- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWalter 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.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tom Weaver <TomWeavr@aol.com>
- SpouseElizabeth Boyer Bryce(September 4, 1937 - June 17, 1988) (her death, 3 children)
- In 2001 the city of Santa Cruz (CA) honored him by declaring July 14 "Walter Reed Day". A restored print of his 1956 western 7 Men from Now (1956) was shown at a local theater, and afterward he made imprints of his hands and feet in a square of wet cement in front of the theater.
- Interviewed in "It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Tradition" by Tom Weaver (McFarland, 1996).
- Grew up in Hawaii and Los Angeles.
- In the late 1960s he ended his acting career, moving to Santa Cruz (CA) and becoming a real estate investor/broker.
- Interviewed in "The Encyclopedia of Feature Players of Hollywood" by Tom Goldrup and Jim Goldrup (BearManor, 2012).
- [on Steve Brodie] I liked Steve. He was a real nice guy--funny guy--fun to be with. Also a very good actor, very competent. He was right there when he was needed. He lived hard, but he worked hard too. One day he just quit [films] and went into business. I don't think he pushed hard enough to really become big. He didn't realize how good he was.
- [on Gregg Barton] He was a hard working man who worked an awful lot. He was a very dear friend--and a friend to a lot of people. He was a wonderful husband to Bonita, he was very, very good to her. The first picture I ever did with him was Tripoli (1950). I loved him.
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