Marshall Reed

Marshall Reed was born in Colorado in 1917 and began his film career during the later days of World War II.

If you saw many Republic, Monogram/Allied Artists, and PRC westerns from the mid 1940s through the early 1950s, chances are good that Reed was among the cast, usually playing a baddie.

Marshall Reed was a very busy man. Les Adams has him in about 175 films of which 130 are westerns and 17 are serials. His serial and western film credits at Republic number about fifty films.

Once in a while, Reed got to assist the hero. And he did have one starring role - he had the lead in in one of the last cliffhangers, RIDING WITH BUFFALO BILL (Columbia, 1954). That was one of many Columbia chapterplays produced by prolific Sam Katzman, and utilized lots of stock footage from their earlier serial, DEADWOOD DICK (Columbia, 1940).

There's scuttlebutt that Reed was to become Republic Pictures' new Red Ryder (after Bill Elliott was promoted to A features). The story goes that Republic boss Herbert Yates made a last minute decision and gave the Red Ryder job to Allan Lane. Reed was also under consideration as the star of the LONE RANGER TV series but Clayton Moore got that role.

As time went on - and the B western and chapterplay faded into Hollywood history - Reed migrated to TV work. He played "Inspector Fred Asher" on the 1950s police show THE LINEUP which starred Warner Anderson and Tom Tully. In the 1950s through 1970s, he often did minor supporting roles and bit parts in TV programs such as THE LONE RANGER, CISCO KID, KIT CARSON, LASSIE, DRAGNET, PERRY MASON, more. Reed also had a role in one of the worst sci-fi/horror movies, THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN (1963).

Reed was handsome, tall and looked good in the saddle. About the only negative reaction that I had was his rather monotone voice.

Reed suffered from a brain tumor, and passed away at the Tarzana Medical Center, Los Angeles from a massive hemorrhage on April 15, 1980 at age 62.

Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Marshall Reed: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0715577/

Boyd Magers' Western Clippings website has more on Marshall Reed: http://www.westernclippings.com/heavies/marshallreed_charactersheavies.shtml

Family Search (free), ancestry.com (subscription), death certificate, and newspapers have more on Marshall Reed:

1920 census - two+ year old Marshall J. Reed was living in Gunnison, Colorado with mother Ruth and his sister: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX2R-5T6
1940 census - 23 year old Marshall J. Reed and 21 year old wife Evelyn B. Reed were lodgers living in Denver, Colorado. Marshall was a "Meter Reader - Public Utility": https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRD5-2LF
Ancestry.com had the World War II draft registration dated October 16, 1940 for 23 year old Marshall Jewel Reed. He was born May 28, 1917 in Englewood, Colorado; contact was wife Evelyn Harriett Reed and they lived at 950 Pennsylvania Street, Denver, Colorado; and his employer was "Public Service Company of Colorado". He was 6 feet, 1 inches tall, weighed 170 pounds, and had a deformed left shoulder.
1950 census - bunking together in an apartment building at 4281 1/2 Tujunga, Studio City, Los Angeles County, California were 36 year old Rodney J. Graham (born California; listed as "head"; occupation "Nurseryman - Retail Nursery"), 32 year old Marshall J. Reed (born Colorado; listed as "partner"; occupation "Actor Free Lance - Film Industry"), and 30 year old William B. George (born Kansas; listed as "partner" occupation "Landscaper - Nursery"). All three were divorced. William B. George did a few movies and is best remembered when he called himself "Jay Kirby" in Hopalong Cassidy films. (Footnote: these three were involved in SUNDOWN RIDERS (1944) which was filmed in 16mm and color for the non-theatrical market and released to theaters by Astor in 1948. William George (as Jay Kirby) starred and Marshall Reed was in the cast. Rodney J. Graham wrote the story and screenplay for SUNDOWN RIDERS.): https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XGW-FFFH
Marshall Jewel Reed and Carlyn M. Lown married May 5, 1972 in Las Vegas, Nevada: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VVMR-D11
Death certificate: 62 year old Marshall John Reed (occupation "Actor / Producer)" passed away on April 15, 1980 at the Tarzana Medical Center, Los Angeles, and cause of death was a massive hemorrhage. He and wife Carlyn lived in North Hollywood, and she was the death certificate informant. Cremation or burial at Harbor Lawn Memorial Park, Costa Mesa, California.
California Death Index and Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Marshall Jewel Reed. He was born May 28, 1917 in Colorado; mother's maiden name was Dustin; and he passed away on April 15, 1980 in the Los Angeles area:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VP6Q-B1D
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JB9Q-JM2
Death / funeral notice for Marshall J. Reed in the April 17, 1980 Los Angeles Times. He "passed away April 15, 1980 ... survived by wife Carlyn ...": https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119857403/funeral-notice-for-actor-marshall-reed/
Find A Grave reports that Reed was cremated and ashes given to family or friend: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/236488785/marshall-reed

(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

Above - mid 1970s photo of Marshall Reed signing autographs and meeting fans at one of the film conventions.

Above is the brief bio on Reed from the SUNDOWN RIDERS pressbook. Filmed in 1944 in color and 16mm for the non-theatrical market, this ultra low budget oater wound up being released to theaters in 1948 by Astor. The stars were Hopalong Cassidy helpers Jay Kirby and Andy Clyde. And great rider Evelyn Finley was also in the cast.

(From Old Corral collection)

Johnny Mack Brown and Raymond Hatton (with shotgun) have the drop on Marshall Reed (black shirt) and Terry Frost (red shirt) in a lobby card and a crop/blowup from GENTLEMAN FROM TEXAS (Monogram, 1946). Left to right in the background are Steve Clark (suit) and Lew Morphy (behind JMB's horse).

(From Old Corral collection)

Above from left to right are Marshall Reed, Bill Kennedy, Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton and Virginia Carroll in a lobby card from TRIGGERMAN (Monogram, 1948).

(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

L-to-R are Myron Healey, Steve Clark, Marshall Reed, John Merton, Max Terhune, and on the far right wearing the suit is Hugh Prosser. Guy in the center background with the balding head and mustache is William Ruhl. From WESTERN RENEGADES (Monogram, 1949), an entry in the Johnny Mack Brown series.

(From Old Corral collection)

Above - Tim Holt is roughing up Marshall Reed in this lobby card from GUNPLAY (RKO, 1951).

(Courtesy of Virginia Herrick and Dick Madigan)

Much of the B western and serial work had faded away by the early 1950s, and many of the heroes and supporting players wound up working in early TV shows. L-to-R: Jackie Coogan, Marshall Reed, Virginia Herrick and Russell Hayden in a scene from one of the early TV sagebrush series, the syndicated COWBOY G-MEN. This TVer first appeared on the little screen in 1952 and starred Hayden and Coogan.