Jon Hall and George Reeves, Two Suicides

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.

Joanne Siegel, Widow of Superman Co-Creator, Dies At 93

by Armand Vaquer

Above, a group photo from the Superman Week ceremony with Joanne Siegel and her daughter Laura at far right. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Sad news today in the world of Superman.

Joanne Siegel, the widow of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and the model for Lois Lane (drawn by Joe Shuster) died today in California at the age of 93.

Daughter Laura Siegel Larson is currently making funeral arrangements.

It was my honor and privilege to meet Mrs. Siegel in July 2001 at the Superman Week ceremony at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. At that ceremony, Mrs. Siegel met actress Noel Neill for the first time. Neill played Lois Lane in to Sam Katzman Columbia serials and replaced Phyllis Coates in the role on the Adventures of Superman television show in 1953.

Mrs. Siegel later joined us for a luncheon at Cafe Pinot following the ceremony.

My condolences to the Siegel family.

Phyllis Coates "People" Article

Above, Phyllis Coates greets fans at a 2007 collectors show in Burbank, California. Photo by Armand Vaquer

Fifteen years ago last May, People magazine published an article on the original (1951) television Lois Lane, Phyllis Coates. This was tied to her appearance as Lois Lane's (Teri Hatcher) mother in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Phyllis Coates portrayed Lois Lane in the Adventures of Superman during its first season, but opted out to work on another television series pilot. She remained a close friend to George Reeves until his death in June 1959. Coates was replaced in the show's second season (1953) by Noel Neill, the original Lois Lane in the Sam Katzman Columbia serials.

Here is the People article for your reading pleasure (click on it to see it larger):