Reed Hadley

Reed Hadley

1911-06-25 – 1974-12-11 (age 63) Petrolia, Clay County, Texas, USA
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Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Reed Hadley (June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American movie, television and radio actor.

Reed Hadley was born Reed Herring in Petrolia in Clay County near Wichita Falls, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one sister, Bess Brenner. He was reared in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Bennett High School in Buffalo and was involved in local theater with the Studio Arena Theater. Hadley and his wife, Helen, had one son, Dale. Before moving to Hollywood, he acted in Hamlet on stage in New York City.

Throughout his thirty-five-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 (1954) and Big House, USA (1955). With his bass voice, he narrated a number of documentaries. He 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. Hadley also worked on the Red Ryder radio show during the 1940s, being the first actor to portray the title character. In films, among other things, he starred as Zorro in the 1939 serial Zorro's Fighting Legion. He is immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his television work.

He was the voice of cowboy hero Red Ryder on radio and the narrator of several Department of Defense films: "Operation Ivy", about the first hydrogen bomb test, Ivy Mike, "Military Participation on Tumbler/Snapper"; "Military Participation on Buster Jangle"; and "Operation Upshot-Knothole" all of which were produced by Lookout Mountain studios. The films were originally intended for internal military use, but have been "sanitized", edited, and de-classified, and are now available to the public. During the period he narrated these films, Hadley held a Top Secret security clearance.

Hadley also served as the narrator on various Hollywood films, including House on 92nd Street (1945), Call Northside 777 (1947) and Boomerang (1947).

He died at age 63 on December 11, 1974, in Los Angeles, California, of a heart attack. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Reed Hadley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.​

Photos

Known For

Dallas
Dallas

1950

as Wild Bill Hickok

Guadalcanal Diary
Guadalcanal Diary

1943

as War Correspondent/ Narrator

Road Agent
Road Agent

1941

as Henchman Shayne

Young Dillinger
Young Dillinger

1965

as Federal Agent Parker

Jungle Goddess
Jungle Goddess

1948

as Radio Newscaster (uncredited)

Female Fugitive
Female Fugitive

1938

as Bruce Dunning

He Walked by Night
He Walked by Night

1949

as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Leave Her to Heaven
Leave Her to Heaven

1945

as Dr. Mason

I Married a Witch
Roger Touhy, Gangster
Roger Touhy, Gangster

1944

as FBI Agent Boyden

The Razor's Edge
The Razor's Edge

1946

as Party Waiter (voice) (uncredited)

Little Big Horn
Little Big Horn

1951

as Sgt. Maj. Peter Grierson

Ziegfeld Girl
Ziegfeld Girl

1941

as Geoffrey's Friend in Audience (uncredited)

Hollywood Stadium Mystery
Hollywood Stadium Mystery

1938

as Ralph Mortimer

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
All in a Night's Work
All in a Night's Work

1961

as General Pettiford (uncredited)

Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie

1995

as Self (archive footage)

Appointment for Love
Appointment for Love

1941

as Ferguson (uncredited)

Bailing Out
Bailing Out

1949

as Narrator

🎦
Hazard House

1954

as Television Host