WEBVTT - Thinking Sideways: Death of George Reeves 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.920 This episode of Thinking Sideways is not brought you by 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:05.880 the linked attacks of the minds that restrict your ground 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:09.360 movement and the pinpoint missile attacks from the air. Instead, 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:15.920 it's brought you by us. We're having a meet up 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:21.160 on October two thousand and seventeen. It's going to be 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:25.040 at the Lucky Labrador Pub on killings Worth here in 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:29.720 Portland at six thirty pm. Go online, look up the directions, 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:32.600 go to our side or our Facebook and they'll be 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:34.440 post about it and you can R s v P. 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:37.480 But all are welcome, all ages and we will see 0:00:37.520 --> 0:01:01.200 you then. Second, hey, guys, welcome them to another episode 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:05.720 of Thinking Sideways. The podcast I Am Devon joined this 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:10.039 week by and Joe. Today we're going to talk about 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:14.880 mystery that Joe petitioned really really hard to call the 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:18.720 day Superman died. But I think we decided that was copyrighted. Yeah, 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:21.399 DC Comics did that in the nineties. I don't I 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:23.800 don't know that they can actually copyright there because I mean, 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:25.840 actually that that title was used for at least one 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:28.520 other essay that i've that was published and copyrighted also, 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:32.880 so it's copyrighted. So it's copyrighted and if you could 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:35.000 use it when somebody else had already used it, then 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:37.200 we can use it too. Well, we're gonna just call 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:41.280 this the death of George Reeves. Yeah, much safer. This 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:44.479 was also a listener suggestion. It was suggested by Clarissa 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:49.760 explains it all thanks joke about the TV show. Yeah, okay, no, 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:52.800 that's her name. Oh yeah, just kidding. I'm sorry. I'm 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:56.800 really sorry. You probably hate that joke, Clarissa, So thank 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:02.160 you for suggesting this mystery. On June sixteenth, nineteen fifty nine, 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:05.040 George Reeves died of a gunshot wound to the head 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:09.280 between one thirty and two a m. According to the 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:11.640 l A p. D. And, George Reeves is the first 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:17.120 man who played Superman on television. On television, Yeah, he was. 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.600 I think he was the first motion pick. There was 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:22.800 a motion picture before him. I thought, yeah, no, so 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:24.760 he's the first one on television. Well, no, I thought 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:28.480 he made it. He made the Moleman Superman movie before 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.560 the TV That was basically the pilot of the TV show. Yeah, 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:33.799 so he's saying somebody else, but that was the movie, 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.480 the Superman movie. Was there another Superman movie before that one? 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:40.320 I think there was, because he's not. Because so the 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:42.120 thing is is like, there's this thing that we're not 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:44.680 actually talking about here, which is called the Curse of Superman. 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:47.799 And I remember looking at that list and there were 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:52.160 people listed before him as having fallen prey to the curse. 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:55.800 So I think that there were other movies before that, 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.519 But I didn't think the character was that much older 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:01.000 than the actual TV show. I thought it was like 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:06.560 the fifties is when Superman was born, Superman fought Nazis. Anyways, 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:08.640 the reason that it's okay for us to not know 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:10.880 this is because this is not an episode about Superman, 0:03:11.160 --> 0:03:14.079 just an actor who played Superman. Can we not there's 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.440 an actor who played Superman that we probably shouldn't talk about, 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:21.280 which one was that it's just Ben Affleck because he 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:22.960 was in he was in a movie and he didn't 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:28.520 suffer the curse. Well everybody, not everybody who's played Superman 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:30.960 has suffered the Curse of Superman. Well, then that's a 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.639 crappy curse. Yeah, he didn't actually play Superman. That he 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:39.000 played a guy who played Superman called George Reeves. That's 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.600 how he escaped it. Yeah, he was one stepper moves Okay, 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:43.680 I'm sorry, Kevin, we've taken your way off track in 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.640 the first two minutes. Fine. Um. Officially, George Reeves committed 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:52.960 suicide on that fateful night of June six between one 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:54.920 am and two am from a gunshot into the head 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:58.600 to mind everyone, but a lot of people think that 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:02.600 he was actually murder herd and it's actually been heavily 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:07.240 speculated upon for many, many years. Almost sixty a long time, yeah, 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:13.760 almost half your age. Um. So the way we're gonna 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:17.599 do this is we're gonna um start by talking about 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:20.360 Reeves and his history, and then we're going to talk 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:23.039 about the events leading up to and then we're going 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:27.039 to talk about theories. Okay, that's good to me. Yeah. 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:31.000 So George Reeves was actually born George Keefer Brewer in 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:35.680 nineteen fourteen. His parents separated just after birth, and he 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.479 had very little contact with his father. Both his mother 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:43.400 and his father did remarry, and his stepmother basically like said, 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:45.760 we're not going to be a part of this kid's life. Bye. 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:51.360 But his mom married a guy named Frank Beslo, and 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:54.680 Reeves took the last name Besslo. He was adopted by 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:59.680 his stepfather. The marriage lasted about fifteen years, but his 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:04.320 there and stepfather separated apparently while Reeves was visiting some 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:09.599 family like somewhere else. It's super messed up, and instead 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:14.640 of telling Reeves what had happened, that she had gotten 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.839 another divorce and things weren't working out, blah blah, she 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:20.320 decided that it would be better to just tell Reeves 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:25.120 that his stepfather had committed suicide. It's super messed up. 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:28.840 And actually he apparently believed that his stepfather was dead 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:32.640 for like years. Um. I think this caused a bit 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:34.560 of a rift between him and his mother later. I 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:36.880 think it did. But I also think that this is 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:39.920 one of those things where if you believe during formative years, 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:42.640 believed that somebody who was really important to you committed suicide. 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:46.159 I think a lot of times psychologists say that helps 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.320 shape your brain for maybe not being particularly happy all 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:52.560 the time. I don't know. I'm not a psychologist. Caveat, 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:55.440 I'm not a doctor, but I do think it's always 0:05:55.440 --> 0:06:00.919 important to mention that when telling the story. Yeah, reeves 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:05.039 first big film was this little um indie production you 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:06.839 may or may not have heard of, called Gone with 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:10.679 the Wind. For years before that, he actually he started 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:12.880 acting in like middle school or something like that, and 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:16.360 then here pretty much. So when his step mom um 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:18.320 and his father, or when his mom and his dad 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:21.599 got a divorce and his mom moved to them to 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:24.760 l A to live with her sister, and so he 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:28.200 lived most of his life IMDb page. And he had 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:31.400 I think he had acting credits in like thirty five 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:35.279 or thirty nine. That was his first one. Yeah, he 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:37.880 had been acting for a long time, but yeah, it 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.920 was totally sexual extras and stuff like that. So his 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.440 first actual role was in Gone with the Wind. And 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:46.160 he also had a boxing career. I guess I heard 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.520 you guys knows broken like nine times, and uh yeah, 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:51.599 I think eventually decided to acting would be I think 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:54.880 he did, Yeah, I mean he actually he played Scarlett 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:57.279 O'Hara's love interest in Gone with the Wind. It was 0:06:57.279 --> 0:06:59.680 one of the first love interests. And I mean, you 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:04.480 know that's pretty big role except he looked yeah, well yes, 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.839 but if he had crazy crazy colored Yeah, they died 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.000 their hair red. He and another actor. What happened that 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:15.120 in those days was you would sign with a studio. 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:17.680 I mean, you've seen old movies. You know he works, right, 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:22.040 So Reeves signed with Warner Brothers. At that time, he 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:24.680 was Frank Beslo and then the studio gave him his 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:28.200 professional name quote unquote professional name. They changed your name 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.560 is something they thought people liked better. Yeah, so his 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:33.760 name became became George Reeves at that time. And I 0:07:33.800 --> 0:07:37.320 will say there were some really interesting naming situations that 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:39.440 happened back then, and we're going to talk about some 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:42.760 of those people. In fact, actually reading this particular thing 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:45.320 kind of feel like I'm trapped in a comic book 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:47.080 and some of the names that some of these people 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:50.000 have in this story. We'll get there, we'll get into 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:55.160 a speakeasy. Yeah. In June of nineteen fifty one, Reeves 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:58.280 was offered the role of Superman for a television show 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:02.240 called The Adventures of Superman and Joe. You're correct that 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:05.760 he was. He did portray Superman in uh, Supermoman and 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:09.640 Superman or whatever that one is called. Yeah, but that 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:13.040 was literally the studio produced it as a pilot to 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:17.640 the TV series. So he was cast for the Adventures 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:19.600 of Superman and they said, Okay, we're gonna do this 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.400 pilot and then it'll become this TV show. I got 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:24.440 to check and see if Superman in the Moment is 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:28.240 available on Netflix. I don't think it probably is. It 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.600 sounds like he really took his role as a role model. 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:35.280 You're welcome. Seriously, he was really, I mean, he really 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:37.880 was the face of Superman. I mean, there's this story 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.160 that you hear where this kid and this was not 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:42.840 how he died, but a kid once pulled a gun 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:47.760 on him because he thought he was actually Superman. He thought, yeah, 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:52.880 I bet kids were also walking and pushing push pins 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:56.800 into him. Yeah, because they all thought that he was 0:08:56.920 --> 0:09:01.760 actually Superman. They didn't understand the disconnect, which I mean, 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.080 I think you know, kids to this day still have 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.040 that problem. Well, but you gotta remember also, TV is 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.199 brand new, such a new concept, and when when you 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:12.480 grow up with television, it's a concept, you get it. 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.679 But when it's this brand new thing, like it really 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:20.920 is Superman. Wow. Yeah, I mean yeah, he actually you 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:23.360 know to the point where he um he was a 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.200 smoker because like everyone was a smoker back then, But 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:28.800 as soon as he became the face of Superman, he 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:31.920 never smoked when there were kids around or like people 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.840 were taking pictures of him, and eventually he stopped smoking. 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.800 He tried really hard to keep his private life really private, 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:40.640 although it didn't work out in his later years. But 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.920 and I will say, just because he was Superman does 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:47.720 not mean that he was actually making millions of dollars. Actually, 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:51.280 stuff didn't pay so good. He was basically broke, as 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:54.240 it turns out. And so and I can tell you why. 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:57.840 I mean, okay, not oh my god like pittance, right, 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:02.400 but for for a man of his fame, he was 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.760 really he didn't have very much money at all. The 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:08.200 reason was was that they weren't they weren't paying a 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:11.920 lot for the role itself. And they had this thing 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.880 called a four week clause or something like that in 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:18.840 his contract where basically, at any point the studio could 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:23.120 demand they start production on a new season of Adventures 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:31.040 of Superman four weeks before four weeks on any other projects. Yeah, 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:35.080 he couldn't. Well really, I mean at that point everything 0:10:35.120 --> 0:10:37.760 is kind of a long term project. Anything that's going 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:41.280 to pay you money. We're shooting schedule with a two 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:45.320 month buffer, so that's what four twelve, So that's a 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:47.560 five months out of the year. So he could take 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:52.840 a little two and three and four months assignments. He 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:55.320 could not guarantee he couldn't guarantee. Well, that was the thing. 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:58.360 He couldn't guarantee after that three or four month time 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:01.040 frame that he would be to hang around. So that's 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.360 why it was hard. No, not even three or four months. 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:05.840 They could. They could a month after they wrapped production 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:08.440 have said Okay, we're doing another one, and he would 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:11.200 have four weeks notice. And I mean they read that 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.520 everywhere and everybody makes it out, but listen to the 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:17.160 studio wasn't going to just whip out a season's worth 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:20.480 of scripts in no time flat like that. I think 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:22.480 that it's I really feel like that was made out 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:27.440 to be the original Superman TV show. It is totally 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.880 about ten minutes. I know, you could jump, But my 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:34.600 point is they had enough stuff going on that I 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:36.640 don't think that they were just going to immediately call 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.840 the cast back because it wasn't like they could put 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:43.320 them out on television until later on anyway. But it 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:46.280 does like that is overplayed, is all I'm getting. Yeah, 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:48.040 I mean it, but it does seem like it was 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.200 a really kind of hard situation for him to be in. 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:53.560 I think a lot of a lot of the whole 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:56.240 studio system I think really trapped a lot of actors, 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.560 a lot of were jerked around and not really paid 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:01.520 all that well, all that well really, yeah, he's not 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:04.520 the only one, true, but he apparently was also getting 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.800 paid for reruns. Yeah, but not I mean not, I 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:09.480 mean he was getting money from it. Again, I'm not 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:12.640 saying he was making huge amounts of money. You know, 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:16.280 that was longer he did at the more sustaining cash 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:20.280 that turned into for a while. Yeah. And then as 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:24.120 far as his personal life goes, Reeves was married for 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:27.719 ten years early in his life before he kind of 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:30.760 made it into the Superman. Yeah, pretty much before he 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:32.839 met Superman. He was he was married for ten years, 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.240 and then he had an eight year relationship with a 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:38.600 show girl and then ended that. And at the time 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:42.880 of his death, he was maybe engaged, probably engaged to 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:48.640 a woman named Lenore Lennon, one of those names Lenor Lemon. 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:51.440 That's why I said it's like being in a comic book. Yeah, 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:53.800 I'm not sure she was if they actually were engaged, 0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:56.240 or she just made that up all she I don't 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:58.680 think it was after the fact. I think the sense 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:02.000 was she had been going around telling people that they 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:05.080 were going to Spain to Elope On June nineteen of 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:09.440 fifty nine, three days after he died. They were said 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:13.040 to alope, I have not seen anywhere that he was 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:16.320 also saying, yeah, we're going to Elope blow blah blah. 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:19.280 You know, but the senses that they he at least 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:24.160 tolerated her telling people that maybe, yeah, maybe maybe it's possible. 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:26.280 We'll and we'll get into that a little bit. Now 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:29.920 we're we're solidly into the events leading up to phase 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:34.040 you guys ready, yeah, okay, al right, So, as mentioned, 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:37.760 there are some really colorfully named characters here, and those 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:40.600 are These are all the people that were present on 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:43.720 the night of his death. I'm just gonna tell you, yeah, 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.440 kind of like who was who we're going to be 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:48.720 talking about. I just want to get the names and 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:53.080 their relation. You were doing like cast characters. Then we're 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.560 going to do events leading up to Okay, all right, 0:13:56.880 --> 0:14:00.559 So Leonora Lemon, the fiance or maybe not, we're just 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:05.840 gonna call the fiance. Was there William Bliss who was Yeah, 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:09.600 he's a heating engineer who lived like down the street 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:13.960 from So I mean, that's a great great example of 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:16.800 how maybe not rich Reeves was right. He was living 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:19.960 close to like a heating engineer, not necessarily like, well, 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:23.120 he lived in a fairly modest little house. Definitely. Yeah, 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:28.600 but so Billy Bliss was also there. And nobody's quite 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:33.400 sure why Billy Bliss was present. But a man by 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:37.520 the name of Robert Cott Condon, thank you. I keep 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.480 wanting to say Condon, but that's not right Condon. And 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:42.680 he was a writer who was writing a story about 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:46.280 a famous boxer who happened to be loosely connected to Reeves. 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:50.040 And then um, he was staying with Reeves at the time, 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:56.080 and um, Karen Carol van Ronkle's great name. She lived 0:14:56.080 --> 0:15:00.440 a few blocks away with her husband, screenwriter Rip Van Ronkle, 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:07.720 which is like what jerk at the studio was like, Okay, yeah, no, 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:09.520 we have your professional name for you. Are you ready. 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:14.440 It's it's Ripped van Wonkele. You're ready. Yeah. He might 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:16.520 have been born like, you know, Fred or something like that, 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:18.680 and he just picked up the nickname Ripped van Ronkle. 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:23.640 I don't know. Carol van Ronkele apparently was also having 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:27.720 an affair with Condon, the writer. According to this group 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:31.560 previously colorfully named group of people, Lemon and Reeves had 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:34.440 gone to dinner with Condon, and all of the accounts 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:38.160 that I have read are very sure to mention that 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:41.200 they were also drinking a lot. They and they. It 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.640 sounds like this group of people was they did drink 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.320 a lot, but it's always they went out to dinner 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:50.440 and drank. Reeves and Lemon had an argument at the 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:53.480 restaurant in front of Condon, and then the three returned home. 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:56.720 Maybe it was wait, you've been telling people were yeah, 0:15:57.040 --> 0:16:00.200 Maybe it was wait. Probably Condon was like, are you 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:02.280 excited to go to Spain? And He's like, what for? 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:07.840 What do you mean we're going to Spain. Later, during 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:12.440 an interview for Reeves's biography, however, Lemon actually said that 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.360 she and Reeves had gone to a wrestling match that night. 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:20.360 It sounds like reeves is friend Jean LaBelle, who was 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.960 a famous wrestler at the time, was wrestling that night 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:29.280 in town. But LaBelle said that he saw Reeves at 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:32.880 his workout session earlier that day, but he didn't ever 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.960 remember seeing Reeves after the fact. So there's a bit 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:37.960 of a conflict of stories there, so we can't pin 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:41.000 it down not totally. Yeah, that was a wrestling pun. 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:47.720 Oh see, I don't know restling this guys good. So 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:52.640 either way, Reeves and Lemon and Condon end up back 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:56.200 at Reeves's house. I should be mentioned Lemon was living 0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:58.800 with Reeves at the time, but it wasn't she had 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:00.480 no ownership of the house or any thing like that. 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:05.520 Somewhere near midnight, after Reeves had gone to bed after 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:09.760 a heavy night of drinking, an impromptu party started downstairs 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:13.680 when Bliss and Carol Van Ronkle, who we're going to 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:16.320 call Van Ronkle from here on out because Rip van 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.600 Ronkle isn't actually part of this story. I just like 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:23.080 saying his name. So Bliss and Van Ronkle arrive at 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:28.960 the Reeves home around midnight. So it's, um, these people 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.480 are just like I guess they're just like all late 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:33.760 night parties or something. Yeah, typically I don't just go 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:37.080 dropping in on people's houses at midnight. I don't really either, 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:39.800 But so it's they're the feeling. These people drank together 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:43.160 on a semi regular basis and probably said, hey, you know, 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:46.440 it's a little after twelve, she'll be up. Let's over 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:48.600 to see the lights run. If you are, we'll we'll 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:51.920 walk in and we'll have some drinks. It sounds like 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.640 they were maybe making a bit of a ruckus, and 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:58.960 so Reeves kind of storms downstairs and complains about the noise. 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.760 Apparent this is all according to the four people who 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:06.560 were drinking heavily there that night. Um Reeves comes down 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:08.520 and he's angry about the noise and why are you 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:12.240 having this party? And Lemon kind of says, well, um, 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:14.120 you know, we're just I don't know, we're just partying, 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.480 and Reeves somehow calms down and decides to stay and 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:21.879 drink a little more. But after his like one drink, 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:25.479 he apparently pops back right into a bad mood and 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:30.360 storms back upstairs. Um, which I actually identified deeply with, 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:34.359 woke you up? No, I just like being a woken 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:36.080 up in the middle of the night. I'll you know, 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:39.040 I'm like hate everything, and then I'm like, all right, fine, 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:42.959 I guess I'm here. No, I hated it. The work 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:47.280 like dip back and forth pretty quickly. Anyway, an unidentified 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:52.679 amount of time later, maybe a drink's worth, so probably 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:57.719 around one thirty or two, the party has heard a 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:02.440 quote single gun shot from upstair airs. Bliss ran upstairs 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:06.280 into Reeves's bedroom and found him lying across the bed dead. 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:09.480 His naked body was facing upward, his feet were on 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:14.160 the floor and face up on the bed. Ye oh yeah, 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:18.680 he was, yes, sorry, So like to explain it a 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:21.120 little bit better, I guess investigators thought that he had 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:22.800 been sitting on the edge of the bed and then 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:25.080 killed himself, and he just fell back on the bed, 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:31.439 so you can imagine that picture. Investigators found a thirty 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:34.680 caliber Lugar pistol between his feet, which they thought had 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:39.440 fallen from his hand. Um Statements made by the witnesses 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:43.240 to the police on that night, as well as press 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:47.920 a little bit later, essentially agree, though there are some 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:53.280 discrepancies and there was a fairly significant delay in reporting 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:59.560 this didn't did. None of the guests seemed to be 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:03.879 really concerned with the delay, though, they just said, I 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:07.200 don't know, we were shocked, it was late. We were drunk, 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:09.480 That's why it took us so long to call you. 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:15.600 My story straight. Yeah, no, none of that. The police 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:18.560 did say that again, all the witnesses were like really 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:21.960 really really drunk, and so getting coherent stories from them 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:26.240 was like almost impossible that night. So there you go, there, 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:30.640 George Reeves there, and George Reeves apparently death of Superman, 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:34.399 death of one of the many Superman's. Yeah, so that 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.040 is the story. We're going to flush the story out 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:39.360 a little bit more when we talk about theories. But 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:43.640 it is that time. What time, theories time. But before 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:52.000 we do that, let's take a break. This is the 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:56.240 worst bus ride ever. The tension is unbearable. The screaming 0:20:56.240 --> 0:20:59.080 waves of panic and fear just aren't helping. There's a 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:01.440 man with a knife and you can see him so 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:07.080 clearly every freaking detail. Are you sweating? Yeah? You are 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:10.080 what possessed you to get on this bus. You knew 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:12.080 that it was creepy and dark and cold out, and 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:15.200 yet you still did it. Why? Why did you begin 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:17.720 the next chapter of the audio thriller you've been listening 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:20.640 to all week? This is your own fault, and you 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:23.280 know it. That's the great thing about audiobooks. You can 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:25.760 just turn them off. And now we're gonna help you 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:28.000 scare the but Jesus out of yourself by helping you 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:30.639 get the next scary book on your list. Support for 0:21:30.680 --> 0:21:34.960 today's show comes from Audible. Audible's content includes an unmatched 0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:39.000 selection of audio books, original audio shows, news, comedy, and 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:43.800 more from the leading publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, and business information providers. 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:46.400 Unlike a streaming your rental service, with Audible, you own 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:49.639 your books, so you can access them anywhere, any time 0:21:49.720 --> 0:21:53.679 from almost any device, including your iPhone, iPad, Android, Amazon 0:21:53.800 --> 0:21:56.600 Fire tablet, and Window phone and probably some other things 0:21:56.640 --> 0:21:59.919 in there as well. Plus they've got the great listen guarantees, 0:22:00.000 --> 0:22:01.760 so if you don't like your title, you can swap 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:03.959 it for a new one. And not to mention, Audible 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:07.760 channels give you a collection of exclusive originals, short stories, 0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:10.679 and comedy, so you always have something new to listen to. 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:13.760 And since it's getting close to Halloween, I'd suggest that 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:17.120 you listen to Closet Treats by Paul E. Cooley. I've 0:22:17.119 --> 0:22:19.560 been listening to Paul's work for years, and if you 0:22:19.600 --> 0:22:21.640 want a story that we'll get your blood pumping, then 0:22:21.640 --> 0:22:24.840 I'd recommend it. He's been giving me creepy nightmares for 0:22:24.920 --> 0:22:27.440 many years. Get a free audio book with a thirty 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:32.320 day trial at audible dot com slash sideways. That's audible 0:22:32.359 --> 0:22:35.840 dot com slash sideways s I D E W A 0:22:36.160 --> 0:22:39.280 Y S for a free audio book with your thirty 0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:43.080 day trial. Because but Jesus is a real thing and 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:44.800 you should get it scared out of you every now 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:55.280 and again. And we're back. Okay, theories, Yeah, theories. Yeah, cool, cool. 0:22:55.840 --> 0:22:59.280 And actually, before we go too far into theories, I 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:02.159 just want to pause us to apologize. We're all sitting 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:05.320 in a room in Portland, Oregon, which is like pretty 0:23:05.400 --> 0:23:08.720 much just surrounded by fire right now, and so um, 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:12.920 there's like, well, no, there's there's there's a little smoky 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:16.439 and you know, houses don't seal, and so if you 0:23:16.440 --> 0:23:18.440 get a couple of voice cracks or anything in there, 0:23:18.600 --> 0:23:20.640 we apologize. I'll try to keep it to a minimum, 0:23:20.680 --> 0:23:27.040 but it might have We'll try. I can't cut that out, 0:23:27.119 --> 0:23:31.800 damn dang it. All right, So our first theory he 0:23:31.920 --> 0:23:35.080