Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries
Page 148
CAUSE: Reeve died of a heart attack after a pressure sore caused an infection that affected his heart in Northern Westchester Hospital, Mount Kisco, New York aged 52.
George Reeves
(GEORGE BREWER)
Born January 5, 1914
Died June 16, 1959
The Original Man of Steel. Long before Christopher Reeve took to wearing his underpants on the outside, Superman was played by George Reeves, a burly ex-boxer and wrestler who appeared in Gone With The Wind (opened on December 15, 1939). The Adventures Of Superman was one of the most popular programmes on television in Fifties America. Reeves had been born in Woolstock, Iowa. His career was interrupted by the Second World War. At the cessation of hostilities he found that he had lost momentum. Major roles were still going to the established stars like Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart while the newer upstarts like Gregory Peck and Burt Lancaster hogged the romantic leads. Reeves was reduced to appearing in children’s serials and playing opposite starlets during their screen tests. Although his friends knew Reeves was bitterly disappointed at being passed over for stardom, never once was he unprofessional and always did his best to put the starlets at ease for their big chance. In 1951 the producers of the Superman TV series began casting around for a new actor to don the mantle. The current incumbent, Kirk Alyn, wanted to do serious work on the New York stage and also wanted more money than the producers were prepared to pay. In late 1951 6́ 2˝ Reeves was sent along to audition by his agent. He had been preceded by more than 200 hopefuls but as soon as producer Robert Maxwell and director Tommy Carr saw Reeves they knew their search was at an end. Not only did Reeves look the part he was a good actor to boot. Despite Reeves’ muscular physique it was necessary to pad his costume with foam muscles. Over the next six years, Reeves played the title role in 104 episodes of the serial. To keep costs down each episode was shot in just two-and-a-half days. To escape continuity problems the characters wore the same costume in every scene. Off-set Reeves hated making personal appearances. He would always sign his real name for autograph hunters, never ‘Superman’ which must have been rather confusing for the young fans. One incident required all of his tact and patience. A boy pointed his father’s Luger pistol at Reeves because he wanted a souvenir bullet that had been flattened by the Man of Steel’s mighty chest. Reeves told the boy that although he obviously would survive others nearby might be hurt by the ricocheting slug. Reeves had no illusions about his work but if he felt anger he relied upon his wide circle of friends to remind him of his good fortune. His good fortune was being seen by more people in a week than most actors in a year. His financial remuneration from the series was $2,500 per week for the thirteen weeks the show was in production. However, he was paid no money for the other 39 weeks of the year and, thanks to Ronald Reagan, then president of the Screen Actors’ Guild, the cast earned no residuals. In 1949 Reeves had started an affair with Toni Mannix, the wife of the all-powerful MGM studio executive Eddie Mannix. He knew about his wife’s relationship with Superman but did nothing to stop it. The affair progressed until 1958 when Reeves met and fell for Leonore Lemmon. Thanks to Toni Mannix’s largesse, Reeves spent money whenever he felt like it making his home, 1579 Benedict Canyon Road, a regular drop-in for all sorts of characters. Reeves was sensible enough to make sure his hell-raising lifestyle was kept a secret from the ladies and gentlemen of the fourth estate. His career depended upon it. An arrest would have seen the series cancelled quicker than a producer could say charge sheet. However, Reeves’ drinking became more and more serious with the result that the crew would take lunch very late in the afternoon and then allow Reeves to sleep off the booze. During one off-season, Reeves appeared in the hit movie From Here To Eternity (opened August 5, 1953) which won Best Supporting Academy Awards for Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed. However, Reeves’ role was pared to virtually nothing when test audiences wondered aloud what Superman was doing in Hawaii. Following the cancellation of The Adventures Of Superman Reeves turned down the chance to star in a series about that square-jawed all-American hero Dick Tracy. He also rejected the opportunity of a nationwide tour on which, dressed as Superman, he would have sparred with boxer Archie Moore. The tour would have garnered Reeves $20,000 for just six weeks’ work. Like many actors Reeves wanted to direct and had been behind the camera for the last three episodes of The Adventures Of Superman. He had also bought the rights to two scripts, intending to direct and star in both himself. In May 1959 he was offered a feature role in a film to be made in Spain. Despite stories to the contrary Reeves could not have been happier and to add to his joy the producers of The Adventures Of Superman approached him about reprising his role, a job Reeves was happy to accept. Moreover, he was engaged to Leonore Lemmon and the happy couple was due to marry on 19 June 1959.
CAUSE: Three days beforehand, Reeves retired early only for his front doorbell to ring. According to the story that did the rounds at the time and for many years subsequently his fiancée answered the door to two friends, Carol von Ronkel and William Bliss. Reeves got up and went downstairs where he shouted at his chums to go away. A short while afterwards, he apologised for his uncharacteristic outburst and invited them in. The pals sat and chatted for a while until Reeves went upstairs. The talk continued until Lemmon suddenly said, “He’s going to shoot himself.” The other friends were puzzled, especially when they heard a drawer slide open. “He’s opening it to get a gun,” explained the future Mrs Reeves. Within seconds a shot rang out and William Bliss raced up the stairs to find a naked Reeves with blood oozing from his left temple. The official autopsy listed the cause of death as suicide although Reeves’ mother discounted this, having received a telephone call from the actor three days before his death in which she described his mood as “splendid”. Some of his colleagues also refused to believe the coroner’s verdict. Two unexplained bullet holes were discovered and there were some unexplained bruises on Reeves’ head. His mother hired the famous Hollywood lawyer Jerry Giesler to look into her son’s death, refusing to allow his cremation for three years. Was George Reeves’ death suicide? Was it a mistake, a dreadful blunder? Or, was it something far more sinister? It would take almost 40 years for the full truth to come to light. In October 1996 the truth was finally revealed. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Toni Mannix did not take the end of the affair lying down. Reeves began to receive silent telephone calls at all hours of the day and night. He eventually invested in one of Los Angeles’ first telephone answering machines, a large cumbersome device, to intercept the calls. On April 9, 1959 Reeves was involved in a car crash that could have killed him. Mysteriously, the brake lines on his Jaguar had been cut. Two months later, on June 12, 1959, Toni Mannix decided to kill what she loved. Her husband had a number of associates who were criminals or had underworld links. He kept their numbers under a glass lid on his desk. Toni went to the desk and retrieved a piece of paper and rang the number on it. Almost immediately, she regretted what she had done but there was no way to call off the hit. She knew that Reeves kept a Luger next to his bed because she had given him the weapon. The gunman was to quietly break in and shoot Reeves using his own weapon. If the gun could not be found, then the mission was to be abandoned. In her befuddled state Mannix believed that the world would accept that Reeves had killed himself if his own gun was the weapon used, or that Leonore Lemmon had done the foul deed. The hitman found Reeves’ Luger but Superman did not go to his grave quietly. There was a struggle (hence the bruises) and a shot was fired (one of the mysterious bullet holes) before Reeves was overpowered and murdered. In June 1989, six months before her death, Leonore Lemmon, who had become a prostitute to support herself, told a journalist what really happened on the fateful night. Carol von Ronkel did not arrive with William Bliss. She was already at the residence because she was in bed with the houseguest Bobby Condon, with whom she was having an affair. Bliss arrived alone because Lemmon had switched on the porch light, usually a sign that drinks were being served. As they spoke on the
porch the gunman slipped in through the back door and shot Reeves. Lemmon joked, “That’s just George shooting himself.” Bliss ran up the stairs to discover Reeves’ corpse. The commotion awakened the lovers and they came downstairs. With the help of madam Polly Adler, a friend of Condon, Carol von Ronkel was taken home and Lemmon’s friend, Gwen Dailey, came over. When the police arrived Dailey pretended to be Carol von Ronkel. Lawyer Jerry Giesler was warned off the case by various interested parties and he warned Reeves’ mother, Helen Bessolo, to drop the case. He died on January 1, 1962, some believe a mob murder victim. Eddie Mannix succumbed to his poor health on August 27, 1963. Toni Mannix died many years later, a sad recluse. Leonore Lemmon died on New Year’s Day 1990. Truth will out, although for nearly 40 years the world believed that TV’s Superman had killed himself.
FURTHER READING: Hollywood Kryptonite – Sam Kashner & Nancy Schoenberger (New York: St Martin’s Paperbacks, 1996).
Beryl Reid, OBE
Born June 17, 1919
Died October 13, 1996
Comedic foil. Hereford-born Beryl Reid was probably best known on television for her numerous appearances on comedies and dramas. After working as a shop assistant in Manchester, she began her showbiz career on stage in 1936 but it was playing naughty schoolgirl Monica on the radio show Educating Archie (1952–1956) that made her famous. Her first West End appearance came in April 1951 in revue but she also showed her dramatic side, playing the lesbian radio actress June Buckridge in The Killing Of Sister George on stage in London and New York and in the 1968 film. Her first film was the 1940 George Formby comedy Spare A Copper and that was followed by, among others, The Belles Of St Trinian’s as Miss Dawn, Two Way Stretch (1960), Inspector Clouseau (1968), Star! (1968), The Assassination Bureau (1969), Entertaining Mr Sloane (1970), No Sex Please, We’re British (1973), Joseph Andrews (1977) and Carry On Emmanuelle (1978) as Mrs Valentine. She won a BAFTA Best Actress award for her portrayal of Connie Sachs in Smiley’s People (1982). She was married and divorced twice.
CAUSE: She died of severe osteoarthritis and kidney failure at the Thames Valley Nuffield Hospital, Wrexham, Buckinghamshire. She was 77. She left £420,219.
Wally Reid
Born April 15, 1891
Died January 18, 1923
Tragic heartthrob. Born in St Louis, Missouri, William Wallace Reid was the son of actor Hal Reid (b. 1860, d. May 22, 1920) and began acting at the age of four. Reid grew up to be a tall, exceptionally handsome man. His film début occurred in The Phoenix (1910) for the Selig Company. In 1913 he married actress Dorothy Davenport (b. 1895, d. August 17, 1977) but he was constantly surrounded by women who, ignoring his marital status, flung themselves at him. One day he found six girls hidden in his garage. Another flew 3,000 miles from New York and bribed his dresser $10,000 to let her hide in Reid’s dressing room. By 1922 he was at the height of his popularity. He was also at the height of a drug addiction that was gradually killing him. Paramount found themselves between the proverbial rock and hard place. Reid earned them an absolute fortune but his drug habit was spiralling out of control. It began in 1920 while on location in New York for Forever (1921). He fell and hurt his head on a rock. The pain was excruciating and Reid was given morphine shots to ease his agony. Shooting continued. Away from his family for the first time, he fell into a ceaseless round of partying. His input of alcohol was more than Prohibition Era bootleg suppliers could keep up with. To overcome exhaustion on the set, Reid turned to morphine. There is strong evidence that the authorities were aware of Reid’s addiction and that his drugs were being delivered to him first class via the United States Postal Service. In 1922, in a desperate bid to break his habit, Reid went cold turkey. In fact, at the same time a secret enclave of movie executives met to discuss the drugs and sex scandals that were dogging the industry – actors, actresses and moguls. When Wally Reid came off drugs he fell into a deep depression. One day in early November 1922, Reid collapsed on the set. Finally, the public learned what was an open secret in Hollywood; Mrs Reid went public by telling the press about her husband’s drug problems. The public was furious but when the police tried to investigate the studios they found their efforts blocked by strong political pressure. The moguls had leaned on friendly politicians fearing disclosures would fan the fires of scandal and ruin Hollywood as the movie capital of the world.
CAUSE: Wally Reid died aged 31 in a Los Angeles asylum from heroin addiction. He was buried in Forest Lawn-Memorial Parks, 1712 South Glendale Avenue, Glendale, California 91209. “Before he dozed into the sleep from which he never awakened,” Dorothy Reid said, “Wally wanted the entire world to know he had won his fight against the drug habit. He died a martyr to prove he could kick the habit. Even though he is dead, I pray that his passing will accomplish a great purpose in helping to stamp out the horrors of narcotic peddling.” Almost 80 years later, things in Hollywood haven’t changed.
Karel Reisz
Born July 21, 1926
Died November 25, 2002
Sixties revolutionary. Born in Octava, Czechoslovakia, the son of a Jewish lawyer who died in Auschwitz along with his wife, Reisz came to England from Prague aged 12 as a refugee from the persecution of Jews in his Nazi-occupied country. He was educated at Leighton Park School, Reading, and then after seeing service in the Czech Royal Air Force during the Second World War he read chemistry at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and taught for two years in a north London school. He wrote for the magazine Sequence along with Gavin Lambert and Lindsay Anderson and all were highly critical of the British film industry. From Sequence was born the Free Cinema movement, whose leading lights were Reisz, Anderson and Tony Richardson. The principal ideas of Free Cinema were that film directors should have the opportunities for personal expression; and that films should reflect the problems and issues of contemporary life. Reisz became a leading light in the rebirth of the British cinema that occurred in the early Sixties. His film Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960), an adaptation of Alan Sillitoe’s novel of Midlands working-class life, starred Albert Finney as Arthur Seaton, a young factory worker, and was lauded by the critics. But not everyone was as accepting. Warwickshire County Council banned the film because of the (now tame) bedroom scenes but the production company refused to cut them. The film led to many of its ilk, such as A Taste Of Honey (1961) and A Kind Of Loving (1962). Reisz was a thorough worker and his films were planned meticulously. He preferred not to work on a film at all unless he could bring his sharp eye for detail to bear. Due entirely to this his output was less than prolific and he made only eight feature films over the next 30 years, the most popular being Isadora (1968) and The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981). In the Nineties Reisz became a successful stage director. In 1953 Reisz married Julia and was divorced ten years later, after three sons. In that same year he married the actress Betsy Blair (b. New York, December 11, 1923).