Lenore as a lot younger and a lot wilder than Toni:
“She had a reputation, a bad reputation for fights in clubs in New York. I think George liked the excitement that he found with her.”
Although he always seemed the life of the party, George’s life was actually falling apart. The Superman TV show had been cancelled and the bills were stacking up. And then there was Lenore; she apparently wanted to get married and live in high style, something Jim Nolt never thought would happen:
“I think George Reeves was going through a mid-life crisis. There are reports that George was planning to marry Lenore Lemmon. I don’t think he was going to do that, that’s where I think an argument came up.”
Will this mystery ever be solved?
On the night of his death, George hosted a party at his house. By midnight, the guests had gone. Only George, Lenore, and writer Robert Condon were in the house when two of Lenore’s friends banged on the door, looking for a party. According to Jim Nolt, George abruptly dismissed the women then went upstairs to his bedroom:
“I think this made Lenore 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.”
The on-scene ruling was suicide. A pistol on the floor between George’s legs seemed to confirm it. But there were inconsistencies. Not a single fingerprint was found on the gun. The fatal bullet was lodged in the ceiling above the bed, yet, the shell casing was found underneath the body. Jim Nolt’s conclusion was not suicide, but murder:
“If George Reeves had committed suicide and held the gun to his head, the bullet casing would have been expelled away from his body, not in back of his body where he would have fallen on it. There were no powder burns on his hands, there were no powder burns on his head, which means that the gun was held far enough away from his head that there weren’t any powder burns. Somebody else pulled that trigger.”
But who was that somebody else? Lenore was Suspect #1. Suspect #2 was Eddie Mannix. According to writer Michael Hayde, word around town was that Mannix was angry at George for dumping his wife:
“I believe that Eddie Mannix, tired of listening to his wife grieve and obsess over George Reeves, decided that it was time to take some action. It was my understanding that George’s house was pretty much an open house, and I think it was relatively easy for Eddie Mannix to send someone over to the house during the course of a party that may have been going on, and Eddie Mannix had the guy killed.”
Jack Larson, who portrayed Jimmy Olsen on the Superman show, finds the Mannix theory incredible:
“That Eddie Mannix, who, by the end of the fifties was retiring, would endanger his life in the end of his life by having something nefarious done to George, is to my mind, ludicrous.”
Reeves biographer, Jim Beaver, agrees with Larson. He says the power burn evidence has been misinterpreted:
“The absence of powder burns raises a question in a lot of people’s minds because most people have a misconception about powder burns. They believe that powder burns happen when a weapon is placed up against the skin. That’s not the case. When the weapon is placed against the skin, the powder goes into the wound and does not burn the outside of the skin.”
According to the autopsy, the bullet entered George Reeves’ head about one inch above his right ear. It exited about an inch and 3/4 above the left ear and then lodged in the ceiling. Biographer Jim Beaver explains how the angle of the bullet suggested the gun’s position in relation to George’s head:
“If George had held the gun in the more comfortable and natural position, it would have ejected the shell directly behind him and onto the bed.”
As a fellow type-cast actor who suddenly found himself un-hireable, Jack Larson says he knows the kind of pain George must have been feeling at that time:
“Nobody wanted me to work at all. I don’t know what happened to George. I was depressed, and I accepted instantly that he had committed suicide.”
Writer Jim Nolt concludes that the evidence supports all three theories:
“I think there is evidence to support suicide. There is evidence to support a tragic accident. And there evidence to support murder. The only people who know how George Reeves died are no longer with us.”
Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season eight with Robert Stack and in season two with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu.
Claudio
I still watch Superman up to this date January 11, 2024. I refuse to believe that George reeves committed suicide either it was an accidental shooting or somebody deliberately murdered him. I just don’t know what kind of police officials they had back in 1959 that they did not get this, right?
Lisa Maccini, Szczepaniak
There is no doubt in my mind that Lenore Lemmon killed him.
She did it to my Grandfather, Jack Whittemore a very respectable Jazz Bookie who had lots of money.
My Grandmother passed away 6 weeks before his death.
Lenore tricked him into marrying her by getting him so intoxicated he didn’t even remember marrying her… She had sought out a Justice of the Peace and paid the doorman to be their witness. When they returned to my Grandfathers home on Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York after a long night of drinking there waiting in the lobby was the doorman and the Justice of the Peace.
I remember my Grandpa Jack calling my mother the next day telling her he didn’t recall the marrying Lenore but the Marriage Certificate seemed to prove that he did. He was pretty shaken up about it.
Around 2-3 weeks later, my Grandpa Jack passed away. He was found in his bathtub with a cut on his head which causing an aneurysm to burst.
Lenore Lemmon was a horrible nasty woman. She definitely killed both Reeves and Whittemore. Both murders left Unsolved.
BG
The guy who believes Eddie Mannix would not have risked his career to do this does not realize that Eddie Mannix was a fixer for MGM. A mobster who made rape cases go away. He had people killed. he was a mobster. Sam Giancana ruled that industry so while it’s not inconceivable for Leonore to have killed him, I don’t think that’s who she was because if would have negated all chances she had with George; as long as he was alive she still had a chance. I don’t think she was giving up. Some men say they don’t want to get married and later change their minds and she probably clung to that. TM had enough. Reeves was working in theater at the time, he had 200k. Not broke.
Julie
Murder!! A woman scorned or jealous ex.
police didn’t do their job or collect evidence case still open murder case opened till closed
Chase
No prints on the gun
Anonymous
I used an ouija board a long time ago. He told me he was paid a principal sum for a contract in Australia that he knew he couldn’t possibly perform. I don’t want to go over stigma. New laws prohibit that.
Shakeyra
I believe ll murder him and why didn’t the cops do anything about it
Robert Earl
When Someone Pours Alcohol Down Your Stomach Stages Crime Scene 45 Minutes Later.He Was Catholic,Sin,Even The Autopsy Said Above The Limit.Pure Blooded Murder.
MIKE
Women scorned kill one of them women did it… or had someone do it no fingerprints
shakeyra
i believe that toni mannix hired someone to kill george reeeves because he broke it off with her or lennore killed him but this man said toni mannix did it they all didnt care about george they use him and throw him away like trash he didnt kill himseft because a man that did the case said it was a homcide and i believe they i hope they rot in hell for what they died
Robbie Earle
T M Has confessed her involvement in the murder.She was scorned by the other woman’s L.L. affair with Reeves.TM She is the one who called him on phone to reconsider her relationship.That early morning she let herself in with the past key confronted George Reeves.Visited her home she gave George gave her gun she knew where earlier bullet holes on flooring from LL who used gun using as practical joke with shooting into flooring which was visual to the truth of a woman scorned.T M had an argument with George and shot him. She left the house in a car as a getaway.LL botched Crime Scene with 40 minutes to wait and confirm alibi so to spare with conflicting stories of staged murdered lovers cover-up.TM called to her past associates woke them up to inform her past lover was killed.LL broke into house broke crime Scene tape .Entered house stole travelers checks And used cast member junior bird boy to pass any suspect off her.Over the time Both woman we’re sorry for the murder they covered up. Case File Closed Murder. 2020
Mora
I believe it was murder.
antonio morano
i know what happened i have a novel called the book of lies that tells the story of superman and what happened to him
MEMIL
Still after so many years there’s open questions about the death of both Superman Reeve and Reeves. About Reeves there’s less mistery than real facts. It looks like he definitively died of reactions to antibiotica which caused missfunction to his heart and deadly feilure.
Regarding George Reeve, it will remain a mistery. But, considering that there was no powder remains on his skin, and also no fingerprints at all, the possibility of a murder turn (that than cleaned die fingerprints, or shoted with gloves) to be a fact. In the 50th and partly the 60hr the criminal research tecnology was still developing, so these aspects were already known but not seriusly considered. If George Reeve were found dead today in this condictions, the police wouldn’t ask what had happened, they would aks only who was the murder…
MISS P
One thing is certain. We will never know because everyone is long dead now. Leonore Lemon died in 1990.Toni Mannix died in 1983.Eddie Mannix died in 1964.As for the house guests. Robert Condon died in 1972.Carol Van Ronkle died in 1979 . And Bill Bliss in 1991.Unless some hard core lost documents can be found that reveal what really happened it is a cold case, and will remain that way. If only the walls and floors of his bedroom could talk this case would have solved long ago.
Bernard Short
I’ve watched this episode back on The Original Unsolved Mysteries Legends DVD Disc Set that featured this segment because I used to watch some of the original 50’s era Superman TV Series when they were playing it on TV in the 80’s even though I’am thinking that his case would never be solved until 2016 that morning when my Mother was watching a show on TV about George Reeve because I remember her telling me about an update on that Reeve’s case because she told me that he didn’t commit suicide because she told me that one of the 2 young women he was once married to was the original suspect involving the death of George Reeve because I was just watching Dennis Furina’s version of Unsolved Mysteries on Escape Channel but there was no announcement of an update on that version but if this is true chances are that this case should’ve been closed by now.
M&M
it was eddie
Ann
Christopher Reeve did die of cardiac arrest. His doctor believes it was an adverse reaction to an antibiotic he was taking to treat an infection.
jack
Christopher reeves did not die of heart failure. he died of an infection due to bed sores…goerge reeves died of murder..i believe that toni manix came there after the party and was there to kill them both but only found reeves,,argued for a time and nothing was resolved so she killed him..i think she ordered himto undress to humiliate him afterword even in death..i aslo believe somehow lenor was involved,but not sure how or why..im going to continue to reseach….
Dan
I originally though George Reeves died in a car accident. Case closed. When I heard that it was suicide, that is hardly the George Reeves that I know. I know for a fact that Christopher Reeve died of a heart attack from being paralyzed. However, as for George Reeves …. I think it will remain mysterious.
Ree Pauley
George Reeves got drunk at a party, then went upstairs, got a gun, and blew his brains out. But since suicide is an act of willful intent, and Reeves didn’t intend to die, it’s really difficult to classify this. I will go with “Accidental suicide”.
Robert Earle
Ree, George Reeves First Was Shot In Front Left Side, Second Shot Was Right Below Temple.Knife Cuts And Bruises.George Reeves Catholic.Sin You Value Life You Can Only Hear 1 Shot.Explanation Staged Crime Scene He Was Shot Trying To Escape Bedroom.He Usually Wore Pajamas To Bed.His Stomach Had No Food In System. Bull Dog You Can Sleep With My Wife,Once You Break Her Heart All Bets Off.Handler Bull Dog’s Wife Scorned Could No Longer Control George Reeves.He Was Eliminated By Double Indemnity By The System.
Robbie Earl
Dan, The Car Had The Hydraulic Fluids Drained From Car To Cause Accident.No Mystery Just Cold Blooded Murder.
Anonymous
Wow the laws have changed since 9 years ago. I w8sh I could go over the details. But there needs to be caution and consent.