Larry Parks

He made only two more films before retiring permanently. However, some friends and associates disputed this explanation, and fans have speculated in the years since as to whether his death was actually a murder, and if so, at whose hand, or whether he faked his own death and disappeared. Following his admission before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Columbia Pictures dropped him. An official inquiry concluded that the death was suicide. Following his Oscar nomination, he made a few more movies that did little in the box office, until he appeared in the sequel, Jolson Sings Again in 1949, which was another hit. Shortly thereafter, a shot rang out, and he was found dead in his bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head. He made several forgettable films untl he won the role of Al Jolson in the 1946 biographical film The Jolson Story, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. In the early morning hours of June 16, 1959, three days before a planned wedding to Lenore Lemmon, he went to bed after a long night with guests.

Having attended the University of Illinois, Parks played in stock companies for several years before signing a Hollywood contract in 1941. During World War II, Reeves enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps and appeared in war training films. Born Samuel Lawrence Klausman Parks in Olathe, Kansas, his career was virtually ended when he admitted in 1951 to having been a member of a Communist party cell. Besides playing Superman on TV, he also had minor roles in a number of movies, including Gone With the Wind, and From Here to Eternity. Larry Parks (December 13, 1914 - April 13, 1975) was an American actor. George Bessolo Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer) (January 6, 1914–June 16, 1959) was an American actor, best known for playing the role of Superman on television in the 1950s.