The Mysterious Death of the Original Man of Steel
In the early hours of June 16, 1959, Phyllis Coates, known for her role as Lois Lane on TV, received a disturbing phone call from Toni Mannix.
Mannix was in a state of distress, gasping that “the boy is dead.
He’s been murdered.”
Little did Coates know that the “boy” referred to none other than Superman himself, George Reeves.
Reeves had struck gold when he landed the iconic dual role of Clark Kent/Superman in the hit TV series, The Adventures of Superman.
The show garnered immense popularity and attracted large audiences with each episode.
Despite already having an impressive resume that included a role in the renowned 1939 film Gone With the Wind, Reeves initially hesitated to take on the role of Superman.
In those early days of television, it was seen as a less prestigious medium compared to film.
Reeves feared being typecast as a children’s actor.
Unfortunately, by the time of his death in 1959, he had been out of work for two years.
On the night of his death, Reeves was at home with his fiancée Lenore Lemmon and the writer Robert Condon, who was staying with them.
Around 1 a.m., two neighbors joined them, which led to a heated exchange between Reeves and his guests.
Lemmon, in a bizarre turn of events, began making macabre comments, stating that Reeves was going upstairs to shoot himself.
Shortly after, a sound was heard from upstairs, followed by Lemmon’s claim that he had opened a drawer to retrieve a gun.
Finally, a single gunshot rang out, confirming Lemmon’s earlier statement.
Upon arriving at the scene, the police were informed by Lemmon that she had only been joking with her strange remarks.
Reeves was found upstairs in his bed, with a Luger pistol between his feet and a bullet wound in his head.
The police classified the death as a suicide, although even at that time, there was an air of mystery surrounding the circumstances.
Reeves’ mother refused to accept the suicide ruling and enlisted the services of renowned Hollywood lawyer Jerry Giesler to investigate further.
Giesler requested a second autopsy, as the police had failed to check for gunshot residue on Reeves’ fingers or count the remaining bullets in the gun.
Additionally, there were unexplained bruises on Reeves’ body.
However, these leads were never pursued, and Giesler surprisingly withdrew from the case.
The sudden abandonment of the case by Giesler raised eyebrows, especially considering the substantial sum he had been paid.
Speculation arose that he may have been too close to discovering the truth.
In reality, George Reeves’ life diverged greatly from that of his heroic television persona.
He had recently been involved in an affair with a married woman, Toni Mannix, before ending the relationship for his high-society fiancée, leaving Mannix devastated.
Toni’s husband was Eddie Mannix, a notorious “fixer” at MGM during the golden age of studios.
It was his job to make stars’ problems disappear.
While the influence of the studios had diminished by the 1950s, it is possible that Eddie still held enough power to “fix” George Reeves at his wife’s request.
Another theory suggests that Toni took matters into her own hands and had her husband cover up the crime.
After all, she was the one who made the early morning call to Coates, before anyone outside of Reeves’ home could have known about his death.
Regardless of the plausibility of these theories, the true identity of the person responsible for ending the life of the Man of Steel is likely to remain a mystery.
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