George Reeves was best known for portraying Clark Kent and Superman in the television series Adventures of Superman from 1952 to 1958, a role that made him one of the most recognizable faces in American living rooms during the early years of television. Born George Keefer Brewer on January 5, 1914, in Woolstock, Iowa, he was raised in Pasadena, California, and studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. His early film career showed genuine promise. He appeared in "Gone with the Wind" in 1939 as one of the Tarleton twins, and worked steadily in B-pictures and serials through the 1940s. When he was cast as Superman in 1951, the role consumed his identity. The show was enormously popular, but it typecast him so thoroughly that no studio would offer him serious dramatic work. Children believed he was actually Superman, and adults couldn't see past the cape. He tried directing and hoped the show's cancellation would free him to pursue other roles. On June 16, 1959, Reeves was found dead in his bedroom from a single gunshot wound to the head. He was 45. The official ruling was suicide, but the circumstances generated decades of speculation and conspiracy theories. No suicide note was found. Guests were in his home at the time. The gun had been wiped clean. His fiancée, Lenore Lemmon, reportedly told guests "he's going to shoot himself" moments before the shot was heard. The case was never reopened. Two biographies and a 2006 film, "Hollywoodland," starring Ben Affleck, explored the mystery. The truth of what happened in that room has never been established.