Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal (April 4, 1923 – February 3, 2020) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He was one of the developers and producers of the TV series ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. T ...

''.

Early life

Reynolds was born on April 4, 1923, to Frank Eugene Blumenthal, a businessman and entrepreneur, and Maude Evelyn (Schwab) Blumenthal, a model, in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. Reynolds initially was raised in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, before the family relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in 1934. Reynolds served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He served on ships including a destroyer-minesweeper the USS ''Zane''. Following the war, Reynolds received a degree in history at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

, and resumed his acting career.

Career

Acting

Reynolds made his screen debut in the 1934 '' Our Gang'' short ''

Washee Ironee ''Washee Ironee'' is a 1934 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by James Parrott. It was the 131st ''Our Gang'' short (43rd talking episode) that was released. Plot On the day that he is scheduled to perform a violin solo at a swank bridge ...

'', and for the next three decades made numerous appearances in films such as ''

Captains Courageous ''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...

'' (1937), '' Love Finds Andy Hardy'' (1938), '' Boys Town'' (1938), '' They Shall Have Music'' (1939), '' Santa Fe Trail'' (1940), '' Adventure in Washington'' (1941), '' Eagle Squadron'' (1942) and '' The Country Girl'' (1954) and on television series like '' I Love Lucy'', '' Armstrong Circle Theatre'', '' Whirlybirds'', and '' Hallmark Hall of Fame''. He was contracted to MGM between 1937 and 1940. As a child actor, Reynolds often played the young version of the film's star character. He did this for Ricardo Cortez in 1937's '' The Californian'', Tyrone Power in ''

In Old Chicago ''In Old Chicago'' is a 1938 American disaster musical drama film directed by Henry King. The screenplay by Sonya Levien and Lamar Trotti was based on the Niven Busch story, "We the O'Learys". The film is a fictionalized account about the G ...

'' (1938), James Stewart in 1938's ''

Of Human Hearts ''Of Human Hearts'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by Clarence Brown and starring Walter Huston, James Stewart and Beulah Bondi. Stewart plays a proud and ungrateful son who rebels against his preacher father and (after his father's dea ...

'' and

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which ...

in '' Sins of Man'' (1936).

Directing and writing

Following his return to acting after serving in World War II, Reynolds became frustrated with not being able to land leading roles and the general progress of his career, and turned to directing, shooting episodes of shows such as '' Leave It to Beaver'', '' The Andy Griffith Show'', and '' My Three Sons''. In 1957, Reynolds joined forces with Frank Gruber and James Brooks to create '' Tales of Wells Fargo'' for NBC. During the program's five-year run he wrote and directed numerous episodes. Reynolds' additional directing credits include multiple episodes of '' The Farmer's Daughter'', '' F Troop'', '' Hogan's Heroes'', and '' Many Happy Returns''. He was the Executive Producer for '' Room 222'', a breakthrough comedy-drama on the ABC network which was about an African American school teacher, and which dealt with subjects such as drugs, prejudice and dropping out of school. The series ran for over 100 episodes, some of which Reynolds directed. ABC released Reynolds from the show when it thought making the show funnier would result in higher ratings. As a writer, director, and producer, Reynolds was involved with two highly successful CBS series in the 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1972 and 1983, he produced 120 episodes of ''

'', which he co-created with Larry Gelbart, and for which he also wrote 11 episodes and directed 24. During that same period, he produced 22 episodes of '' Lou Grant'', for which he wrote (or co-wrote) five episodes and directed 11. Reynolds has been nominated for twenty-four Emmy Awards and won six times, including Outstanding Comedy Series for ''M*A*S*H'' and Outstanding Drama Series twice for ''Lou Grant'', which also earned him a Humanitas Prize. He won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series twice for his work on ''M*A*S*H'' and the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Direction of a Drama Series once for his work on ''Lou Grant''. Reynolds was elected President of the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film director, film and television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dire ...

in 1993, a position he held until 1997.

Personal life

Reynolds was married to actress-turned-author Bonnie Jones, who appeared in five episodes of ''M*A*S*H'' as Lt. Barbara Bannerman, from 1972 until 1975, when the couple divorced. He and his second wife, actress Ann Sweeny, who also appeared on ''M*A*S*H'' as Nurse Carrie Donovan in the episode "Hanky Panky", married in 1979 and have one son. Reynolds died at the age of 96 of heart failure on February 3, 2020, at

Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is a Catholic hospital in Burbank, California. The hospital has 446 beds, and is part of Providence Health & Services. Its address is 501 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California 91505. On the opp ...

in Burbank, California.

Filmography

Source:

References

Notes Bibliography * * Holmstrom, John (1996). ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995''. Norwich: Michael Russell, p. 116.

External links

* *
''Who's Who at MGM — Gene Reynolds''
(1939)
Gene Reynolds
at Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Gene 1923 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American male actors United States Navy personnel of World War II American male child actors American male film actors American male radio actors American male television actors American television directors Television producers from Ohio American television writers Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Directors Guild of America Award winners Male actors from Cleveland Male actors from Detroit American male television writers Military personnel from Cleveland Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players Presidents of the Directors Guild of America Primetime Emmy Award winners Screenwriters from Michigan Screenwriters from Ohio Writers Guild of America Award winners