Date of Birth

10 February 1916, Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA

Date of Death

20 August 2001, Santa Cruz, California, USA

Birth Name

Walter Reed Smith

The son of an Army officer, Walter Reed was born in Washington and grew up in Honolulu and Los Angeles, where he attended school with the children of movie stars. After his parents' divorce, and, during the darkest days of the Depression, 17-year-old Reed decided to try acting as a career and made a two-week trip to New York (via hitched rides on railroad freight cars, amidst hobos and tramps) to look for work on the stage. He worked in stock and on Broadway and, with an assist from actor Joel McCrea, broke into pictures in the early 1940s.

Children: Peggy, Kirk and Kim.

In the late 1960s, Reed ended his acting career, moving to Santa Cruz (CA), and becoming a real estate investor/broker.

In 2001, the city of Santa Cruz honored Reed by declaring July 14 "Walter Reed Day". A restored print of his 1956 Western Seven Men from Now (1956) was shown at a local theater, and, afterward, Reed made imprints of his hands and feet in a square of wet cement in front of the theater.

Grew up in Hawaii and Los Angeles.

Younger brother of Jack Smith.

Interviewed in "It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Tradition" by Tom Weaver (McFarland, 1996).

Price:  £30.00