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. Th ...

''.

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 U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. 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 List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. 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 California S ...

, and resumed his acting career.

Career

Acting

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

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

'' Washee Ironee'', 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 ''Love Finds Andy Hardy'' is a 1938 American romantic comedy film that tells the story of a teenage boy who becomes entangled with three different girls all at the same time. It stars Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Fay Holden, Cecilia Parker, Ju ...

'' (1938), '' Boys Town'' (1938), ''

They Shall Have Music ''They Shall Have Music'' is a 1939 musical film directed by Archie Mayo and starring famed violinist Jascha Heifetz (as himself), Joel McCrea, Andrea Leeds, and Gene Reynolds. The screenplay concerns a young runaway finds his purpose in life aft ...

'' (1939), '' Santa Fe Trail'' (1940), ''

Adventure in Washington ''Adventure in Washington'' is a 1941 American drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Herbert Marshall, Virginia Bruce and Gene Reynolds. The plot is about an unlikely Page of the United States Senate, U.S. Senate page boy whose mis ...

'' (1941), ''

Eagle Squadron The Eagle Squadrons were three fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed with volunteer pilots from the United States during the early days of World War II (circa 1940), prior to America's entry into the war in December 1941. Wit ...

'' (1942) and '' The Country Girl'' (1954) and on television series like ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along wit ...

'', ''

Armstrong Circle Theatre ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with '' The U.S. Steel Hour''. It fi ...

'', ''

Whirlybirds ''Whirlybirds'' (sometimes called ''The Whirlybirds'' or ''Copter Patrol'') is a syndicated American drama/adventure television series, which aired for 111 episodes — broadcast from February 4, 1957, through January 18, 1960. It was pro ...

'', and '' Hallmark Hall of Fame''. He was contracted to

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

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 Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...

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 de ...

'' 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 ''Sins of Man'' is a 1936 American drama film, directed by Otto Brower and released by 20th Century Fox. It stars Jean Hersholt, Don Ameche, and Allen Jenkins. Plot Cast *Jean Hersholt as Christopher Freyman *Don Ameche as Karl Freyman / Mario ...

'' (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 ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The ...

'', and ''

My Three Sons ''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seasons. ''My Three Sons'' chroni ...

''. In 1957, Reynolds joined forces with

Frank Gruber Frank Gruber (born February 2, 1904, Elmer, Minnesota, died December 9, 1969, Santa Monica, California) was an American writer. He was a writer of stories for pulp fiction magazines. He also wrote dozens of novels, mostly Westerns and detect ...

and James Brooks to create '' Tales of Wells Fargo'' for

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 ...

. During the program's five-year run he wrote and directed numerous episodes. Reynolds' additional directing credits include multiple episodes of ''

Father of the Bride The Father of the Bride is commonly one of the wedding ceremony participants. Father of the Bride may also refer to: * ''Father of the Bride'' (novel), 1949, by Edward Streeter ** ''Father of the Bride'' (franchise), media franchise based on the 1 ...

'', '' The Farmer's Daughter'', ''

F Troop ''F Troop'' is a satirical American television sitcom Western about U.S. soldiers and Native Americans in the Wild West during the 1860s that originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965, and ...

'', '' Hogan's Heroes'', and '' Many Happy Returns''. He was the Executive Producer for ''

Room 222 ''Room 222'' is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television that aired on ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969 until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 ( EST) fo ...

'', 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 CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

series in the 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1972 and 1983, he produced 120 episodes of ''

'', which he co-created with

Larry Gelbart Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009) was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series ''M*A*S*H'', and as co-writer of the B ...

, and for which he also wrote 11 episodes and directed 24. During that same period, he produced 22 episodes of ''

Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...

'', 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 The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

. 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 and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

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 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