Rex Reason (November 30, 1928 – November 19, 2015) was an American actor best known for his role in '' This Island Earth'' (1955).

Life and career

Rex George Reason Jr. was born in Berlin, Germany, to an American family that returned 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 ...

shortly thereafter, where Rex was raised. He was the elder brother of actor

Rhodes Reason Rhodes Reason (April 19, 1930 – December 26, 2014) was an American actor who appeared in more than 200 roles in television, film, and stage. Film and television career Reason was born in Glendale in Los Angeles County, California, the so ...

. Rex Reason attended Herbert Hoover High School in

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia *Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre * Glendale, Queensland, ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

at the age of seventeen, serving from 1946 to 1948. He began his stage career in 1948 at the

Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engage ...

, performing there for three years before coming to the notice of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

. In 1951 he was given a screen test at

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

and was cast as the lead in a starring role in his first picture, a low-budget adventure drama ''

Storm Over Tibet ''Storm Over Tibet'' is a 1952 American adventure film directed by Andrew Marton and starring Rex Reason and Diana Douglas. Plot During World War II, David Simms pilots supplies between India and China over the Himalaya Mountains. Cast * Rex Re ...

'' (1952) initially produced for MGM but acquired by

. Reason was under contract for two more years at Columbia until moving to Universal-International in mid-1953, after making a promising appearance in the sword-and-sandal epic ''

Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, a ...

'' (1953) with

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

. A tall (6'3"), handsome, leading man with a distinctive baritone speaking voice, Reason appeared in several films and television shows throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He made two pictures at

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

under the name "Bart Roberts" before demanding to be able to use his own name. Reason is perhaps best known for his role as stalwart, heroic scientist Dr. Cal Meacham in the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

'' This Island Earth'' (1955). Reason co-starred as sympathetic scientist Dr. Tom Morgan in the third—and final—installment of

Universal International Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

' ''

Creature from the Black Lagoon ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster horror film produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross and a story by Maurice Zimm. It stars ...

'' horror film series in '' The Creature Walks Among Us'' (1956). He also appeared opposite

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

and

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

in '' Band of Angels'' (1957) for Warner Bros. He appeared in '' Badlands of Montana'' (1957) as an opponent of a corrupt

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

played by John M. Pickard. In the story line, Pickard administers ten lashes with a whip to Reason's back. Reason starred as newspapermen in two television series. The first of those was a syndicated

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, '' Man Without a Gun'' (1957–1959), in the role of Adam MacLean, editor of the ''Yellowstone Sentinel'' newspaper in

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of N ...

. The second was the ABC/ Warner Bros. drama, ''

The Roaring Twenties ''The Roaring Twenties'' is a 1939 American crime thriller film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart, and Gladys George. The film, spanning the periods between 1919 and 1933, was written by Je ...

'' (1960–1962), a

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and comb ...

in the role of Scott Norris, reporter for the fictitious ''New York Record''. He appeared as a guest on an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

interview program, '' Here's Hollywood'' in 1961, and guest-starred on a number of other television series. In ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'' he played the role of defendant Steve Brock in the episode, "The Case of the Ancient Romeo" (1962) opposite Jeff Morrow, who had starred with him in '' This Island Earth''. His final television appearance was in an episode of ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

'' broadcast in 1963. He was also featured in episodes of ''

Bourbon Street Beat ''Bourbon Street Beat'' is a private detective television series that aired on the ABC network from October 5, 1959, to July 4, 1960, starring Richard Long as Rex Randolph and Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, with Arlene Howell as detective agen ...

'', ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was o ...

'', and '' The Alaskans''. Reason walked out on his film contract with Warner Bros. in the fall of 1961 when he was being considered for a starring role in

John Frankenheimer John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits were ''Birdman of Alcatraz'' (1962), '' The Manchurian Candidate'' ( ...

's '' The Manchurian Candidate'' (1962). The film began as a project at Warners, but was completed as an independent film and released by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in th ...

was cast in the role instead. After his film and television acting career ended, he worked as a real estate broker and had a second career as a

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

actor. During his later years, Reason was in retirement and living in

Walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

, California, with his third wife, Shirley.

Death

Reason died in Walnut, California, from bladder cancer on November 19, 2015.'Actor Rex Reason has died'
''Newspaper Post'', November 21, 2015.

References

External links

*
Rex Reason
at the

American Film Institute Catalog The ''AFI Catalog of Feature Films'', also known as the ''AFI Catalog'', is an ongoing project by the American Film Institute (AFI) to catalog all commercially-made and theatrically exhibited American motion pictures from the birth of cinema in ...

as Bart Roberts
at the

Rex Reason
at

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cul ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reason, Rex 1928 births 2015 deaths German emigrants to the United States Male actors from Berlin Male actors from Los Angeles Military personnel from California United States Army soldiers Warner Bros. contract players Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from bladder cancer