Book on George Reeves
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JimB-4 — 18 years ago(February 25, 2008 06:23 PM)
Feel free to think so, but then you'll in essence be calling the nearly 900 interview subjects I've talked to, from Reeves's grade-school principal to the police officers who responded to his death liars. But I suppose you know better, right?
Jim Beaver -
JimB-4 — 18 years ago(October 07, 2007 07:09 PM)
I'm not in it for the money, Olivia. Between 36 movies, 179 TV episodes, 7 television scripts, 12 plays, 2 other books, a dying wife, and single parenthood of an autistic child, I haven't been able to give the Reeves book all the time I would like to have given it. I'm really sorry about that and about the fact that it may well reach the time when "no one will care anymore." But I press on, and hope eventually to have it done. In some ways I've outgrown the project, but I am still devoted to it and will not willingly give up on seeing it completed and published.
Regards,
Jim Beaver -
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Katachthonios — 17 years ago(June 23, 2008 05:55 PM)
Personally I've found that most people that write books aren't in it for the money. There's maybe a dozen or so people that genuinely bank from putting ink to paper, but most of us are in it for other reasons.
(Besides which, George Reeves will always have that sordid, unsorted Hollywood death looming overhead; Jim's book may not make the NYT Bestsellers List, but there is a skulking mass of people that will read it for that reason.)
When I am king you will be first against the wall.
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super_lamo_boy — 17 years ago(July 10, 2008 06:06 PM)
Well I don't think anyone will give up on it either, and I for one am looking forward to it! I find the mystery surrounding his death to be fascinating, and Hollywoodland gave a depth and a tragic reality to an actor whose on-screen persona wildly differs; he was a man about whom I would love to learn more.
That and I'm a huge Jim Beaver fan so bonus!
I hope you get the chance to finish it! -
markalester — 17 years ago(January 30, 2009 12:40 PM)
I'm very much looking forward to reading this book when it comes out. That the book will be the end result of decades of research done by someone interested in understanding Mister Reeves' story as it was, as opposed to what we might wish it were, only adds to my desire to read the finished project. It's been 40 years since his passing. Waiting a bit longer shouldn't be a problem. I can wait. And if for some reason I can't, I'll just ask the man his story myself.
"I couldn't wait for success so I decided to go ahead without it." -
whosit — 17 years ago(January 30, 2009 11:06 PM)
I too am waiting for Jim's tomeall good things are worth waiting for, and reasons the delays have been very understandable (my sincere condolences). An observation: this June would be an ideal time to release it. I'm sure Jim gets the meaning.
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markalester — 17 years ago(January 31, 2009 10:12 AM)
Yeah. To say that life can be tough would be to massively understate what life can often be.
I am definitely looking forward to the book. It sounds as if we'll be getting a clearer picture than most books on the topic and I am far more interested in learning more about Mister Reeves than I am playing with theories, guesses and wishful thinking. I mean, (everyone's) life is interesting enough without having to fabricate things.
whosit said:
"An observation: this June would be an ideal time to release it. I'm sure Jim gets the meanin2000g."
Okay. Tell me. (Pleeeaase.) Jim may be smart but Mark is still playing catch up. Such is life. LOL
UPDATE: June 16, 1959. The date of Mister Reeves' death. (Ain't Google sumthin'?)
"I couldn't wait for success so I decided to go ahead without it." -
whosit — 17 years ago(January 31, 2009 10:44 AM)
Yep, couldn't agree morer (that's a word for which I have a pending patent). As much as has been written about George, it's all only begun to scratch the surface and by all accounts Jim's research is voluminous and if the tone of his writing here is any indication, the book should be very even handed and the polar opposite of that Hollywood Kraptonite tripe. It's a shame when trust is misplaced in people like the authors of that birdcage liner.
I recently read somewhere that the mark of the beast (666) may actually be "616" The things that make you go "Hmmmmm" -
markalester — 17 years ago(January 31, 2009 11:09 AM)
Morer (Check's in the mail.) like things that make you go "Holy-freakin'-crap". I KNEW it. The phone company is the anti-christ. (I'm thinkin'.)
"I couldn't wait for success so I decided to go ahead without it." -
whosit — 17 years ago(January 31, 2009 04:37 PM)
At the risk of this thread spinning further off topic.regarding the phone company:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062153
Jim, please let us know how you and the book are doing! -
markalester — 17 years ago(February 01, 2009 09:26 AM)
Yes. Sorry for the thread drift. (I have issues.) "The President's Analyst" looks good. I'd never heard of it.
Personally, I'm looking forward to finding out more about George Reeves as a whole person and not "just" how he passed away. Mister Reeves was always my favorite Superman. I know he wasn't six foot four and built like a "comic-book hero" but there was something about him the way he carried himself, his charm I don't know. He WAS Superman and he's the actor I compare every other actor to who puts on a cape.
I hope that the book will encompass ALL of Mister Reeves' life and not focus only on his death.
Mister Beaver has stated (I believe) that he was nine years old when Reeves passed. I can only imagine the effect that had on him at that time. Nothing is, or will ever be, like it was when we were nine years old. Sometimes I think it's what we spend our life pursuing somehow recapturing that feeling. When you're nine years old heroes really do fly.
"I couldn't wait for success so I decided to go ahead without it." -
whosit — 17 years ago(February 01, 2009 02:37 PM)
You summed up my feelings and interest EGGS-ZACTLY! I too want to know about the man and not just how he died. Granted, it's perfectly understandable that people tend to gravitate to the morbid for whatever reason as it is human naturebut when we do so we don't honor his life, career or memory.
For all the research others have done on George (and not to diminish their efforts), that all may pale in comparison to Jim's pending book. Hope I'm not putting too large an onus on him LOL2000!
George passed when I was nearly 1 finger old, and for some reason I don't quite recall when I first learned that he was gone but I do remember speaking with classmates in the schoolyard about itall the typical goofy kid stories about jumping out of a window etc. Years later I went to the library to research old newspaper clippings and found NY Times article that astounded me in the horrendous grammar and very strange commentarycompletely out of synch with what one would expect from them, and that further propelled my interest. Dang it, I'm rambling again!
Jim, if you need a hand just let me knowI'll put staples in your stapler or new ink in your printerwhatever it takes! -
markalester — 17 years ago(February 02, 2009 09:37 AM)
The story of Mister Reeves jumping out a window (or off a building) really seemed to have hung around as an urban myth. I didn't learn that Reeves was dead until the mid 1970's by which time I'd been watching reruns of TAS for quite a while on my local station. I was still young enough to not quite grasp the concepts of reruns, actors not really being who they portrayed and death really for that matter. It came as quite a blow. Now, I knew Reeves wasn't really Superman but I also knew that he was pretty darned cool and the thought that he'd killed himself seemed unreal and actually hurt me. I guess this is one of the reasons why his life story interests me.
My gut feeling (supported by not one single actual fact LOL) is that Mister Reeves did indeed commit suicide. Most of us have reached times in our lives where we were low, despondent, hurt, fearful, betrayed etc. Who is to say what we would have done if at that moment we'd been drinking and there was a loaded gun sitting next to us? Again, my "gut feeling" is that he did take his own life during that moment in time when he simply wasn't thinking clearly and basically "not of sound mind".
Of course I don't know. I'm only guessing, assuming, making things up. (Which, for many, seems enough to write a book with. LOL) This is why I suspect that Mister Beaver's book should shed not only new light, but also more light on both Mister Reeves' death as well as his life. Mister Beaver has walked the same streets, spoken with many of the people involved, he works in the same industry and perhaps most of all, he has researched, thought, wondered and asked questions since he was nine years old. I'd like to see anyone top that.
BTW: Thanks for sharing your personal history concerning this topic. I'm not only a fan of Mister Reeves and film but also of history in general. Reeves, yours mine etc. LOL
"I couldn't wait for success so I decided to go ahead without it." -
lexyladyjax — 10 years ago(March 16, 2016 11:13 AM)
My son is severely autistic. I know how difficult that can be. I've written a book on how to raise a child with autism but I'm not certain it's comprehensive enough.
Oddly, I came here to look for your book on George Reeves today. It wasn't on Amazon. I had no idea your child was autistic, too. It's practically an epidemic in the US today. Looks like I need to read your bio as well.
Best Regards,
Ramona Jackson
Great white sharks are attracted to death metal music.