Date of Birth : Jan 5th 1914
Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, the son of Don Brewer and Helen Lescher. (His death certificate erroneously lists his birthplace as Kentucky.) George was born five months into their marriage. They separated soon afterward, and Helen moved back home to Galesburg, Illinois.
Later, George’s mother moved to California to stay with her sister. There, Helen met and married Frank Bessolo. George’s father married Helen Schultz in 1925 and had children with her. Don Brewer apparently never saw his son again.
In 1927, Frank Bessolo adopted George as his own son, and the boy took on his new stepfather’s last name to become George Bessolo. Helen’s marriage to Frank lasted fifteen years and ended in divorce while George was away visiting relatives. Helen told George that Frank had committed suicide. Reeves’s cousin, Catherine Chase, told biographer Jim Beaver that George did not know for several years that Bessolo was still alive nor that he was his stepfather, not his biological father.
George began acting and singing in high school and continued performing on stage as a student at Pasadena Junior College. He also boxed as a heavyweight in amateur matches until his mother Helen ordered him to stop, fearing his good looks might be damaged.
CAREER
Gone with the Wind ( 1940 )
