The Curse of Superman
The actor who played TV's first Superman died under mysterious circumstances, and decades later the actor who played the movie version was paralyzed in a riding accident — a pattern of misfortune among the character's stars real enough that some cast members have openly discussed it.
The Curse of Superman is a popular entertainment industry legend attributing a pattern of misfortune among actors associated with the Superman character to a supposed curse. Cited incidents include George Reeves's mysterious 1959 death and Christopher Reeve's 1995 paralyzing horseback riding accident, though statisticians and skeptics note the pattern likely reflects selective memory and coincidence rather than any genuine causal connection between the incidents.
- →George Reeves, who played Superman in the 1950s television series, died in 1959 from a gunshot wound under circumstances officially ruled a suicide, though some researchers and family members have disputed this conclusion over the decades.
- →Christopher Reeve, who played Superman in the acclaimed 1978 film and its sequels, was paralyzed from the neck down in a 1995 horseback riding accident, later becoming a prominent disability rights advocate before his death in 2004.
- →Several other actors and crew members associated with various Superman productions over the decades have experienced their own notable personal or professional misfortunes, cited by believers as further pattern evidence.
- →No statistical or investigative analysis has found the rate of misfortune among Superman-associated actors and crew to exceed what would be expected among any sufficiently large group of entertainment industry professionals over a comparable multi-decade period.