Gene Reynolds
Actor
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gene Reynolds (born Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal, April 4, 1923 - February 3, 2020) was an American actor, television writer, director, and producer. He was one of the producers of the TV series M*A*S*H.
Reynolds made his screen debut in the 1934 Our Gang short Washee Ironee, and for the next three decades made numerous appearances in films such as In Old Chicago (1937), Captains Courageous (1937), Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), Boys Town (1938), They Shall Have Music (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), Adventure in Washington (1941), Eagle Squadron (1942) and The Country Girl (1954), and on television series like I Love Lucy, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Whirlybirds, and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He was contracted to MGM between 1937 and 1940. He was in the U.S. Army during World War II.
In 1957, Reynolds joined forces with Frank Gruber and James Brooks to create Tales of Wells Fargo for NBC. During the program's five-year run he wrote and directed numerous episodes. Additional directing credits include multiple episodes of Leave It to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Farmer's Daughter, My Three Sons, F Troop, Hogan's Heroes, Room 222, and Many Happy Returns.
As a writer, director, and producer, Reynolds was involved with two highly successful CBS series in the 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1972 and 1983, he produced 120 episodes of M*A*S*H, which he co-created with Larry Gelbart, and for which he also wrote 11 episodes and directed 24. During that same period, he produced 22 episodes of Lou Grant, 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. 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 in 1993, a post he held for four years until 1997.
He died on February 3, 2020 at age 96.
As Director
Filmography
Captains Courageous
as Boy in Print Shop (uncredited) 1937
Babes in Toyland
as Boy (uncredited) 1934
Boys Town
as Tony Ponessa 1938
The Mortal Storm
as Rudi 1940
The Country Girl
as Larry 1954
99 River Street
as Chuck 1953
Santa Fe Trail
as Jason Brown 1940
The Blue Bird
as Studious Boy 1940
In Old Chicago
as Dion O'Leary (as a boy) 1938
Love Finds Andy Hardy
as Jimmy MacMahon Jr. 1938
Edison, the Man
as Jimmy Price 1940
Down Three Dark Streets
as Vince Angelino 1954
Of Human Hearts
as Jason Wilkins as a Child 1938
Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust
as Self 2004
Diane
as Montecuculli 1956
Slattery's Hurricane
as Control Tower Operator (uncredited) 1949
They Shall Have Music
as Frankie 1939