George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer on January 5, 1914, in Iowa. His birthdate is often given as April 5, 1914, because he was born less than nine months after his parents' wedding. His mother, Helen, even told Reeves himself the April 5 date, and it wasn’t until he was an adult that he learned the truth. He was adopted by his stepfather, and his given name changed to “George Bessolo” before he took “George Reeves” as his stage name.
An amateur boxer and musician while growing up in Pasadena, California, Reeves also trained as an actor at the Pasedena Playhouse. It was this vocation that became his calling. He made his stage debut in 1935, and went on to appear in multiple productions at the Playhouse over the next eighteen years. One of his early theatrical performances caught the eye of a Hollywood talent scout, and in late 1938 he took the stage name of George Reeves, landing his first studio contract and film – the instant classic Gone with the Wind, in which he played Brent Tarleton.
The following years brought him more stage and film work, including starring opposite Claudette Colbert in 1943’s So Proudly We Hail!, directed by his mentor Mark Sandrich. He served in WWII and was married to actress Ellanora Needles for a decade. Reeves’ journey to his most famous role coincided with seismic changes in the movie world – and in the new medium of television. During and after WWII, the major movie studio system began to change because of competition from television; talent was less likely to be under seven-year contracts at the studios.
In 1950, without major studio work on the horizon, the actor agreed to play Clark Kent/Superman in a low-budget hourlong movie, Superman and the Mole-Men. Kirk Alyn, who had recently played the role(s) in a couple of movie serials, was priced out of a reprise for the feature, directed by Lee Sholem. Reeves, playing opposite Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane, made such a strong impression on Sholem and the producers during the 12-day shoot that another, more long-term, stint as Superman was proffered.
So it was that in 1951 (the same year MGM studio general manager Edgar [Eddie] Mannix married his longtime mistress Camille [Toni] Lanier)
Reeves signed a low-paying but multi-year contract to star in a new syndicated half-hour television series, Adventures of Superman. The actor well knew the mindset that television was considered inferior to feature films. Yet he quickly achieved the fame that had eluded him in films, though not the fortune.
The show (several episodes of which were directed by Sholem) was the first television program about the exploits of the character, who had been created for comic books in the 1930s and broke out as an international favorite at the end of that decade. The Man of Steel had then been portrayed on radio (from 1940 to 1951), in 17 animated shorts, and in the two movie serials. But with the television medium coming into its own, it was Reeves’ portrayal that most strongly imprinted the character on the world’s consciousness.
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