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Wallace Reid
Actor, Director, Writer
Born April 14, 1891Died January 18, 1923 (31 years)
Wallace Reid was an American actor in silent film referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover".
Wallace Reid appeared in several films with his father, and as his career in film flourished, he was soon acting and directing with and for early film mogul Allan Dwan. In 1913, while at Universal Pictures, Reid met and married actress Dorothy Davenport. He was featured as Jeff, the blacksmith, in The Birth of a Nation (1915) and had an uncredited role in Intolerance (1916), both directed by D. W. Griffith; he worked with leading ladies such as Florence Turner, Gloria Swanson, Lillian Gish, Elsie Ferguson, and Geraldine Farrar en route to becoming one of Hollywood's major heartthrobs. Already involved with the creation of more than 100 motion picture shorts, Reid was signed by producer Jesse L. Lasky and starred in over 60 films for Lasky's Famous Players film company, which later became Paramount Pictures. Frequently paired with actress Ann Little, his action-hero role as the dashing race-car driver drew young girls and older women alike to theaters to see his daredevil auto thrillers such as The Roaring Road (1919), Double Speed (1920), Excuse My Dust (1920), and Too Much Speed (1921). While en route to a location in Oregon during filming of The Valley of the Giants (1919), Reid was injured in a train wreck near Arcata, California and needed six stitches to close a 3-inch (8 cm) scalp wound. To keep on filming, he was prescribed morphine for relief of his pain and Reid soon became addicted, but kept on working at a frantic pace in films that were growing more physically demanding, and changing from 15–20 minutes in duration to as much as an hour. Reid's morphine addiction worsened at a time when drug rehabilitation programs were non-existent. He died in a sanatorium while attempting to recover.
Wallace Reid appeared in several films with his father, and as his career in film flourished, he was soon acting and directing with and for early film mogul Allan Dwan. In 1913, while at Universal Pictures, Reid met and married actress Dorothy Davenport. He was featured as Jeff, the blacksmith, in The Birth of a Nation (1915) and had an uncredited role in Intolerance (1916), both directed by D. W. Griffith; he worked with leading ladies such as Florence Turner, Gloria Swanson, Lillian Gish, Elsie Ferguson, and Geraldine Farrar en route to becoming one of Hollywood's major heartthrobs. Already involved with the creation of more than 100 motion picture shorts, Reid was signed by producer Jesse L. Lasky and starred in over 60 films for Lasky's Famous Players film company, which later became Paramount Pictures. Frequently paired with actress Ann Little, his action-hero role as the dashing race-car driver drew young girls and older women alike to theaters to see his daredevil auto thrillers such as The Roaring Road (1919), Double Speed (1920), Excuse My Dust (1920), and Too Much Speed (1921). While en route to a location in Oregon during filming of The Valley of the Giants (1919), Reid was injured in a train wreck near Arcata, California and needed six stitches to close a 3-inch (8 cm) scalp wound. To keep on filming, he was prescribed morphine for relief of his pain and Reid soon became addicted, but kept on working at a frantic pace in films that were growing more physically demanding, and changing from 15–20 minutes in duration to as much as an hour. Reid's morphine addiction worsened at a time when drug rehabilitation programs were non-existent. He died in a sanatorium while attempting to recover.
Filmography
| 1931 | The House That Shadows Built · as (archive Footage) |
| 1921 | The Affairs of Anatol · as Anatol Spencer |
| 1920 | Excuse My Dust · as 'toodles' Walden |
| 1919 | Hawthorne of the U.S.A. · as Anthony Hamilton Hawthorne |
| 1919 | The Valley of the Giants · as Bryce Cardigan |
| 1919 | The Fall of Babylon · as Boy Killed In Fighting |
| 1919 | The Roaring Road · as Walter Thomas 'toodles' Walden |
| 1917 | The Woman God Forgot · as Alvarado |
| 1916 | Joan the Woman · as Eric Trent 1431 / Eric Trent 1917 |
| 1916 | Intolerance · as Boy Killed In Battle (uncredited) |
| 1916 | The House with the Golden Windows · as Tom Wells |
| 1915 | The Golden Chance · as Roger Manning |
| 1915 | Old Heidelberg · as Prince Karl Heinrich |
| 1915 | Carmen · as Don Jose |
| 1915 | The Birth of a Nation · as Jeff, The Blacksmith |
| 1914 | The Little Country Mouse · as Lieutenant Hawkhurst |
| 1914 | The Avenging Conscience: or 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' · as The Doctor (uncredited) |
| 1913 | Cross Purposes · as Wally |
| 1913 | The Deerslayer · as Chingachgook |
| 1912 | Playmates · as Party Guest At Piano (uncredited) |