Reed Hadley (born Reed Herring, June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American film, television and radio actor.
Early life
Hadley was born in
Petrolia, Texas.
Career
Before moving to Hollywood, he acted in ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'' on stage in New York City, a last-minute substitute for the scheduled actor who failed to appear to portray Fortinbras.
Radio
In the 1950s, Hadley played Chad Remington on ''
Frontier Town''. He also was one of the actors who portrayed
cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...
hero ''
Red Ryder'' on the ''
Red Ryder'' series during the 1940s.
On September 16, 1950, Hadley was on ''
Tales of the Texas Rangers'' episode "Candy Man".
Television
Hadley starred in two television series, ''
Racket Squad'' (1950–1953) as Captain Braddock, and ''
The Public Defender'' (1954–1955) as Bart Matthews, a fictional
attorney for the indigent. He also was a guest star on such programs as the religion
anthology series
An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...
, ''
Crossroads,'' and on
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun (born Francis Timothy McCown, August 8, 1922April 28, 1999) was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as ''How to Marry a Millio ...
's
CBS 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 ...
series, ''
The Texan''. In 1959 he played Sheriff Ben Tildy in "The Texan" espisode "The Sheriff of Boot Hill", and was pitted against bad guys
Denver Pyle cast as saloon keeper Joe Lufton and his gunslinging partner
Charles Maxwell cast as Luke Stricker. He also guest starred in ''
Sea Hunt'' Season 4/Episode 4;Vital Error. In 1958 he played the rapacious mining baron Mort Galvin in S1 E39 "The Sacramento Story" on ''
Wagon Train
''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...
''.
Film
Throughout his 35-year career in film, Hadley was cast as both a villain and a hero of the law, in such movies as ''
The Baron of Arizona'' (1950), ''The Half-Breed'' (1952), ''
Highway Dragnet
''Highway Dragnet'' is a 1954 American film noir B movie, B film crime film directed by Nathan Juran from a story by Uell Stanley Andersen, U.S. Andersen and Roger Corman. The film stars Richard Conte, Joan Bennett and Wanda Hendrix. It was Roger ...
'' (1954) and ''
Big House, U.S.A.
''Big House, U.S.A.'' is a 1955 American crime film noir directed by Howard W. Koch and written by John C. Higgins. The film stars Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker, Reed Hadley, William Talman, Lon Chaney Jr., and Charles Bronson. The fi ...
'' (1955), and narrated a number of documentaries. In films, he starred as Zorro in the 1939 serial ''
Zorro's Fighting Legion''.
Hadley was the narrator of several
Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...
films: ''Operation Ivy'', about the first hydrogen bomb test,
Ivy Mike
Ivy Mike was the code name, codename given to the first full-scale test of a Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear device, in which a significant fraction of the explosive nuclear weapon yield, yield comes from nuclear fusion.
Ivy Mike was detona ...
, "Military Participation on
Tumbler/Snapper"; "Military Participation on
Buster Jangle"; "The
B-47" (T.F. 1–4727); and "
Operation Upshot–Knothole
Operation Upshot–Knothole was a series of eleven nuclear test shots conducted in 1953 at the Nevada Test Site. It followed ''Operation Ivy'' and preceded ''Operation Castle''.
Over 21,000 soldiers took part in the ground exercise Desert Roc ...
" all of which were produced by Lookout Mountain studios. The films were originally intended for internal military use, but have been "sanitized" and de-classified, and are now available to the public.
In 1945 he narrated ''
The Nazi Plan'', a documentary film using captured propaganda and newsreel footage to dramatize the Nazis rise to power and was used by the prosecution in the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg.
He served as the narrator on various Hollywood films, including ''
House on 92nd Street'' (1945), ''
Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...
'' (1947), and ''
The Iron Curtain'' (1948).
Personal life
Hadley and his wife, Helen, had one son, Dale.
[
]
Death
On December 11, 1974, Hadley died of a heart attack in Los Angeles. He was 63.[ He was survived by his wife and son.]
Recognition
Hadley has a star at 6553 Hollywood Boulevard in the Television section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.
Filmography
Film
* '' Hollywood Stadium Mystery'' (1938) - Ralph Mortimer (film debut)
* '' Female Fugitive'' (1938) - Bruce Dunning
* '' The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok'' (1938, Serial) - Jim Blakely
* '' Sunset Murder Case'' (1939) - Oliver Helton
* '' Orphans of the Street'' (1938) - Miller
* '' Sergeant Madden'' (1939) - Lawyer (uncredited)
* '' Calling Dr. Kildare'' (1939) - Tom Crandell
* '' Bachelor Mother'' (1939) - Polly's First Dance Partner (uncredited)
* '' Stronger Than Desire'' (1939) - Flagg's Party Guest (uncredited)
* '' Man from Montreal'' (1939) - Ross Montgomery aka L. R. Rawlins
* '' Zorro's Fighting Legion'' (1939, Serial) - Don Diego Vega / Zorro
* '' I Take This Woman'' (1940) - Bob Hampton
* '' Ski Patrol'' (1940) - Ivan Dubroski
* '' Meet the Wildcat'' (1940) - Basso—Henchman
* '' The Bank Dick'' (1940) - Francois
* '' Flight Command'' (1940) - Admiral's Aide (uncredited)
* '' Adventures of Captain Marvel'' (1941, Serial) - Rahman Bar h. 1, 11-12* '' Sky Raiders'' (1941, Serial) - Caddens - Henchman
* '' The Flame of New Orleans'' (1941) - Party Guest (uncredited)
* '' Ziegfeld Girl'' (1941) - Geoffrey's Friend in Audience (uncredited)
* '' I'll Wait for You'' (1941) - Tony Berolli
* '' Whistling in the Dark'' (1941) - Beau Smith
* '' Unfinished Business'' (1941) - Party Guest (uncredited)
* '' Sea Raiders'' (1941, Serial) - Carl Tonjes
* '' Appointment for Love'' (1941) - Ferguson (uncredited)
* ''Look Who's Laughing
''Look Who's Laughing'' is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Allan Dwan It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures. The film is built around a number of sitcom, radio stars from the Golden Age of Radio and centers around radio person ...
'' (1941) - Master of Ceremonies (uncredited)
* '' Road Agent'' (1941) - Henchman Shayne
* ''Arizona Terrors
''Arizona Terrors'' is a 1942 American Western (genre), Western film directed by George Sherman and written by Doris Schroeder and Taylor Caven. The film stars Don "Red" Barry, Lynn Merrick, Al St. John, Reed Hadley, John Maxwell (actor), John M ...
'' (1942) - Jack Halliday aka Don Pedro de Berendo
* '' The Bugle Sounds'' (1942) - Court-Martial Judge (uncredited)
* '' Jail House Blues'' (1942) - Boston
* '' Juke Box Jenny'' (1942) - Brother Wicks
* '' The Mystery of Marie Roget'' (1942) - Naval Officer
* ''Lady in a Jam
''Lady in a Jam'' is a 1942 film comedy directed by Gregory La Cava and starring Irene Dunne, Patric Knowles, Ralph Bellamy, and Eugene Pallette. It was made and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film's sets were designed by the art direc ...
'' (1942) - Man (uncredited)
* ''Now, Voyager
''Now, Voyager'' is a 1942 American drama (film and television), drama film starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, and directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Oli ...
'' (1942) - Henry Montague (uncredited)
* '' I Married a Witch'' (1942) - Young Man (uncredited)
* '' Wintertime'' (1943) - Radio Announcer (voice, uncredited)
* '' Guadalcanal Diary'' (1943) - War Correspondent / Narrator
* '' Happy Land'' (1943) - Off-Screen Narrator (uncredited)
* '' Four Jills in a Jeep'' (1944) - Fighter Pilot Dispatcher on Loudspeaker (uncredited)
* ''Buffalo Bill
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age ...
'' (1944) - Narrator (uncredited)
* '' Pin Up Girl'' (1944) - Radio Announcer (voice, uncredited)
* ''The Eve of St. Mark'' (1944) - Radio Announcer (voice, uncredited)
* ''Roger Touhy, Gangster
''Roger Touhy, Gangster'' is a 1944 American gangster film based on the life of Chicago mob figure Roger Touhy, directed by film noir specialist Robert Florey.
Parts of the film were shot at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet, Illinoi ...
'' (1944) - FBI Agent Boyden
* '' Home in Indiana'' (1944) - Narrator in Opening Scene (uncredited)
* '' Wing and a Prayer'' (1944) - Cmdr. O'Donnell
* '' Wislon'' (1944) - White House Usher (uncredited)
* '' Rainbow Island'' (1944) - High Priest Kahuna
* '' In the Meantime, Darling'' (1944) - Maj. Phillips
* ''Circumstantial Evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact, such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly, i.e., without need ...
'' (1945) - Prosecutor
* '' Diamond Horseshoe'' (1945) - Intern (uncredited)
* '' Don Juan Quilligan'' (1945) - Announcer of Pearl Harbor Attack (uncredited)
* '' Captain Eddie'' (1945) - News Announcer (uncredited)
* '' A Bell for Adano'' (1945) - Cmdr. Robertson
* '' The Caribbean Mystery'' (1945) - Dr. Rene Marcel
* '' House on 92nd Street'' (1945) - Narrator (voice, uncredited)
* ''Leave Her to Heaven
''Leave Her to Heaven'' is a 1945 American film directed by John M. Stahl, starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and Vincent Price. Adapted by screenwriter Jo Swerling from the 1944 novel of the same name by Ben Ames Williams, the ...
'' (1945) - Dr. Mason
* '' Doll Face'' (1945) - Flo Hartman
* '' The Last Bomb'' (1945, Short, Documentary) - Narrator
* '' Shock'' (1946) - District Attorney O'Neill
* '' The Dark Corner'' (1946) - Police Lt. Frank Reeves
* '' It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog'' (1946) - Mike Valentine
* '' If I'm Lucky'' (1946) - Jed Conklin, Magonnagle's Campaign Manager
* '' The Razor's Edge'' (1946) - Party Waiter (voice, uncredited)
* '' 13 Rue Madeleine'' (1946) - Narrator (voice, uncredited)
* ''Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...
'' (1947) - Off-Screen Narrator (voice, uncredited)
* '' The Brasher Doubloon'' (1947) - Dr. Moss (uncredited)
* ''Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
'' (1947)
* '' The Fabulous Texan'' (1947) - Jessup
* '' T-Men'' (1947) - Narrator (uncredited)
* '' Captain from Castile'' (1947) - Juan Escudero (uncredited)
* '' Panhandle'' (1948) - Matt Garson
* '' The Man from Texas'' (1948) - Marshal Gregg
* '' The Iron Curtain'' (1948) - Narrator (uncredited)
* '' Canon City'' (1948) - Narrator (voice)
* '' A Southern Yankee'' (1948) - Fred Munsey
* '' The Return of Wildfire'' (1948) - Marty Quinn
* '' Jungle Goddess'' (1948) - Radio Newscaster (uncredited)
* '' Walk a Crooked Mile'' (1948) - Narrator (voice)
* '' He Walked by Night'' (1948) - Narrator (voice, uncredited)
* '' Last of the Wild Horses'' (1948) - Riley Morgan
* '' I Shot Jesse James'' (1949) - Jesse James
* '' Rimfire'' (1949) - The Abilene Kid
* ''Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile ().
The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...
'' (1949) - Mitch Bennett
* '' Apache Chief'' (1949) - Narrator (voice, uncredited)
* ''Red Desert'' (1949) - Narrator (voice, uncredited)
* '' Riders of the Range'' (1950) - Clint Burrows
* '' The Baron of Arizona'' (1950) - Griff
* '' Motor Patrol'' (1950) - Detective Robert Flynn
* '' A Modern Marriage'' (1950) - Dr. Donald Andrews
* '' The Return of Jesse James'' (1950) - Frank James
* '' The Killer That Stalked New York'' (1950) - Narrator (uncredited)
* ''Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
'' (1950) - Wild Bill Hickok
* '' Insurance Investigator'' (1950) - Chuck Malone
* '' Little Big Horn'' (1951) - Sgt. Maj. Peter Grierson
* '' The Wild Blue Yonder'' (1951) - Commanding Officer (uncredited)
* '' The Half-Breed'' (1952) - Frank Crawford
* '' Son of Ali Baba'' (1952) - Minor Role (uncredited)
* '' Kansas Pacific'' (1953) - Bill Quantrill
* '' Woman They Almost Lynched'' (1953) - Bitterroot Bill Maris
* ''Highway Dragnet
''Highway Dragnet'' is a 1954 American film noir B movie, B film crime film directed by Nathan Juran from a story by Uell Stanley Andersen, U.S. Andersen and Roger Corman. The film stars Richard Conte, Joan Bennett and Wanda Hendrix. It was Roger ...
'' (1954) - Det. Lt. Joe White Eagle
* ''Big House, U.S.A.
''Big House, U.S.A.'' is a 1955 American crime film noir directed by Howard W. Koch and written by John C. Higgins. The film stars Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker, Reed Hadley, William Talman, Lon Chaney Jr., and Charles Bronson. The fi ...
'' (1955) - FBI Special Agent James Madden
* '' All in a Night's Work'' (1961) - General Pettiford (uncredited)
* '' Gunfight at Comanche Creek'' (1963) - Narrator (uncredited)
* '' Moro Witch Doctor'' (1964) - Robert Collins
* '' Young Dillinger'' (1965) - Federal Agent Parker
* '' The St. Valentine's Day Massacre'' (1967) - Hymie Weiss
* '' The Fabulous Bastard from Chicago'' (1969) - Narrator (voice)
* ''Brain of Blood
''Brain of Blood'' (also known as ''The Creature's Revenge'', ''The Oozing Skull'', and ''The Undying Brain'') is a 1971 American horror film directed by Al Adamson and starring Grant Williams (actor), Grant Williams, Kent Taylor and Reed Hadley. ...
'' (1971) - Amir (final film)
Television
*'' Racket Squad'' (1951–1953) - Captain John Braddock
*''Public Defender
A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...
'' (1954–1955) - Bart Matthews
*''Wagon Train
''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...
'' (1958) - Mort Galvin
*''Bat Masterson
Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was bo ...
'' (1958) - Raoul Cummings
*'' The Red Skelton Hour'' (1958) - Prof. L. M. Treadway/District Attorney
*'' Rawhide'' (1959) - Clement
*''The Restless Gun
''The Restless Gun'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne (actor), John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Ci ...
'' (1959) - Colonel Bromley/Mayor Love
*'' Perry Mason'' (1964) as Medical Examiner
*'' Hondo'' (1967) - Morgan Slade
*'' Green Acres'' (1969) - Pilot
Other works
Radio
See also
References
External links
*
* (as Reed Herring)
Video Detective filmography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadley, Reed
1911 births
1974 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Male actors from Texas
People from Clay County, Texas
Male actors from Buffalo, New York
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male radio actors
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)