Pod Insights Conspiracy Theories The Superman Curse and the Death of George Reeves About this episode In the 1950s, Adventures of Superman dominated TV screens thanks to its star George Reeves. However, while the world loved him as Superman, George reportedly felt trapped in the role. According to the Hollywood rumor mill, the resulting depression drove him to die by suicide. But is this what really happened, or an apocryphal tale that covers up the truth – that Superman was murdered?
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Transcript 0:06 Speaker 00 It's 1951. Comic book writer Jerry Siegel paces his small, cramped apartment in anger. And despite creating one of the most successful superhero franchises in the world, he is living in poverty. All while the comic book company Detective Comics, also known as DC, is getting rich off his creation: Superman. Jerry, along with artist Joe Schuster, created The Man of Steel about 20 years ago. They received $130 for the first issue. At the time, it was a success story. They finally published their comic! But as part of the publishing deal, that one-time $130 paycheck
0:50 Speaker 00 also signed away ownership to DC. As Superman grows in popularity with toys, cartoons, and now live-action short films, DC is raking in the dough. And not giving any to Jerry and Joe. Jerry, fuming over his dwindling bank account, has had enough. He writes a letter to DC which reads: "As long as I live and afterwards, I shall haunt you and yours. Before God, I put a curse on you."
1:27 Speaker 00 Why imagine DC shrugs off the letter? Fighters can be so dramatic. But as the Superman franchise soars year after year, something odd happens. Tragedy strikes anyone who plays the last son of Krypton. Almost as if Jerry's curse took hold. The big screen Superman, Christopher Reeve, falls off a horse and is left paralyzed. Lee Quigley, who plays baby Superman, dies of an overdose at age 14.
2:02 Speaker 00 And we can't forget George Reeves from the 1952 TV series. He's the first live-action Superman to truly become an icon. And unfortunately, is thought to be the first to die from the Superman curse. Officially, his death is ruled as a suicide. But almost immediately, his friends and family question the story. Many believe that the Man of Steel was murdered. And unlike in a comic book, his killer gets away with it. Welcome to Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify podcast.
2:47 Speaker 00 I'm Carter Roy. New episodes come out every Wednesday. We would love to hear from you. So if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts. Or check us out on Instagram at the conspiracy pod. This episode contains discussions of suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, murder, animal abuse, and struggles with mental health. Consider this when deciding how and when you'll listen. If you or someone you know is struggling emotionally or feeling hopeless, visit spotify.com/resources. Stay with us. In 1953, the film From Here to Eternity wins Best Picture.
3:30 Speaker 00 It's a wartime drama set in Hawaii months before Pearl Harbor. Audiences can't get enough of Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra in the leading roles. But a legend about the movie suggests it wasn't always a winner. The story goes that before the movie's official release, a test audience bursts out laughing during an early cut of the film, even though it's a drama and it's always at one particular broad-shouldered actor. The character, Sergeant Malin Stark, is a tough military guy. So what's so funny? Well, they just can't take him seriously. All they can say is, "Hey, there's Superman."
4:14 Speaker 00 The G.I. is played by George Reeves. For the past year, he's been portraying the man of steel and his alter ego Clark Kent in TV's Adventures of Superman. Thirty-five million people watch bullets bounce off his chest each week. He's a household name, a literal hero to every kid in the nation, and unfortunately, a distracting presence in From Here to Eternity. Because of this, the studio reportedly cuts George's major role into essentially a brief cameo. This reportedly crushes George. It's a sign that his biggest fear is coming true.
4:57 Speaker 00 You see, George dreams of being a movie star. This was before prestige TV like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad. For actors in the golden age of Hollywood, it was the movies or nothing. Acting in anything else is seen as less than. They don't even have the option of becoming a handsome podcast host.
5:22 Speaker 00 Adventures of Superman runs from 1952 to 1958. George is internationally known, but some say he doesn't even care. As that test audience allegedly proved, no one sees him as anything more than, well, the guy in red underwear. Each job offer is a double-edged sword. "Oh, they want me to do a guest spot on I Love Lucy. Awesome. What's my role?" "Oh, it's a Superman cameo." "Disney wants me in a Western. Amazing." "Oh, they need me to grow a beard so no one recognizes me." Great. It's said that this all weighs on George, like kryptonite.
6:03 Speaker 00 However, there's one person in Hollywood who sees George as more than Superman. His girlfriend, a former dancer billed as "The Girl with the Million Dollar Legs", Toni Mannix. She's eight years older than George and basically bankrolls his life. A nice house in LA, a fancy car, anything he needs, Toni buys it for him. Thanks to her, he's living a lavish movie star life, even as a TV actor. And how does Toni afford to keep her man happy? Well, she happens to be married to an executive at MGM Studios.
6:46 Speaker 00 Eddie Manix. Now, if any showbiz folks heard someone sleeping with Eddie's wife, they'd pray for that man's safety. You do not want to mess with Eddie. His actual day-to-day work at MGM has less to do with filmmaking and more to do with covering up celebrities' crimes, or alleged crimes. He's good at what he does. As the studio's number-one fixer, Eddie's in charge of keeping MGM's reputation squeaky clean. If an actor does something that could make headlines and ruin movie sales, Eddie sweeps it under the rug. An actor hurts someone in a car wreck, Eddie scares them off from suing.
7:29 Speaker 00 An actress has an unexpected pregnancy out of wedlock, Eddie pressures them into an abortion. And if Eddie can't fix a problem, his mafia buddies do it for him. Depending on who you ask, Eddie isn't above murder, either. One time, a dead showgirl was found in his hotel room. She officially died by suicide, but people have their doubts. So, why would George even think about sleeping with this guy's wife? Well, Eddie and Tony secretly have an open marriage. In fact, Eddie loves George.
8:10 Speaker 00 He happily joins George and Tony's vacations, sometimes as a third wheel and sometimes with one of his own girlfriends. George and Tony's affair isn't some fling. They're sort of engaged. Years of heavy smoking and drinking have left Eddie with emphysema and persistent angina attacks. It's understood that once Eddie dies, George and Tony will get married.
8:39 Speaker 00 But in 1958, George and Toni's relationship starts going downhill. With Toni being older and paying for George's every whim, there's a bit of a Freudian, motherly thing going on. They even call each other Mama and The Boy. It's something that George seems to like, until one day when he's working out at home. Sweat trickles down his forehead and into his eyes, then Toni, now in her early 50s, approaches him. Through blurred vision, George sees her and thinks she's his actual mother.
9:20 Speaker 00 All of a sudden, he realizes that the once vibrant showgirl has aged into a striking resemblance of mom. Well, fair to say, George gets the ick. It's around this time that George goes to New York for a press junket. While Toni stays behind in LA, George goes bar hopping. He's enjoying a drink by himself at a club when he catches the eye of Lenore Lemon. Lenore is a New York socialite. At around 35 years old, she's a party girl with a penchant for fistfights and seducing rich men. So when she sees TV Superman, well, she has to introduce herself.
10:03 Speaker 00 Lenore's meeting some friends for dinner, so she arranges a late-night rendezvous. Couple of hours later, she arrives at George's hotel room, carrying champagne and chicken. Interesting move. And, well, it works. George is smitten. Once the junket's over, George wants to bring Lenore to LA and start a serious relationship. So he goes back home and dumps Toni. She's devastated. She thought they were going to get married. The heartbreak, however, quickly morphs into fury.
10:41 Speaker 00 Tony calls George's home at all hours of the night, even after Lenore moves in. She follows George whenever he leaves. She even reportedly kidnaps and puts down his beloved dog. The new couple takes out a restraining order against Tony, but it does nothing to stop her. And to make the situation even trickier, Tony is still paying the mortgage on George's house. This is all while he's wrapping up his fifth year playing Superman. By now, his name is truly synonymous with the role, and yet he thinks it's the bottom of the barrel. He's also drinking heavily, perhaps to cope with his career,
11:26 Speaker 00 the stress of Tony's harassment, and the death of his dog. According to actor and film historian Jim Beaver, the bottle causes George to voice his innermost thoughts, ones about suicide. Some say he even plays Russian roulette with blanks. If George's drinking worries those around him, you'd never know it. Lenore turns his home into a party house where the drinks never stop flowing. Over the course of seven months, their place becomes known as the Grand Central Station of Hollywood. If the porch light's on, anyone is free to come over.
12:06 Speaker 00 George often looks into his living room and realizes he doesn't know anyone there. It likely makes him reconsider Lenore's wild, free spirit. It's not as fun as it seemed in New York. And it all comes to a head on one infamous night. June 15, 1959. George and Lenore are out to dinner. They should be looking at each other all starry-eyed and in love. After all, they're already engaged. After dating for less than a year, and the wedding is in a couple of days. Well, that's what Lenore is telling people. If you ask George, he says, "You didn't hear it from me."
12:51 Speaker 00 He rarely, if ever, acknowledges this engagement. George may not be able to afford a wedding, even if he wants one. Adventures of Superman is currently on hiatus, and although Tony is still paying off the house, George no longer has access to her wallet. Some reports state that he's drowning in bills. Lenore may be disappointed that he's not the rich TV star she thought he was. This could be why the couple reportedly argued during dinner. Now, not that that's unusual. The two are fighting more and more lately, usually while drunk. Once they get home that evening, George goes to bed.
13:33 Speaker 00 Lenore can't sleep, so she goes downstairs, turns on the porch light, and pours herself a drink. She invites a friend of theirs, who is staying in their guest room, to drink with her. Then, two more visitors knock on the door. Answering the porch light's call, the party officially starts. Lenore and her friends are loud enough that around 1 a.m., George comes barreling downstairs. He yells at the guests to quiet down, he's trying to sleep. Lenore, the club-hopping brawler, stands her ground. How dare he yell at her guests? The two reportedly go at it for a bit, but then, things eventually cool down.
14:16 Speaker 00 George apologizes to everyone over yet another drink. After that, he heads back upstairs. The guests hear a drawer slide open up in his bedroom. Lenore then says something that will haunt her for the rest of her life. Something she means is a joke. He is getting the gun out now, and he is going to shoot himself. Then, Lenore's joke comes true. A single gunshot echoes throughout the house. According to some sources, Lenore commits to the bit and says, "I told you, he shot himself."
14:58 Speaker 00 Despite Lenore's flippant response, she is concerned enough to ask one of the guests to check on George. The partygoer rushes up the stairs. He finds a gun on the floor. And lying above it, sprawled out on the bed, is George's lifeless body. George Reeves, Superman, is dead.
15:23 Speaker 00 When police arrive, they see the gun on the floor. They hear the witnesses' stories. Seems like an open and shut case. They officially rule his death as a suicide. Lenora feels alone in the world as the police carry George's body out of the house. But she isn't alone, at least in her grief. George's 35 million viewers are in disbelief when the tragedy hits the newsstands. One report features a photo of a young boy wearing a Superman costume and holding a newspaper. The headline reads, "TV's Superman Out of Work Kills Self."
16:06 Speaker 00 And of course, there's George's friends and family. Many can't believe he'd die by suicide. Noelle Neal, George's co-star who played Lois Lane, says he was so full of life, happy and almost gleeful. She seemingly didn't know he was depressed. Depression is often a silent condition, after all. Then there's Phyllis Coates. She actually played Lois Lane in the first season of Adventures of Superman and remained close with George and Tony. On the night George dies, Phyllis gets a strange phone call at 4:30 a.m. On the other end is Tony. She tells Phyllis through tears that... "The boy is dead.
16:50 Speaker 00 He's been murdered." At that point, George has only been dead a couple of hours. The news isn't even public. So how does Tony know he died? And, hold on, murdered? The police said it was clearly a suicide. Unless Tony has inside knowledge of a cover-up.
17:17 Speaker 00 The news that TV's Superman, George Reeves, was depressed surprises friends and family. Now, it is totally possible that George was suffering privately, but his mother is convinced that there's more to the story, so much so that she hires Hollywood lawyer Jerry Geisler. We covered Jerry extensively in our episode about Lana Turner, so here's a quick bio. Jerry, much like Eddie, is a Hollywood fixer. He gets celebrity murderers off scot-free, once even after one confessed to the killing. He also got notorious mobster Bugsy Siegel's murder charge dismissed from court. There wasn't anyone that Jerry couldn't
18:01 Speaker 00 prove was innocent. For anyone listening to the audio version of this podcast, I was doing air quotes around innocent, big ones. The police say that George's case is an obvious suicide, but there's some strange details hitting the press. For one thing, the gun didn't have any fingerprints on it, not even George's. Jerry lasers in on this and aptly points out how many suicides clean their gun. He also orders another autopsy as the first one seemed wildly mishandled. The coroner washed and embalmed the body before inspecting
18:42 Speaker 00 it for foul play. The second autopsy notes that George is covered in bruises, something the original coroner didn't mention. This was especially odd, according to George's personal trainer. He saw George the morning before he died, and he wasn't bruised up at all. Where did those marks come from? Did George get into a fight, like with someone trying to kill him? The new autopsy also reports the biggest red flag from the initial investigation. There are no gunpowder burns on George's body, not even on his hands,
19:24 Speaker 00 which means that somebody else could have been holding the gun. Um, hello, what? I think the cops maybe should have noticed that? Isn't that kind of like what they do?
19:37 Speaker 00 With all these strange inconsistencies popping up, I'm sure George's mother is horrified, but hopeful. Now, maybe someone will actually investigate her son's death. Only, Jerry, her hotshot lawyer who gets everybody off, drops out of the case. And he urges her to forget the lawsuit. Jerry says, quote, "There are some dangerous people involved with her son's death." These people are so dangerous that, according to authors Sam Keschner and Nancy Schoenberger in their book on George's death, Jerry starts carrying a gun.
20:20 Speaker 00 Now, remember, Jerry's not easily shaken. His day job is representing mobsters and murderers. So who could have scared him so badly? Well, Eddie Mannix, for one. Eddie may have loved George, but that was before George broke Tony's heart. Now Eddie has to avenge his wife, like a gentleman. So, here's how the theory goes. Eddie Mannix orchestrates George's murder and covers it up as a suicide. I mean, in Eddie's world, paying mobsters to make scandals go away may be a romantic gesture.
21:02 Speaker 00 It could also explain why Jerry was scared badly enough to drop the high-profile case. If Eddie was behind George's death, it actually wouldn't be the first time he used suicide as a cover story. In 1932, MGM actress Jean Harlow was being accused of murdering her husband, Paul Byrne. That's bad press for the studio. So Eddie got reporters to say that Paul was so depressed about being impotent that he died by suicide.
21:35 Speaker 00 The death of Eddie's first wife, Bernice, is also suspicious. They divorced in 1937, and she was suing him for alimony. Four thousand dollars a month. That would be something like ninety grand today. Except, she died in a freak car accident. Officially, the car flipped over after veering off the road. But a private investigator found evidence that she'd been forced off the road by someone else. Did Eddie get his mafia buddies to whack his ex-wife? Well, there's no definite proof, but that doesn't stop people from talking. And George is probably wondering about it before his own demise.
22:18 Speaker 00 Especially after he narrowly escapes three car accidents, all within a couple of months. In the first, his car is almost crushed between a couple of trucks. The second is a fender bender. And then on April 9th, 1959, three months before his death, his brakes stop working. He drives right into a cement pole and his body catapults into the windshield. Thankfully, he survives. When mechanics inspect the wrecked car, they discover that it was all out of brake fluid. Did someone drain it? George feels, no, he knows, somebody is out for him.
23:01 Speaker 00 Oh, and remember how I said that the coroner washes George's body prematurely? Some believe that the funeral home is owned by Eddie. If true, he could have had the body cleaned early to cover up whatever he's done. Okay, now, maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves. Yes, the car accident thing is suspicious, but maybe George is a reckless driver. Plus, Eddie is not the fearful man he used to be the year George dies. His bad health has caught up to him. He's barely well enough to go to work. I mean, I guess he could still put a hit out on George. I imagine it's just a phone call to a hitman. I don't know how sketchy guys do things.
23:46 Speaker 00 However, even that scenario doesn't seem too likely. Days before George's death, Eddie has a serious heart episode. He's prescribed heavy drugs to deal with the pain. They leave him practically comatose, which makes it a little harder to call in a hit. But Tony still could. Through researching police records and the accounts of MGM insiders, authors Sam Kachner and Nancy Schoenberger propose an alternate theory about what happened to George, starting with the aftermath of his and Tony's breakup. Tony wants to punish George for leaving her.
24:29 Speaker 00 She tells her friends that she'll slit his throat. She even asks Phyllis Coats to help her pin George down so she could do it. Coats tells her that you can't kill something you love. Um, I'm sorry, but thousands of crimes of passion would suggest otherwise. So the theory goes like this. Eddie is watching TV, likely in a painkiller-induced trance. It gives Tony the perfect opportunity to go into his desk. That's where Eddie keeps certain important phone numbers. He got them from his friend, mob boss Mickey Cohen. Therefore, some guys Mickey calls the blondes,
25:11 Speaker 00 nicknamed after their California surfer boy haircuts. Tony dials the number and the plan is put into motion. It's the infamous night of George's death. A parked car keeps a watchful eye on George's house. The driver sees George and Lenore come home from their dinner. An hour or so later, the porch light comes on, signaling that it's party time. The blonde driver watches Lenore let people in. One of her guests stands at the door, talking to her for a long time, long enough for the blonde to swing by the back of the house unnoticed. Tony has given him a key to the back door. Now remember, it is technically her house.
25:53 Speaker 00 He lets himself in and sneaks up into George's bedroom while Lenore parties with her guests. The man sees George's gun resting on the dresser, right where he was told it would be. He grabs it and points it at the sleeping George, but then, George wakes up. The man falls down in shock, George attacks him, but the blonde picks himself up and fires the gun. The bullet misses and goes into the floor. George goes for the man again, but remember, he'd been drinking that night. His blood alcohol level was officially three times the legal limit. Thanks to that, and having just woken up, he's a bit slow. That could be why the blonde is able to subdue him and shoot him.
26:38 Speaker 00 The blonde then rushes out the bathroom window, leaving George's body on the bed. Well, neighbors do later say that they heard the fatal shot that night and a car driving off. The theory continues. Downstairs, Lenore's party comes to a halt. One of the guests rushes upstairs and confirms that George is dead. And Lenore panics. She's worried that she looks suspicious. Like George, she also liked to fire the gun for fun. Her fingerprints are probably on the handle. There was actually a bullet hole in the bedroom floor already from her playing with it days earlier.
27:20 Speaker 00 She has to make sure people know that she had no part in this shooting, so she instructs everyone on precisely what to tell the police. George died by suicide, depressed over the typecasting.
27:35 Speaker 00 If Tony really did orchestrate George's murder, then she probably wanted Lenore to look guilty. If Lenore goes down for the murder, then A, Tony gets away with it, and B, Tony gets revenge for both George dumping her and for Lenore being the other woman. A win-win. Lenore's suicide story is a small wrinkle in that plan, but Tony would still get to live her life without anyone knowing she killed George Reeves.
28:07 Speaker 00 That is, until she makes a deathbed confession. According to a friend of hers, Toni tells a priest that she and Eddie were behind the murder. The confession story is secondhand information, though. Who knows how accurate it is? The friend didn't reveal it until a 1999 TV interview. They could have just wanted their 15 minutes of fame. Unlike the 1950s, by the 1990s, being on TV was cool. Reportedly, Toni loves George for the rest of her days. Her final years are spent in a nursing home, watching Superman reruns, marveling over how handsome he was.
28:53 Speaker 00 And, what about Eddie? Well, if Eddie really wanted to kill George, it would have happened sooner. In his book, The Fixers, author E.J. Fleming states that it wouldn't have taken three car accidents and a fake suicide to get rid of George. Eddie got things done on the first try. So, say it wasn't Toni or Eddie who killed George. Who could it have been? The only other suspect? Lenore Lemon.
29:32 Speaker 00 It's George's final night, alive. He retreats upstairs after yelling at Lenore and her friends to keep it down. Lenore makes a grim, startling prediction: He is going to shoot himself. It's a tasteless joke that newspapers cling to, as the line appears in countless articles. Fans and friends alike wonder: If she knew he was going to die, then why didn't she stop him?
30:00 Speaker 00 These headlines must have been mortifying for Lenore. First, your fiance dies, then you're being raked over the coals in the press? That's rough. But if we put our daily Planet Reporter hats on, then the headline could also be making her sweat. If she's guilty of killing George, then she needs to get out of the spotlight. Lenore's actions surrounding George's death have always been a bit suspicious. It's important to note that there is no correct way to grieve, especially for an unexpected tragic death like this one. But it's also important to question everything while investigating,
30:42 Speaker 00 starting with what happened immediately before and after the infamous shooting. Now, like we mentioned, some say George and Lenore got into an argument over dinner on the night he died. It was possibly over the wedding, or over Tony's harassment. Either way, it sets the stage for an already tense night. And then when they get home, remember, George is trying to sleep, and Lenore throws a loud party, and he yells at everyone to quiet down. So, one theory goes that their argument doesn't end there. They don't make up over a drink before George dies. Instead, Lenore follows George back upstairs, and they get into a fight.
31:28 Speaker 00 Lenore's infamous temper kicks in, she grabs the gun. Maybe she has no intention of actually pulling the trigger. After all, George reportedly keeps blanks in the gun to play Russian roulette. Maybe she thinks it's safe to point it at him as an empty threat. Nevertheless, her finger squeezes the trigger, and George is shot.
31:52 Speaker 00 By a real bullet. Of course, the police don't find Lenore's fingerprints on the gun, but they don't find George's either. Supposedly, this is because the gun is well-oiled. Gun oils are used to, amongst other things, prevent guns from rusting. But would gun oil completely prevent fingerprints from appearing? Because this gun looks like it was freshly cleaned. And according to official records, Lenore and her guests don't call the police until 45 minutes after discovering George's body. And when the police do arrive, Lenore and her guests all have the same story. George was depressed about being typecast as Superman.
32:37 Speaker 00 They tell the police this before they are even asked about his mental state. Almost like they rehearsed it. As if they used those 45 minutes to get their stories straight. The story about George's depression over being typecast carries through the years. But there's actually a problem with that narrative, because George's career was actually picking back up. At the time of his death, he was being considered for a role in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. And that thing about the audience laughing when they saw him in From Here to Eternity, that may be an apocryphal legend.
33:22 Speaker 00 Sure, maybe some people were shocked to see Superman as an army captain. But according to the film's director, none of George's scenes were cut. His role was just never that big to begin with. One other thing, many say that Adventures of Superman is canceled the year George dies. But that's not true either. Before his death, the show is picked up for another season. And George is even going to direct some episodes, an opportunity he's very excited about. Going from actor to director could open all sorts of doors. So yes, George probably does have some frustration about finding roles outside of Superman,
34:05 Speaker 00 but the idea that it's ruining his life is likely an exaggeration. One that has been repeated for decades. Like the saying goes, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." And this legend could have all been born out of Lenore covering up the murder, which she continues to do 48 hours after George's death. Keep in mind that what I'm going to say next isn't just part of the Lenore killed him theory. As far as we can tell, this actually happens. Lenore and a friend go to the house. It's roped off by police tape. No problem, they just tear it down.
34:48 Speaker 00 Supposedly, Lenore wants to check in on their cat. Can't totally fault her for that. But she also pockets $4,000 worth of George's traveler's checks. Okay, sure, that's a lot of money to have lying around. And money's only good if you spend it. But then, her friend goes to George's room, strips the bed, and washes the bloodstained sheets. I'm sorry, what? Officially, the friend did this to spare Lenore from seeing them. But I'm sorry, hello, this is a crime scene? The two are caught when George's friend, the executor of his estate, enters the house.
35:29 Speaker 00 He kicks them out for trespassing and tampering with evidence. Lenore probably knows how suspicious this makes her look. Right after she leaves, she goes to the press. Talking to a New York Post reporter, she spins a tale about a nasty friend of George kicking her out of what was essentially her own house. She doesn't mention how she broke through the police tape, and she denies ever predicting George's death. She also tells the reporter that "the wife of a Hollywood executive was harassing them before George died." She doesn't name names, but the reporter knows about George and Tony's affair.
36:11 Speaker 00 It's a secret to the general public, but not to Hollywood insiders and reporters. Lenore goes on. She says that "the Hollywood system killed George."
36:23 Speaker 00 Perhaps she's talking metaphorically about typecasting, but when partnered with the harassment detail, many believe she's purposely pushing the suspicion onto the Mannixes. To finish things off, she adds some poetic irony to George's story. An executive had finally called and offered him a movie role. If Lenore has a lawyer, I can imagine them throwing their hands in the air about this. What is it? Was George depressed and died by suicide because he wasn't getting movie roles? Or was he getting movie roles and Tony killed him? Stick to one story, Lenore, please.
37:04 Speaker 00 The final nail in Lenore's suspicious coffin is that after talking to the reporter, she takes those traveler's checks and leaves LA. Luckily for Lenore, the police never reopen the case. Which I think is surprising when you look at all the evidence. The gun being cleaned, no gunpowder burns, people of interest who had a motive. If Lenore truly was the killer, she got away with it. The question is, how?
37:39 Speaker 00 Enter Eddie Mannix again.
37:44 Speaker 00 In his biography of Eddie, author E.J. Fleming believes that there's no way the cops don't inform the Mannixes of George's death. I mean, imagine you're a police officer discovering George Reeves's body. Yes, it looks like a suicide, but you still have to investigate every angle. You suddenly remember that George has a restraining order on Tony. She was harassing him. Now he's dead. You gotta check out that lead, even if it is just a formality. Plus, Eddie is super connected. He probably knows all of the officers in town from celebrity cover-ups.
38:27 Speaker 00 The police likely give him a heads up that there's a connection between a dead body and his wife. So, if Eddie gets that call...
38:37 Speaker 00 What's he supposed to do? He can't let his wife be a murder suspect. He also can't risk the press finding out about the manixes in George's arrangement. That could make Tony look bad, or even MGM. So he tells the police to not ask too many questions. Even if the crime scene and Lenore look suspicious, just... call it a suicide. Again, this is just a theory. We'll likely never know for sure if George was killed by Eddie, Tony, or Lenore. And the official story could also be true. There are those close to George, like the actor who played Jimmy Olsen, who believe it.
39:22 Speaker 00 George's death is often cited as the first and most mysterious example of the Superman curse. And, yes, Jerry Siegel really did curse DC and the Superman franchise, but he was a comic book writer, not a witch. As far as we know, anyway. Plus, Henry Cavill seems to be doing just fine, along with David Cornsweat, Tom Welling, and the countless other actors who've played the Man of Steel. Superman is a humongous franchise with thousands of people involved. With a sample pool that huge, tragedy is bound to strike someone. But the curse is also an example of how we cope with misfortune.
40:07 Speaker 00 We look for reasons, like mysterious circumstances, revenge, or hexes. It's what the grieving often do. Sometimes, it's easier to believe in a magical curse, or a conspiracy, over the fact that Superman, sadly, isn't invincible, after all.
40:33 Speaker 00 Thank you for listening to Conspiracy Theories. We're here with a new episode every Wednesday. Be sure to check us out on Instagram @TheConspiracyPod. If you're watching on Spotify, swipe up and give us your thoughts. Our sources for this episode include Hollywood Kryptonite: The Bulldog, The Lady, and The Death of Superman by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, and The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling, and The MGM Publicity Machine by E.J. Fleming. Until next time, remember, the truth isn't always the best story. And the official story isn't always the truth.
41:14 Speaker 00 This episode was written and researched by Brandon Rizzuto, edited by Miki Taylor, fact-checked by Sophie Kemp, and engineered, video-edited, and sound-designed by Alex Button. I'm your host, Carter Roy.
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