Gene Reynolds

Gene Reynolds
in the trailer for the film Gallant Sons (1940)
Born	Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal (1923-04-04)April 4, 1923 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died	February 3, 2020(2020-02-03) (aged 96) Burbank, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Occupations	Producer director screenwriter actor
Years active	1934–1999
Spouses	Bonnie Jones ​ ​ (m. 1967; div. 1976)​ Ann Sweeny ​ (m. 1979)​
Children	1
Awards	6 Primetime Emmy Awards 2 Directors Guild Awards Writers Guild of America Award

Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal (April 4, 1923 – February 3, 2020) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He was one of the developers and producers of the TV series M*A*S*H.

Early life

Reynolds was born on April 4, 1923, to Frank Eugene Blumenthal, a businessman and entrepreneur, and Maude Evelyn (Schwab) Blumenthal, a model, in Cleveland, Ohio. Reynolds initially was raised in Detroit, before the family relocated to Los Angeles in 1934.

Reynolds served in the United States Navy during World War II. He served on ships including a destroyer-minesweeper the USS Zane. Following the war, Reynolds received a degree in history at the University of California, Los Angeles, and resumed his acting career.

Career

Acting

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 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.

As a child actor, Reynolds often played the young version of the film's star character. He did this for Ricardo Cortez in 1937's The Californian, Tyrone Power in In Old Chicago (1938), James Stewart in 1938's Of Human Hearts and Don Ameche in Sins of Man (1936).

Directing and writing

Following his return to acting after serving in World War II, Reynolds became frustrated with not being able to land leading roles and the general progress of his career, and turned to directing, shooting episodes of shows such as Leave It to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, and My Three Sons.

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.

Reynolds' additional directing credits include multiple episodes of Father of the Bride, The Farmer's Daughter, F Troop, Hogan's Heroes, and Many Happy Returns. He was the Executive Producer for Room 222, a breakthrough comedy-drama on the ABC network which was about an African American school teacher, and which dealt with subjects such as drugs, prejudice and dropping out of school. The series ran for over 100 episodes, some of which Reynolds directed. ABC released Reynolds from the show when it thought making the show funnier would result in higher ratings.

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 was 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 position he held until 1997.

Personal life

Reynolds was married to actress-turned-author Bonnie Jones, who appeared in five episodes of M*A*S*H as Lt. Barbara Bannerman, from 1972 until 1975, when the couple divorced. He and his second wife, actress Ann Sweeny, who also appeared on M*A*S*H as Nurse Carrie Donovan in the episode "Hanky Panky", married in 1979 and have one son.

Reynolds died at the age of 96 of heart failure on February 3, 2020, at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1934	Babes in Toyland	Boy	Uncredited
1935	Transient Lady	Young boy	Uncredited
	The Calling of Dan Matthews	Tommy's friend	Uncredited
1936	Too Many Parents	Cadet	Uncredited
	Sins of Man	Karl Freyman as a boy
	Thank You, Jeeves!	Bobby Smith
1937	Captains Courageous	Boy in print shop	Uncredited
	The Californian	Ramon as a child
	Madame X	Raymond Fleuriot (age 12–14)	Uncredited
	Heidi	Minor Role	Uncredited
	Thunder Trail	Richard Ames (age 14)	Uncredited
1938	In Old Chicago	Dion O'Leary as a boy
	Of Human Hearts	Jason Wilkins as a child
	Love Finds Andy Hardy	Jimmy McMahon
	The Crowd Roars	Tommy McCoy as a boy
	Boys Town	Tony Ponessa
1939	The Spirit of Culver	Carruthers
	The Flying Irishman	Clyde 'Douglas' Corrigan
	They Shall Have Music	Frankie
	Bad Little Angel	Tommy Wilks
1940	The Blue Bird	Studious boy
	Edison, the Man	Jimmy Price
	The Mortal Storm	Rudi Roth
	Gallant Sons	Johnny Davis
	Santa Fe Trail	Jason Brown
1941	Andy Hardy's Private Secretary	Jimmy McMahon
	The Penalty	Roosty
	Adventure in Washington	Marty Driscoll
1942	Junior G-Men of the Air	Eddie Holden
	The Tuttles of Tahiti	Ru
	Eagle Squadron	The kid
1948	Jungle Patrol	Lt. Marion Minor
1949	The Big Cat	Wid Hawks
	Slattery's Hurricane	Control tower operator	Uncredited
1953	99 River Street	Chuck
1954	Prisoner of War	Capt. Richard Collingswood	Uncredited
	Down Three Dark Streets	Vince Angelino
	The Country Girl	Larry
	The Bridges at Toko-Ri	C.I.C. officer
1955	The McConnell Story	B-17 pilot	Uncredited
1956	Diane	Montecuculli
	The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit	Soldier	Uncredited

Source:

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Goldrup, Tom and Jim (2002). Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Film and Television. McFarland & Co. pp. 242–250. ISBN 1476613702.
• Holmstrom, John (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich: Michael Russell, p. 116.

External links

• Gene Reynolds at IMDb
• Gene Reynolds at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
• Who's Who at MGM — Gene Reynolds (1939)
• Gene Reynolds at Find a Grave