Hal Reid
actor, director, writer
- Birth name:
- James Halleck Reid
- Born:
- 1862-04-14, St. Omer, Indiana, USA
- Died:
- 1920-05-22, New York City, New York, USA
- Professions:
- actor, director, writer
Biography
Hal Reid entered the world on 14 April 1862 in the tiny river town of St. Omer, Indiana, and spent the next fifty-eight years racing through it like a reel spinning at double speed. A yarn-spinner and scene-stager, he gave early American screens their first taste of James Fenimore Cooper with 1913’s *The Deerslayer*, nudged Rip Van Winkle awake for a 1912 awakening, and poured a shot of temperance-era outrage into 1915’s *Prohibition*. Between the flickers he found time to marry three times: first to Marcella Frances Russell, later to the actress known simply as Mrs. Hal Reid, and finally to Marylee (Mae) Withers. The final curtain fell on 22 May 1920 in Manhattan, where the lights of Broadway dimmed for a storyteller who had helped teach the movies how to talk—silently, but with unforgettable flair.
