George Reeves played the part of Superman in the television series from 1951 through 1958. Originally, the show was aimed at an adult audience ,but it soon became apparent that most of the viewers were the kiddies following in the footsteps of their purchasing power of the Superman action comic book. I'll stay with the focus on Reeves and his flirtations with the boxing world and Hollywood's underworld.
A bit player in movies, he got his big break taking on the role of Superman in television. At first reluctant to get involved because he thought television was a weak sister to the movies, ,Reeves agreed. While doing the series Reeves began an affair with MGM' s troubleshooter Eddie Mannix's wife,Toni Mannix,who was eight years his senior.Eddie Mannix was not only a tough guy but had connections with the mob and the local authorities to resolve any difficulties that would land on Metro's doorstep. But when Reeves began messing with Mannix's wife ,Eddie had already gone through a series of strokes and had lost what could say was his clout.But he wasn't going to take it in a wheelchair.
Reeves was sort of a goldbrick and a gigolo.He also was talked about as a dude that could handle himself pretty well with his fists. He said,like so many men of that day,that he was no stranger to the boxing gym though there is no record of him doing any fighting,amateur or pro. For years he paid(or it was probably Mannix's wife)to have private lessons working out with the weights with Gene LeBell,Aileen Eaton's son.
In the beginning Reeves was in pretty good shape. With that lantern jaw of his on his over six foot tall frame there was no better Superman in the annals of Hollywood film making. But as the years grinded on Reeves took to the bottle and became dissatisfied "being" Superman.He started getting flabby so they had to give him a corset to put around his waist to hide his spare tire.
In the meantime Eddie Mannix, though incapacitated, was plenty sore at Reeves for flying off with his wife.But like I said,Reeves was a skirt chaser, and lost interest in Toni Mannix.While in New York he met a society chick named Leonore Lemmon.They became the instant talk of the town.That pissed off Toni Mannix not to mention her crippled husband.She threatened to expose Reeves as a closet homosexual and ruin his career. But Reeves' career was already heading for a crash landing. He was hitting the bottle pretty hard and he wanted to move on to something besides dressing up in a cape and being held up by wires.But the die was cast.He couldn't shake his Suprerman image.
The night of his death there was a party at his home in LA. The next day he was to fight Archie Moore,who still laid claim to a segment of the Light Heavyweight crown,in an exhibition match to raise money for a charity.The bout never came off.Reeves got drunk that night,went upstairs to his bedroom, a gunshot was heard.Reeves was dead.There was speculation about what happened.Suicide?An accident? Or was it the result of Eddie Mannix making a phone call to one of his underworld connections?
I would have sure liked to have seen Superman fighting Archie Moore.My money on The Mongoose.
George Reeves aka Superman
Not being a big basketbal fan I didn't know who he was 
