George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer on January 5, 1914, in Woolstock, Iowa. His parents separated soon after his birth, and his mother eventually moved to California, settling in Pasadena. She later married Frank Joseph Bessolo, and George took his stepfather's surname, becoming George Bessolo — and later, George Reeves, the name he used professionally.

He attended Pasadena Junior College and then the Pasadena Community Playhouse, training as an actor. He made his film debut in 1939 and landed a significant early role in Gone with the Wind that same year, playing Stuart Tarleton in the opening scene. The role was substantial enough to attract attention. His career continued through the 1940s with steady work in films and on stage, including wartime service that interrupted his professional momentum. By the early 1950s, he was a working actor — not a star, but employed.

Adventures of Superman began in 1952. Reeves had not been the first choice for the role, but he took it and threw himself into it with genuine affection for his young audience. The show was enormously popular, and Reeves supplemented his income with personal appearances at schools and events, taking his role-model status seriously. He had real warmth with children, and they responded.

The problem was what the role did to the rest of his career. By the time Superman was airing nationwide, Reeves found himself so thoroughly associated with Clark Kent that directors and studios could not see him as anyone else. He got sporadic work between seasons — two feature films in 1953, occasional television anthology appearances — but the big roles that might have defined a second career did not come. He directed several episodes of Adventures of Superman, hoping to transition behind the camera. He trained as a boxer. He worked in other countries where the association might be weaker. The show ran for 104 episodes. When it ended in 1958, Reeves was 44 and the options were thin.

George Reeves died from a single gunshot wound to the head on June 16, 1959, at his home in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles. He was 45. The Los Angeles County coroner ruled the death a suicide. No one present that night was charged with a crime.

The circumstances raised questions that have persisted for decades. Reeves was engaged to be married and had reportedly been in good spirits. He had previously been involved with Toni Mannix, wife of MGM studio executive Eddie Mannix, and the relationship's end had been complicated and contentious. Some investigators and biographers have argued that the physical evidence at the scene was inconsistent with a straightforward suicide. The gun was found between his feet; no powder burns were found on his hand. The 2006 film Hollywoodland explored the competing theories of suicide, murder, and accident, dramatizing the investigation without resolving it.

What remains clear is that Reeves is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, and that his legacy has outlasted the questions: the Adventures of Superman still airs, and children still discover Clark Kent's secret.