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Richard Reeves (actor)

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Richard Reeves
Reeves in an episode of Lock-Up (1959)
Born
Richard Jourdan Reeves[1]

(1912-08-10)August 10, 1912
New York City, U.S.
DiedMarch 17, 1967(1967-03-17) (aged 54)
Northridge, Los Angeles, California
Resting placeOakwood Memorial Park, Chatsworth, California
OccupationCharacter actor
Years active1943–1967

Richard Jourdan "Dick" Reeves (August 10, 1912 – March 17, 1967)[2] was an American character actor best known for playing henchmen and thugs. He performed in hundreds of film and television roles between the 1940s and 1960s.

Early life and film career

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Richard Jourdan Reeves grew up in an affluent section of Queens, New York, the elder of two children of bank executive Walter Reeves and his wife, the former Marie Titsink. He studied music in school; and then, at the age of 18, he worked as a seaman, spending much of his time in the 1930s aboard ships that plied the New York-Havana route. In April 1942, shortly after the United States entered World War II, Reeves enlisted in the U.S. Army and by war's end had risen to the rank of sergeant in the 1208 Service Command Unit. After the war, he resumed his efforts to get more film work as an actor in Los Angeles, where by the late 1940s and early 1950s he became a busy supporting player in various movie productions.

Television

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Beginning in the early 1950s, Reeves began to perform on a variety of television series. His height, heavy build, and general "tough guy" appearance led to his being frequently cast as bullies, robbers, and mob enforcers in modern crime dramas, as well as in many Westerns and sitcoms. He, for example, portrayed those types of characters in five episodes of the Adventures of Superman between 1952 and 1956. (He was no relation to Superman star George Reeves, whose birth surname was Brewer.) Reeves appeared in scores of other series as well in the 1950s and 1960s, such as I Love Lucy, I Married Joan, Mr. Ed, The Roy Rogers Show, Four Star Playhouse, Batman, The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Sugarfoot, Zorro, Maverick, Tales of Wells Fargo, Bat Masterson, Tombstone Territory, TV Reader's Digest, Date with the Angels.

In a 1958 episode entitled “Island In The Swamp” on the TV Western Maverick, Reeves breaks normal villain character, playing alongside Edgar Buchanan as leaders of a peaceful but eccentric cult of pirating immigrant smugglers who now run an island out of jurisdiction of the law. He appeared in S2 E15 of "Wanted:Dead or Alive" as Jenks in "Chain Gang" which aired 12/10/1959.

In 1965 on the television Series, “ My Three Sons”, Richard Reeves played the “Police Officer” in Season 5, Episode 34- Titled “ All the Weddings “ My Favorite Martian, Annie Oakley, and Fury. In 1955 Reeves appeared as Cliff Bartow on the TV western Cheyenne in the episode "Border Showdown."

Death

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Reeves died of cirrhosis at age 54. He is buried in Oakwood Memorial Park in Chatsworth, California.[1]

Selected filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1960 Rawhide Sheriff Tom Oldfield S2:E27, "Incident of the 100 Amulets"
1960 New Comedy Showcase Eddie S1:E2, "Johnny Come Lately"
1961 Rawhide Long S3:E28, "Incident of the Blackstorms"
1961 Rawhide Higgins S4:E9, "The Little Fishes"
1964 Rawhide Jess Carmody S6:E20, "Incident of the Swindler"

References

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  1. ^ a b Wilson, Scott (August 19, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 621. ISBN 9781476625997 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Ellenberger, Allan (May 2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. p. 189. ISBN 9780786409839 – via Google Books.
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