Hollywood mystery: Who killed Superman?

From our friends at Hero Complex:

Look past the bright spotlights and you'll notice that Hollywood history is drenched in scandal and haunted by heartbreak. Take the case of George Reeves, who died of a gunshot to the head 50 years ago last Tuesday at his home in Benedict Canyon.

It was reported and ruled a suicide, a heartbreaking end in light of the children around America who had cheered Reeves as make-believe bullets bounced off his chest on "Adventures of Superman" from 1952 through 1958. The actor's death, though, has taken on more grim layers through the years amid persistent arguments that the 45-year-old was actually a victim of murder.

There has been much written about this through the years and its a compelling riddle (the movies have weighed in as well, with the vastly underrated 2006 film "Hollywoodland.") Theories abound but, as with so many unsolved mysteries, dust and legend gather as the years pass and the truth becomes ever more elusive.

-- Geoff Boucher

Photo from the Los Angeles Times archives.

Comments

[Racicot]

I P.A'd for Hollywoodland's Allen Coulter -- great all 'round guy.

A recent book I read, 'A Cast of Killers' by Sidney Kirkpatrick, tells the story of Director King Vidor researching the case of William Desmond Taylor and then giving up after the discovering the real story of Taylor's death -- Los Angeles noir at its finest.

I highly recommend the book.