GEORGE REEVES
Name: George Keefer Brewer
Born: 5 January 1914 Woolstock, Iowa
Died: 16 June 1959 Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
George Reeves (January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor, best
known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of
Superman and his mysterious death at the age of 45.
Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, the son of Don Brewer
and Helen Lescher. George was born five months into their marriage. They
separated soon afterward, and Helen moved back home to Galesburg, IL.
George's mother moved to California to stay with her sister. There Helen met and
then married Frank Bessolo. George's father remarried in 1925 to Helen Schultz
and had children with her. Don Brewer made no attempt to see his son George
again.
In 1927, Frank Bessolo adopted George as his own son, and the boy took on his
new stepfather's last name to become George Bessolo. Helen's marriage to
Frank lasted fifteen years and ended in divorce while George was away visiting
relatives. Helen told George that Frank had committed suicide. Reeves's cousin,
Catherine Chase, told biographer Jim Beaver that George did not know for several
years that Bessolo was still alive nor that he had been his stepfather and not
his birth father.
George began acting and singing in high school and continued performing on stage
as a student at Pasadena Junior College. He also boxed as a heavyweight in
amateur matches, until his mother Helen ordered him to stop, fearing his good
looks might be damaged. Accepted by the Pasadena Playhouse, Reeves had prominent
roles. His film career began in 1939 when he was cast as Stuart Tarleton (although
incorrectly listed as Brent Tarleton), one of Vivien Leigh's two suitors in Gone
with the Wind. It was a minor role, but he and Fred Crane, both in dyed bright
red hair as "the Tarleton Twins," were in the film's opening scenes. He was
contracted to Warner Bros. at the time, and the actor's professional name became
"George Reeves" and his GWTW screen credit reflects the change. He married
actress Ellanora Needles in 1940, but had no children with her during their nine-year
marriage.
He starred in a number of two-reel short subjects, and appeared in several B-pictures
(including two with Ronald Reagan) and three with James Cagney, Torrid Zone, The
Fighting 69th, and The Strawberry Blonde. Warners loaned him to producer
Alexander Korda to co-star with Merle Oberon in Lydia, a box-office failure.
Released from his Warners contract, he signed a contract at Twentieth Century
Fox, but was released after only a handful of films. He freelanced, appearing in
five Hopalong Cassidy westerns, before director Mark Sandrich cast Reeves as
Lieutenant John Summers in So Proudly We Hail! (1942), a war drama, opposite
Claudette Colbert, for Paramount Pictures. He won critical acclaim for the role
and garnered considerable publicity.
Reeves was drafted into the U.S. Army 17 months after Pearl Harbor.; In late
1943, he was transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces and assigned to the
Broadway show Winged Victory, produced by and for the Army Air Forces. A long
Broadway run followed, as well as a national tour and a movie version of the
play. Reeves was later transferred to the Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture
Unit, where he made training films. He looked forward to working with his So
Proudly We Hail! director Mark Sandrich again. Sandrich apparently felt that
Reeves had the potential to become a major star; however, Sandrich died while
Reeves was still in uniform. In later years, Reeves would ruefully recall the
impact Sandrich's death had on his career.
When Reeves returned for more film work, many movie studios were slowing down
their production schedules, while many production units had been shut down
completely. He took work where he could, including a pair of outdoor thrillers
with Ralph Byrd, and a Sam Katzman-produced serial, The Adventures of Sir
Galahad. These postwar pictures were not star vehicles; Reeves simply fit the
rugged requirements of the roles and, with his retentive memory for dialogue, he
could function well under rushed production conditions. In addition, he was able
to play against type and starred as a villainous gold hunter in a Johnny
Weismuller Jungle Jim film, which for a B-movie was an average success at the
box office.
In the autumn of 1949, Reeves (whose divorce had recently become final) decided
on a change and moved to New York City. While there, he performed on several
live television anthology programs, as well as on radio. Reeves returned to
Hollywood on April 10, 1951, specifically for a role in a Fritz Lang film,
Rancho Notorious. Meanwhile, DC Comics was planning an adaption of one of
their most famous characters.
Name: George Keefer Brewer
Born: 5 January 1914 Woolstock, Iowa
Died: 16 June 1959 Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
George Reeves (January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor, best
known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of
Superman and his mysterious death at the age of 45.
Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, the son of Don Brewer
and Helen Lescher. George was born five months into their marriage. They
separated soon afterward, and Helen moved back home to Galesburg, IL.
George's mother moved to California to stay with her sister. There Helen met and
then married Frank Bessolo. George's father remarried in 1925 to Helen Schultz
and had children with her. Don Brewer made no attempt to see his son George
again.
In 1927, Frank Bessolo adopted George as his own son, and the boy took on his
new stepfather's last name to become George Bessolo. Helen's marriage to
Frank lasted fifteen years and ended in divorce while George was away visiting
relatives. Helen told George that Frank had committed suicide. Reeves's cousin,
Catherine Chase, told biographer Jim Beaver that George did not know for several
years that Bessolo was still alive nor that he had been his stepfather and not
his birth father.
George began acting and singing in high school and continued performing on stage
as a student at Pasadena Junior College. He also boxed as a heavyweight in
amateur matches, until his mother Helen ordered him to stop, fearing his good
looks might be damaged. Accepted by the Pasadena Playhouse, Reeves had prominent
roles. His film career began in 1939 when he was cast as Stuart Tarleton (although
incorrectly listed as Brent Tarleton), one of Vivien Leigh's two suitors in Gone
with the Wind. It was a minor role, but he and Fred Crane, both in dyed bright
red hair as "the Tarleton Twins," were in the film's opening scenes. He was
contracted to Warner Bros. at the time, and the actor's professional name became
"George Reeves" and his GWTW screen credit reflects the change. He married
actress Ellanora Needles in 1940, but had no children with her during their nine-year
marriage.
He starred in a number of two-reel short subjects, and appeared in several B-pictures
(including two with Ronald Reagan) and three with James Cagney, Torrid Zone, The
Fighting 69th, and The Strawberry Blonde. Warners loaned him to producer
Alexander Korda to co-star with Merle Oberon in Lydia, a box-office failure.
Released from his Warners contract, he signed a contract at Twentieth Century
Fox, but was released after only a handful of films. He freelanced, appearing in
five Hopalong Cassidy westerns, before director Mark Sandrich cast Reeves as
Lieutenant John Summers in So Proudly We Hail! (1942), a war drama, opposite
Claudette Colbert, for Paramount Pictures. He won critical acclaim for the role
and garnered considerable publicity.
Reeves was drafted into the U.S. Army 17 months after Pearl Harbor.; In late
1943, he was transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces and assigned to the
Broadway show Winged Victory, produced by and for the Army Air Forces. A long
Broadway run followed, as well as a national tour and a movie version of the
play. Reeves was later transferred to the Army Air Forces' First Motion Picture
Unit, where he made training films. He looked forward to working with his So
Proudly We Hail! director Mark Sandrich again. Sandrich apparently felt that
Reeves had the potential to become a major star; however, Sandrich died while
Reeves was still in uniform. In later years, Reeves would ruefully recall the
impact Sandrich's death had on his career.
When Reeves returned for more film work, many movie studios were slowing down
their production schedules, while many production units had been shut down
completely. He took work where he could, including a pair of outdoor thrillers
with Ralph Byrd, and a Sam Katzman-produced serial, The Adventures of Sir
Galahad. These postwar pictures were not star vehicles; Reeves simply fit the
rugged requirements of the roles and, with his retentive memory for dialogue, he
could function well under rushed production conditions. In addition, he was able
to play against type and starred as a villainous gold hunter in a Johnny
Weismuller Jungle Jim film, which for a B-movie was an average success at the
box office.
In the autumn of 1949, Reeves (whose divorce had recently become final) decided
on a change and moved to New York City. While there, he performed on several
live television anthology programs, as well as on radio. Reeves returned to
Hollywood on April 10, 1951, specifically for a role in a Fritz Lang film,
Rancho Notorious. Meanwhile, DC Comics was planning an adaption of one of
their most famous characters.