Rhodes Reason

Rhodes Reason (April 19, 1930 – December 26, 2014) was an American actor who appeared in more than two hundred roles in television, film, and stage.

Rhodes Reason
Rhodes Reason as the sheriff with Marilyn Maxwell and Joan Freeman in ABC's Bus Stop
Born(1930-04-19)April 19, 1930
Glendale, California
DiedDecember 26, 2014(2014-12-26) (aged 84)
Palm Springs, California
OccupationActor
Years active1951–1977
Spouse(s)Carla Kenyon (1957-1972) (divorced) (3 children)
Jerrlyn Hamilton (2000-2014; his death)
RelativesRex Reason (brother)

Film and television career

Reason was born in Glendale in Los Angeles County, California, the son of Rex G. Reason and the former Jean Robinson.[1] The younger brother of actor Rex Reason, Rhodes Reason made his acting start at the age of eighteen in a production of Romeo and Juliet directed by Charles Laughton.

Among his starring roles were parts in King Kong Escapes (1967) and the television series White Hunter (1958), and as Sheriff Will Mayberry in the ABC drama series Bus Stop with Marilyn Maxwell and Richard Anderson. Reason was cast as Chuck Wilson in "Rodeo Round-Up" in 1956 and as Kinnard in "Dust of Destruction", episodes of Kirby Grant's western aviation adventure series, Sky King, episode "Conflict" in the "Rifleman" as Ben Kendrick.

Reason had a major part in an episode of the ABC/Warner Bros. western series, Sugarfoot, starring Will Hutchins. In the segment "Strange Land" (1957), Reason played Burr Fulton, a hired gunman who takes over the management of a ranch owned by the aging and bitter Cash Billings, portrayed by Morris Ankrum. Sugarfoot arrives to bring law and justice to the situation. Jan Chaney plays Billings' daughter, Anne, who takes a liking to Sugarfoot and an aversion to Fulton.[2] Reason was a guest star in Frontier Doctor, a syndicated western series set in the Arizona Territory starring Rex Allen. He was cast as Black Jack in the episode "The Homesteaders" (1958). Another ABC/WB western series Reason appeared in was Colt .45, as Ben Thompson in the episode "Appointment in Agoura" (1960). Chris Robinson appeared in the guest cast as Cal Sanger. In the story line, Thompson is targeted by the Sanger gang after he shot its youngest member in self-defense.[3]

Reason guest starred on Tales of the Texas Rangers, Maverick (1957 episode "Ghost Rider" with James Garner), Tombstone Territory (1957 episode "Ambush at Gila Gulch"), Perry Mason as Martin Eldridge in the 1966 episode, "The Case of the Bogus Buccaneers", 77 Sunset Strip (1958), Bourbon Street Beat (1960), The Time Tunnel (1966), The Big Valley (the episode "Plunder" in 1967), The Lucy Show (also 1967), Star Trek ("Bread and Circuses", 1968), and Here's Lucy (also 1968).

Reason appeared as Peter Jeffries in the 1955 episode, "California's First Ice Man" of the western television anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. In the story line, Jeffries turns to the importation of ice from his native Boston, Massachusetts, rather than exploration of gold, to revive his lost family fortune. He finds Sacramento under the grip of Phineas Colby (I. Stanford Jolley) while he is courting Colby's niece, Laura Colby (Donna Drew), who acts as a nurse seeking ice to relieve suffering of her patients in the heat of summer.[4] In 1966, Reason appeared as Wild Bill Hickok in another Death Valley Days episode, "A Calamity Called Jane" with Fay Spain in the starring role.

His feature film appearances include Yellowstone Kelly (1959, with Clint Walker) and A Fever in the Blood (1961). In the early 1980s, he starred in the Broadway musical Annie, playing Daddy Warbucks for nearly three years.

Reason died in Palm Springs at the age of eighty-four of lymphoma.[5]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1955Lady Godiva of CoventrySweynUncredited
1956Crime Against JoeGeorge Niles
1956Tension at Table RockBaidUncredited
1956CheyenneLes ShoreEpisode: The Trap
1956Flight to Hong KongBob DenhamUncredited
1956Emergency HospitalJuvenile Officer Ross
1956The Desperados Are in TownFrank Banner
1957Voodoo IslandMatthew Gunn
1957Jungle HeatMajor Richard 'Dick' Grey
1957MaverickHank FosterEpisode: Ghost Rider
1959The Big FishermanAndrew
1959Yellowstone KellyMaj. Towns
1960CheyenneBill LockhartEpisode: Outcast of Cripple Creek
1961A Fever in the BloodWalter Thornwall
1967King Kong EscapesCommander Carl Nelson
1970The Delta FactorDr. Fredericks
1976Cat Murkil and the SilksDetective Harder
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References
  1. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8XJ-JM6
  2. ""The Strange Land", October 15, 1957". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  3. "Colt .45". ctva.biz. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  4. "California's First Ice Man on Death Valley Days". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  5. Rest in Peace: Rhodes Reason
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