Today marks 65 years since television's first live-action Superman, George Reeves, passed away allegedly by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
He would be amazed in wonderment at the impact he made with generations since then. He would also be a major draw at comic book and science-fiction conventions had he lived.
| Above, the house where George Reeve died. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Back in the early 1960s, the Adventures of Superman was briefly replaced on the local Los Angeles station (I am guessing KTTV-Channel 11) by Ramar of the Jungle.
At that point, I had never heard of Ramar of the Jungle, but I watched the show anyway. One thing I did notice on some episodes, music cues used in the 1951 episodes of Adventures of Superman were sometimes used in Ramar of the Jungle. I found the show entertaining.
Ramar of the Jungle starred Jon Hall and it lasted for 52 episodes between 1952 and 1954. Like the Superman series, it was a syndicated show.
From Wikipedia:
Ramar of the Jungle is an American television series that starred Jon Hall as Dr. Tom Reynolds (the titular "ramar" being the natives' title for a white medicine man). Episodes were set in Africa and India. The series aired in syndication, premiering on October 7, 1952, and airing through 1954. Reruns continued "until the end of the 1960s."
In addition to Jon Hall as Dr. Tom Reynolds (Ramar), the series also starred Ray Montgomery as Reynolds' associate, Professor Howard Ogden. Victor Millan played the role of Zahir and Nick Stewart played Willy-Willy. Other cast members included M'liss McClure as Trudy Van Dyne, James Fairfax as Charlie, Joel Fluellen as Chaba, Ludwig Stossel as Peter Van Dyne, Milicent Patrick as the White Goddess, Harry Lauter as Bellows, and Emmitt Smith (not the football player) as Chief Bolla.
Hall created the series, and starred in it, obviously trying to emulate the then-popular Jungle Jim films.
Here is an episode that aired in 1953:
| Above, George Reeves with his rifle collection in a photo shoot three days before his death. |
Today marks 64 years since Adventures of Superman star George Reeves (allegedly) took his life during the wee hours in his Benedict Canyon home on June 16, 1959.
His death is still being debated today. It was the subject of a 2006 movie, Hollywoodland, that covered the three theories of his death: suicide, murder and accident.
| Above, George Reeves's Benedict Canyon home. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
It would have been interesting if Reeves had lived and gone on to making convention appearances. He would have been a huge draw, many believe.
| Above, George Reeves and Jon Hall in The Mutineers (1949). Columbia Pictures photo. |
This evening, while having dinner, I watched the Universal Pictures feature, The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944), which is part of the Invisible Man Legacy Collection DVD set I have. I had never viewed the movie before today. It stars Jon Hall in the title role.
It was entertaining, but not one of the more popular (or better) Invisible Man series of movies.
I remembered while watching it that Hall died by suicide on December 13, 1979. He was suffering from terminal bladder cancer and was in excruciating pain. Apparently, the pain got so great that he ended his suffering by a bullet to the brain.
I also remembered that Jon Hall starred with George Reeves in The Mutineers (1949) for Sam Katzman and Columbia Pictures. Reeves, as everyone knows, put a bullet through his head on June 16, 1959. Nobody knows the reason except Reeves had a high amount of alcohol in his blood at the time of his death.
It is interesting that Hall and Reeves starred together in The Mutineers and both later died by suicide. Also, Hall had a syndicated television show, Ramar of the Jungle from 1952 to 1954, at the same time Adventures of Superman starring Reeves was originally syndicated. Another coincidence, I recall Ramar of the Jungle had the same music cues as the first season of Adventures of Superman. I watched Ramar reruns back in the early 1960s.
I find it interesting that the careers and fates of Jon Hall and George Reeves shared such similarities.
| Above, George Reeves poses with his rifle collection about 72 hours before his death on June 16, 1959. Armand Vaquer collection photo. |
63 years ago today, actor George Reeves was found dead in his upstairs bedroom at his Benedict Canyon home of an alleged self-inflicted gunshot wound.
It is amazing that Reeves still has a following of fans these 60+ years. More George Reeves Facebook fan pages are popping up all the time.
| Above, George Reeves former Benedict Canyon home in March 2016. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Today, there seems to be more Superman movies and television shows with different actors portraying the Man of Steel. Despite that, George Reeves and Christopher Reeve still lead the pack in fan esteem to this day.
Today, raise a glass in salute to George Reeves.
Remember Jack Kevorkian, known as "Dr. Death"?
Kevorkian assisted about 100 people in committing suicide due to their terminal illness. This is known as Physician-Assisted Suicide.
The American Medical Association (AMA) still is against physician-assisted suicide.
Their position is:
Physician-assisted suicide occurs when a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing the necessary means and/or information to enable the patient to perform the life-ending act (e.g., the physician provides sleeping pills and information about the lethal dose, while aware that the patient may commit suicide).
It is understandable, though tragic, that some patients in extreme duress—such as those suffering from a terminal, painful, debilitating illness—may come to decide that death is preferable to life. However, permitting physicians to engage in assisted suicide would ultimately cause more harm than good.
Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.
New Mexico has its own "Dr. Death" in Gov. "Malevolent Michelle" Lujan Grisham.
According to the Piñon Post:
According to a report from the Santa Fe New Mexican, around 30 people, “possibly more,” have killed themselves using Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s extreme anti-life assisted suicide law, H.B. 47, which she signed in April. When signing the bill, she said, “It is done.”
The law, which was opposed by multiple disability rights groups, the Navajo Nation, and many patients living with terminal conditions, sought to further normalize a culture of death in New Mexico by letting medical professionals prescribe lethal drugs to patients who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness that could take their lives anytime up to six months.
The bill would legalize doctors to prescribe a “cocktail” of lethal drugs to patients suffering from terminal illnesses, which will save insurance companies money.
To read more, go here.
Fox News is reporting that an attack on the Kabul airport may be "imminent", according to British sources.
They reported:
The possibility of an "imminent attack," perhaps within "hours," loomed over Kabul’s airport on Thursday, according to a British official.
James Heappey, Britain’s armed forces minister, told the BBC on Thursday there was "very, very credible reporting of an imminent attack," possibly targeting the airport in Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of people have been gathering over the past two weeks in hopes of leaving the country.
A senior US official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the British report, saying the threat by ISIS-K or another affiliate of a vehicle bomb or suicide bomber has been measured as "more likely than unlikely" for over the last 24 hours.
If this happens, this would be another tragedy that would be firmly tied around His Fraudulency Joe Biden's neck!
To read more, go here.
| Above, the George Reeves Benedict Canyon home in 2016. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Today marks 62 years since the alleged suicide of Adventures of Superman star George Reeves.
Reeves was found with a gunshot wound to his head in the bedroom of his Benedict Canyon home on June 16, 1959.
| Above, George Reeves about 72 hours before his death. |
There have been many questions raised over Reeves's death with theories of a hit man or an accident. The were covered in the movie, Hollywoodland (2006).
Still, despite the theories, Reeves is one of the few stars of television's golden age who is still fondly remembered for his work.
| Above, a publicity photo of George Reeves as Superman. |
| Above, artist Curt Swan sketches the Man of Steel. |
The artist most associated with Superman during the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of comic books, Swan produced hundreds of covers and stories from the 1950s through the 1980s.
| Above, a view of the Grand Canyon from Hermit's Rest. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Authorities on Sunday launched a “body recovery effort” for a man who climbed over a safety barrier at the Grand Canyon Skywalk and plunged more than 500 feet to the canyon floor.
The 28-year-old visitor jumped from the horseshoe-shaped glass walkway — which extends 70 feet out over the canyon — around 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
The walkway, a popular destination for tourists since it opened in 2007, is on the Hualapai reservation just outside Grand Canyon National Park.
The man’s identity has not been released and authorities have not said why they believe he climbed the railing. The walkway is 500 to 800 feet above the canyon floor, overlooking the Colorado River.
| Above, the Bill Clinton painting from Jeffrey Epstein's townhouse. |
It’s certainly a conversation starter.
Jeffrey Epstein had an oil painting of Bill Clinton in a blue dress — lounging on a chair in the Oval Office — hanging up in his Manhattan townhouse, according to law enforcement sources.
“It was hanging up there prominently — as soon as you walked in — in a room to the right,” a source told The Post. “Everybody who saw it laughed and smirked.”
But the bizarre home decor didn’t stop there.
Millionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein died in an apparent suicide while in federal custody in Manhattan early Saturday, a stunning end that both infuriated and baffled his victims, and the federal officials responsible for his safety.
For reasons still unclear, the jet-setting 66-year-old financier, who had faced up to 45 years in prison on charges of sex-trafficking dozens of teenage girls — accusers who have also implicated many in his circle of powerful, wealthy pals — had recently been taken off suicide watch, officials said.
He was found unresponsive in his single-inmate cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center at about 6:30 a.m. and was dead on arrival at nearby NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, sources told The Post.
The disgraced money manager was found hanging by his neck, a source told The Post.
US Attorney General William Barr said he was “appalled” by the apparent suicide at the ultra-secure lockup, which has held some of the world’s worst terrorists and drug lords. Suicides there are nearly unheard of.
| Above, George Reeves during a photo shoot about 72 hours before his death. |
| Above, George Reeves's former home in Benedict Canyon. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
| Above, a rock formation at Joshua Tree National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Officials now believe that one of the missing hikers found dead in Joshua Tree National Park may have shot and killed the other before turning the gun on himself, according to a San Bernardino County sheriff’s news release.
Authorities on Tuesday identified the two hikers whose bodies were found Sunday afternoon in a remote part of the park as Joseph Orbeso and Rachel Nguyen who went missing in late July. Also recovered was a handgun, officials confirmed Friday.
“Based on evidence located at the scene, detectives believe Orbeso shot Nguyen, then shot himself,” the sheriff’s release states. “The investigation into Orbeso’s actions remain under investigation.” However his ultimate motive may never be known.
One would like to think that the murder-suicide was from an act of kindness to spare suffering in one-hundred degree temperatures in the desert. But the reason for the act will never be known.
| Above, the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
The Grand Canyon has the dubious distinction of having one of the highest rates of suicide among national parks. While they are destinations for millions of sightseers each year, some people arrive with the intention of ending their lives. During this National Suicide Prevention Week, KNAU’s Ryan Heinsius reports, that victims, families, and first responders at parks all experience the ripple effects of suicide and suicide attempts.To read more, go here.
| Above, the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles. Photo by South China Morning Post. |
A man opened fire on the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life, police said.
The man, a Chinese national, fired “multiple rounds” at the consulate building in the Koreatown neighbourhood, said Officer Mike Lopez, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.
The man, whose name was not immediately released, then fatally shot himself in his car outside of the building, Lopez said.
Investigators said no one else was injured in the shooting.What interests me in the story is that the Chinese Consulate occupies the building on Shatto Place where I began my career as an insurance claims adjuster with United Pacific/Reliance Insurance Companies. We occupied the first and third floors and the American Arbitration Association occupied the second floor.
Can Godzilla help save Japan's tourism industry? Monster expert @ArmandV comments on an editorial from @DailyYomiuri.