Suicide or Murder?

He would have turned 91 today. Actor George (Bessolo) Reeves was born January 5, 1914 and died June 16, 1959.

Reeves was best know for playing comic-book hero Superman on the 1950s TV series The Adventures of Superman. Before that he was working at the Pasadena Community Playhouse when he was cast as southern suitor Stuart Tarelton in the epic Gone With the Wind (1939, with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh). He appeared in over three dozen movies through the 1940s (including a bit part alongside Ronald Reagan in 1941's Knute Rockne, All-American), then hit it big as Superman on TV.

The Adventures of Superman aired from 1952 to 1957 and made Reeves a familiar face across America. He made his final film appearance in 1956, in the Disney feature Westward Ho The Wagons!, before killing himself in 1959.

Reeves' death is considered controversial by some, though. The actor apparently shot himself in the head during a drinking party at his own home, and police ruled the death a suicide. But nobody witnessed the shooting, and some fans feel that other evidence indicates Reeves was murdered.This Reeves was no relation by the way to 1950s star Steve Reeves (who played Hercules on-screen) or to actor Christopher Reeve , who later played Superman in feature films.