George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 â June 16, 1959) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series Adventures of Superman (1952â1958). His death at age 45 from a gunshot remains controversial. The official finding was suicide, but some believe that he was murdered or the victim of an accidental shooting.
Reeves started his acting career in 1939 as one of Scarlett O’Hara’s suitors in Gone with the Wind. He appeared in five Hopalong Cassidy westerns before being cast as Lieutenant John Summers opposite Claudette Colbert in So Proudly We Hail! (1942), a war drama for Paramount Pictures, which signed Reeves up for two films a year.
However, Reeves was inspired by So Proudly We Hail! to put his budding acting career on hold and enlist in the U.S. Army in early 1943. He was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces and performed in the USAAF’s Broadway show Winged Victory. The long Broadway run was followed by a national tour and a movie version. Reeves was then transferred to the Army Air Forces’ First Motion Picture Unit, where he made training films. He was released at the end of WW2.
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