Quentin James Reynolds (April 11, 1902 – March 17, 1965) was an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

. He also played

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

for one season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) with the Brooklyn Lions.

Early life and education

Reynolds was born on April 11, 1902, in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. He attended Manual Training High School in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. At Brown, he played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

as a tackle and starred as a

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

r on the swimming team.

Career

As an

associate editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

at ''

Collier's Weekly } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

'' from 1933 to 1945, Reynolds averaged 20 articles a year. He also published 25 books, including ''The Wounded Don't Cry'', ''London Diary'', ''Dress Rehearsal'', and ''Courtroom'', a biography of lawyer Samuel Leibowitz. His autobiography was titled ''By Quentin Reynolds''. After World War II, Reynolds was best known for his 1955

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

suit A suit, also called a lounge suit, business suit, dress suit, or formal suit, is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles generally worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt su ...

against right-wing Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, who called him "yellow" and an "absentee war correspondent". Reynolds, represented by noted attorney Louis Nizer, won $175,001 (approximately $1.9 million in 2022 dollars), at the time the largest libel judgment ever. The trial was later made into a Broadway play, ''A Case of Libel'', which was twice adapted as TV movies. In 1953, Reynolds was the victim of a major literary hoax when he published ''The Man Who Wouldn't Talk'', the supposedly true story of a Canadian war hero, George Dupre, who claimed to have been captured and tortured by German soldiers. When the hoax was exposed,

Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...

, of

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

, Reynolds's publisher, reclassified the book as fiction. On December 8, 1950, Reynolds debuted as a television actor in "The Ponzi Story", an episode of ''

Pulitzer Prize Playhouse ''Pulitzer Prize Playhouse'' is an American drama anthology television series which offered adaptations of Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, novels, and stories. The journalist Elmer Davis was the host and narrator of this 1950–1952 ABC series. ...

''. Reynolds was a personal friend of British media mogul Sidney Bernstein. In 1956, Reynolds paid a visit to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to co-host ''Meet the People'', the launch night program for

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

-based

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

(now ITV Granada) which Bernstein founded. Reynolds was a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.

Death

Reynolds died of cancer, on March 17, 1965, at Travis Air Force Base Hospital in

Fairfield, California Fairfield is a city in and the county seat of Solano County, California, United States, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The city has a diversified economy, with government, manufac ...

Books

* ''Parlor, Bedlam and Bath'' (with S. J. Perelman), Liveright, 1930 * ''The Wounded Don't Cry'', E P Dutton, 1941 * ''A London Diary'', Angus & Robertson, 1941 * ''Convoy'', Random House, 1942 * ''Only the Stars are Neutral'', Random House, 1942; Blue Ribbon Books, 1943 * ''Dress Rehearsal: The Story of Dieppe'', Random House, 1943 * ''The Curtain Rises'', Random House, 1944 * ''Officially Dead: The Story of Commander C D Smith, USN; The Prisoner the Japs Couldn’t Hold No. 511'' Random House, 1945 (Published by Pyramid Books under the title ''He Came Back'' in multiple printings in the 1960s and early 1970s.) * ''70,000 to 1 (Seventy Thousand to One); True War Adventure'', 1946 * Leave It to the People, Random House, 1948,1949 * ''The Wright Brothers, Pioneers of American Aviation'', Random House Landmark Books, 1950 * ''Courtroom; The Story of Samuel S Leibowitz'', Farrar, Straus and Co, 1950 * ''Custer's Last Stand'', Random House, 1951 * ''The Battle of Britain'', Random House, 1953 * ''The Amazing Mr Doolittle; A Biography of Lieutenant General James H Doolittle'', Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1953 * ''The Man Who Wouldn't Talk'', 1953 * ''I, Willie Sutton'', Farrar, Straus and Young, 1953 * ''The FBI'', Random House Landmark Books, 1954 * ''Headquarters'', Harper & Brothers, 1955 * ''The Fiction Factory; or, From Pulp Row to Quality Street; The Story of 100 years of Publishing at Street & Smith'', Random House 1955 * ''They Fought for the Sky; The Dramatic Story of the First War in the Air'', Rinehart & Company, 1957 * ''Minister of Death: The Adolf Eichmann Story'' (by Zwy Aldouby and Quentin James Reynolds), Viking 1960 * ''Known But to God; The Story of the “Unknowns” of America’s War Memorials'', John Day 1960 * ''Winston Churchill'', Random House 1963 * ''By Quentin Reynolds'', McGraw Hill, 1963 * ''Britain Can Take It!'' (based on the film) * ''Don't Think It Hasn't Been Fun'' * ''The Life of Saint Patrick'' * ''Macapagal, the Incorruptible'' * A Secret for Two * ''With Fire and Sword; Great War Adventures''

Screenplays

* ''

Call Northside 777 ''Call Northside 777'' is a 1948 American drama film directed by Henry Hathaway. The film parallels the true story of a Chicago newspaper reporter who proved that a man jailed for murder 11 years previously was wrongly convicted. James Stewart ...

'' (1948) * ''

The Miracle of the Bells ''The Miracle of the Bells'' is a 1948 American drama film directed by Irving Pichel, written by Quentin Reynolds and Ben Hecht, and produced by RKO. It stars Fred MacMurray, Alida Valli, Frank Sinatra and Lee J. Cobb. The film is based on the 1 ...

'' (1948)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Quentin 1902 births 1965 deaths 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters American football guards American football tackles American male breaststroke swimmers American male journalists American male screenwriters American military writers American war correspondents of World War II Brooklyn Lions players Brown Bears football players Brown Bears men's swimmers Journalists from California Journalists from the Bronx Journalists from Brooklyn Writers from San Francisco Screenwriters from New York (state) Screenwriters from California Sportspeople from the Bronx Players of American football from New York City Sportspeople from Brooklyn Deaths from cancer in California Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn 20th-century American sportsmen