Alan Reed
Alan Reed (born Herbert Theodore Bergman; August 20, 1907 – June 14, 1977)[1] was an American actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on The Flintstones and various spinoff series. He also appeared in many films, including Days of Glory, The Tarnished Angels, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Viva Zapata! (as Pancho Villa), and Nob Hill, and various television and radio series.
Alan Reed | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Herbert Theodore Bergman August 20, 1907 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | June 14, 1977 (aged 69) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Alan Reed Sr. Teddy Bergman |
| Alma mater | American Academy of Dramatic Arts Columbia University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1930–1977 |
| Spouse(s) | Finnette Walker ( m. 1932) |
| Children | 3 |
Early years
Reed was born Herbert Theodore Bergman in New York City to Jewish parents. His father was a Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant and his mother was born in the United States to Ukrainian-Jewish parents from Galicia.[2] He attended Washington High School[3] (now George Washington Educational Campus) and majored in journalism at Columbia University.
Between graduating from WHS and entering Columbia, he studied drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[4] He began his acting career in the city, eventually working on Broadway.
For several years, Reed toured in vaudeville with his cousin, Harry Green.[5] He also had two other jobs—operating a wholesale candy factory and working at the Copake Country Club as "social director, entertainment producer and actor."[4]
For a time, he continued to list himself either as Teddy Bergman or Alan Reed, depending on the role he was playing (Reed for more comedic roles, Bergman for more serious ones). He was able to act in 22 foreign dialects, and made a career as a successful radio announcer and stage actor.
Career
Radio and stage
As early as 1930, Reed (billed as Teddy Bergman) co-starred with Herbert Polesie in Henry and George, a CBS program that featured "minute dramas, popular laughmakers ... interspersed with dance music selections."[6]
Reed's radio work included having two roles in Valiant Lady,[7] the role of Solomon Levy on Abie's Irish Rose, as the "Allen's Alley" resident poet Falstaff Openshaw on Fred Allen's NBC radio show, and later on his own five-minute show, Falstaff's Fables, on ABC, as Officer Clancey and other occasional roles on the NBC radio show Duffy's Tavern, as Shrevey the driver on several years of The Shadow, as Chester Riley's boss on the NBC radio show The Life of Riley, as Italian immigrant Pasquale in Life with Luigi on CBS radio, various supporting roles on Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar and The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, and as Lt. Walter Levinson in several episodes of Richard Diamond, Private Detective.
Reed was "heard regularly on the Crime Doctor series,"[8] and "was the original Daddy to Fanny Brice on Baby Snooks."[9] Billed as Teddy Bergman, he had the title role on Joe Palooka.[9]
Billed as Teddy Bergman, Reed appeared on Broadway in Double Dummy (1936), and A House in the Country (1937),[10] and Love's Old Sweet Song (1940).[11]
Television and later roles
From 1957 to 1958, Reed appeared in a recurring role as J.B. Hafter, a studio boss, on the CBS sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve, starring Howard Duff and Ida Lupino, then married in real life, but appearing as a fictitious acting couple living in Beverly Hills, California. He also played the same character in The Bob Cummings Show. In 1963, he appeared as Councilman Jack Gramby in episode 8 of the CBS sitcom My Favorite Martian. In 1964–65, he had a recurring role as Mr. Swidler in the ABC sitcom Mickey, starring Mickey Rooney as the owner of a resort hotel in Newport Beach, California.
As a voice actor, Reed provided the voice of Boris the Russian Wolfhound in Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp in 1955. In 1960, he began the voice role for Fred Flintstone, the lead character of Hanna-Barbera's prime-time animated series The Flintstones. Reed provided Fred's voice for the entire six-season run of the show, as well as in several spin-off series (The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, The Flintstone Comedy Hour) and specials. His final performance as Fred Flintstone was a cameo guest role on an episode of Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics. Among his other voice roles for Hanna-Barbera was Touché Turtle's sidekick, Dum Dum.
Radio playwright and director Norman Corwin cast Reed as Santa Claus in the 1969 KCET television reading of his 1938 play The Plot to Overthrow Christmas.
In television commercials Reed was the voice over for J.J. Keebler, a creation of the Leo Burnett Agency.[12]
Personal life
In May 1932, Reed married the former Finette Walker[13] (1909–2005), a Broadway actress whom he met at television station W2XAB (later WCBS-TV) in New York City.[3] She appeared on stage in the early 1930s and was a chorus member in the original 1934 Broadway production of Anything Goes with Ethel Merman.[14] They had three sons, including actor Alan Reed, Jr. (born May 10, 1936).[15] Once his son started acting, Reed took the professional name Alan Reed, Sr.
Death
Reed, who was a heavy smoker, was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1967. He underwent an operation to have the organ removed, which successfully eradicated the cancer,[15] but he later developed emphysema and died of a heart attack on June 14, 1977, two months before his 70th birthday.[15] His body was donated to medical research.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Porky's Romance | Opening announcer (voice) | Short film |
| Teddy Bergman's Bar-B-Q | Teddy Bergman | ||
| 1944 | Days of Glory | Sasha | |
| 1945 | Nob Hill | Dapper Jack Harrigan | |
| 1946 | The Postman Always Rings Twice | Ezra Liam Kennedy | |
| 1950 | Perfect Strangers | Harry Patullo | |
| Emergency Wedding | Barber | ||
| 1952 | The Redhead and the Cowboy | Col. Lamartine | |
| Here Comes the Groom | Walter Godfrey | ||
| 1953 | Viva Zapata! | Pancho Villa | |
| Actor's and Sin | J.B. Cobb | Segment "Woman of Sin" | |
| 1953 | Pickup on South Street | Detective | Uncredited |
| I, the Jury | George Kalecki | ||
| Geraldine | Frederick Sterling | ||
| 1954 | Woman's World | Tomaso | |
| 1955 | The Far Horizons | Charboneau | |
| Lady and the Tramp | Boris (voice) | ||
| Kiss of Fire | Sergeant Diego | ||
| The Desperate Hours | Detective | ||
| 1956 | Time Table | Al Wolfe | |
| The Revolt of Mamie Stover | Captain Gorecki | ||
| He Laughed Last | Big Dan Hennessy | ||
| 1957 | The Tarnished Angels | Colonel Fineman | |
| 1958 | Marjorie Morningstar | Puddles Podell | |
| 1959 | 1001 Arabian Nights | The Sultan (voice) | |
| 1960 | Stop! Look! and Laugh | Prince (voice) | Uncredited |
| 1961 | Breakfast at Tiffany's | Sally Tomato | |
| 1966 | The Man Called Flintstone | Fred Flintstone (voice) | |
| 1969 | Get Smart | Little girl (voice) | Uncredited |
| A Dream of Kings | Fig King | ||
| 1971 | Shinbone Alley | Big Bill (voice) | |
| 1978 | The Seniors | Professor Heigner | Final role, posthumous release |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Make Room for Daddy | Joe Ferbus | Episode: "The Reunion" |
| 1959 | Have Gun – Will Travel | Dirks the Clamjumper | Episode: "Gold and Brimstone" |
| 1960 | Peter Gunn | Garson | Episode: "The Maître d" |
| Make Room for Daddy | Howard Sloan | Episode: "The Apple Polishers" | |
| 1960–1966 | The Flintstones | Fred Flintstone, Professor Von Messerschmidt, J.L. Gothrocks, The Prowler, Grandpa Rocky Flintstone (voices) | Recurring role |
| 1962–1963 | The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series | Dum Dum (voice) | 52 episodes |
| Touché Turtle and Dum Dum | |||
| 1963 | The Dick Van Dyke Show | Auctioneer | Episode: "The Masterpiece" |
| My Favorite Martian | Councilman Jack Gramby | Episode: "The Awful Truth" | |
| 1964 | Hoppity Hooper | Additional voices | Episode: "Ring-A-Ding Spring" |
| 1964–1968 | The Beverly Hillbillies | Gene Booth | Episodes: "Teenage Idol", "The Great Tag-Team Match" |
| 1966 | Space Ghost | Glasstor | Episode: "Glasstor" |
| Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This? | Fred Flintstone (voice) | Television film | |
| The Impossibles | Smogula | 1 episode | |
| 1967 | Batman | General MacGruder | Episode: "Penguin Sets a Trend" |
| 1968 | Petticoat Junction | The Bandit | Episode: "Bad Day at Shady Rest" |
| 1970 | Where's Huddles? | Mad Dog Mahoney (voice) | 10 episodes |
| 1971 | The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show | Fred Flintstone (voice) | 16 episodes |
| 1972 | The Flintstone Comedy Hour | Fred Flintstone (voice) | 18 episodes |
| 1975 | The Story of Heidi | Sebastian, Mr. Usher (voices) | English version |
| 1977 | Laff-A-Lympics | Fred Flintstone (voice) | |
| Energy: A National Issue | Television film | ||
| 1977–1980 | Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels | Additional voices | 39 episodes Final television role |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Dounle Dummy | Broadway | |
| 1937 | A House in the Country | ||
| 1940 | Love old Sweet Song |
Radio
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | Henry and George | ||
| 1932 | Joe Palooka | Joe Palooka | |
| 1938 | Valiant Ladt | Various roles | |
| 1940 | The Baby Snooks Show | Daddy | |
| 1940–1947 | Crime Doctor | ||
| 1942 | Abie's Irish Rose | Solomon Levy | |
| 1944–1951 | Duffy's Tavern | Officer Clancy, various characters | |
| The Life of Riley | Chester Riley's boss | ||
| 1948–1953 | Life with Luigi | Pasquale | |
| 1948–1954 | The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show | Various roles | |
| 1949–1962 | Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar | ||
| 1949–1953 | Richard Diamond, Private Detective | Lt. Walter Levinson |
References
- "Alan Reed profile". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2015-09-27. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
- "Fred Flintstone: A Stone Age Star With A Jewish Voice." Jewish Humor Central.com, October 10, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
- Schmidt, Bill Jr. (April 24, 1932). "Airy Chats". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. E9. Retrieved December 12, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- Witte, Lawrence (December 9, 1960). "Static". Denton Journal. p. 10. Retrieved December 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- Cox, Jim (2007). Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether from the 1920s to the 1980s—A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 234–235. ISBN 978-0-7864-6086-1.
- "Henry and George In Lincoln". The Lincoln Star. August 3, 1930. p. D5. Retrieved December 12, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- Buxton, Frank and Owen, Bill (1972). The Big Broadcast: 1920–1950. The Viking Press. SBN 670-16240-x. P. 249.
- "Fanny Brice on the Air Tonight". Belvidere Daily Republican. September 26, 1940. p. 8. Retrieved December 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-7864-2834-2.
- "Teddy Bergman". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- "CBS Actor Has Head Shaved for Summer". El Paso Herald-Post. May 31, 1940. p. 2. Retrieved December 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- Cerny, JoBe (May 11, 2015). "Icons of Advertising". Screen. Archived from the original on June 7, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
- "Behind the Microphone" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 1, 1932. p. 19. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- "Finette Walker: Performer." Playbill Vault Retrieved August 19, 2014.
- Thomas, Nick (September 23, 2015). "Alan Reed Jr. remembers 'The Flintstones' at 55". USA Today. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
Further reading
- Reed, Alan. The Alan Reed Story. Albany, Georgia: BearManor Media, 2009. ISBN 1-59393-313-4
- Terrace, Vincent. Radio Programs, 1924–1984. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999. ISBN 0-7864-0351-9
External links
- Alan Reed on IMDb
- "Alan Reed". Find a Grave. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
- Alan Reed at the Internet Broadway Database (billed as Teddy Bergman)
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