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| Reeves as Superman |
Reeves died at the age of 45, from a gunshot wound to the head. He was found dead in his bedroom at 1:59 a.m. on June 16, 1959 in his modest home in Los Angeles’ Benedict Canyon. It was just 3 days prior to his marriage to a young socialite.
The cops ruled his death a suicide but others felt it was an accident or even murder.
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| Home on Benedict Drive |
Reeves was a personable and charming actor that was liked by most people who knew him. But it appears he had a darker side.
Those who support the theory he committed suicide point to the fact that by the late 1950s Reeves was having trouble finding work as an actor after his popular series ended. It appeared he was to be forever stereotyped as the caped crusader.
But this belief left out two other important aspects in Reeves life at the time of his death. He had just begun a career as a Hollywood television director and he had recently put his personal life in turmoil when he left his lover of several years—a woman 8 years his senior.
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| George Reeves with Toni Mannix |
His mistress, Toni Mannix had bought the Benedict Canyon home for him. She became extremely jealous when Reeves dumped her for a younger woman, Lenore Lemmon who he intended to marry.
Mannix, a former showgirl, was married to Eddie Mannix, a former MGM vice president who was in good with the cops and had connections to organized crime. Hence, the speculations that Reeves’s death may have been a murder that the cops conveniently covered up.
Some believe Mannix or even Lemmon murdered Reeves.
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| Lenore Lemmon |
To add to the confusion, Reeves state of mind at the time of his death was muddled. Lemmon told the cops one story—while other’s who attended a party she threw at the home—the night Reeves died– conflicted with her account of what happened.
George Reeves’s death today still remains an unsolved mystery. But what happened after his death has been well documented over the years.
For over a decade, Toni Mannix had trouble selling the home on Benedict Drive. It quickly gained a reputation of being haunted by George Reeves.
People who believe the murder theory point to this reason as to why his spirit lingers.
One young couple that rented the home were entertaining guests one evening in the living room when all of them heard noises coming from upstairs.
They followed these sounds to Reeve’s ex-bedroom, where his body was found. The room that they always kept neat was in complete disarray. The bed linens had been torn off the bed and clothes were strewn across the floor.
When this group returned to the living room they discovered that all the drinks that they had left on the coffee table had been moved to the kitchen.
Later this couple found their German shepherd barking furiously at the door to this bedroom. They watched as he cowered and slinked away with his tail between his legs. When they opened the door they found the bed had been moved across the room.
Early one summer morning, around 3:00 a.m., they both saw Reeves ghost in his ex-bedroom. He was wearing his Superman costume. They moved out of the home that same morning.
After this, other renters claimed to hear a single gunshot in the middle of the night as well as smelling gunpowder in the Reeve’s bedroom.
The young couple was not the only witnesses to encounter Reeve’s apparition. A film crew and actors making a documentary about Reeves in the home also saw him standing in his full Superman attire in his old bedroom.
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| Reeves bedroom window. |
At one point two sheriffs were called out to watch the Benedict Canyon home because there were so many complaints from neighbors. These reports included people hearing screaming, gunshots and seeing the lights go on and off in the home all in the middle of the night. The home was empty at the time.
These neighbors also reported seeing Reeves apparition standing on his front lawn.
Here is a brief video, hosted by Tony Curtis about George Reeve’s death and haunting.