Reed Hadley (June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American movie, television and radio actor.
Reed Hadley was born Reed Herring in Petrolia, Texas to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie; Reed had one sister, Bess Brenner, and grew up in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Bennett High School in Buffalo and was involved in local theater with the Studio Theater (predecessor of The Studio Arena Theater).
Hadley was married to Helen and had one son Dale. Before moving to Hollywood he acted in Hamlet on stage in New York City.
Throughout his thirty-five-year career in film, Hadley was cast as both a villain and a hero of the law. With his bass voice, he did voice over for documentaries. He starred in two television shows: Racket Squad (1950-1953) and Public Defender (1953-1954). He also worked on the Red Ryder radio show during the 1940s. In films,among other things, he starred as Zorro in the 1939 serial Zorro's Fighting Legion. He is immortalized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his television work.
He was the narrator of several Department of Defense films: "Operation Ivy", about the first hydrogen bomb test, Ivy Mike, "Military Participation on Tumbler/Snapper"; "Military Participation on Buster Jangle"; and "Operation Upshot-Knothole" all of which were produced by Lookout Mountain studios. The films were originally intended for internal military use, but have been "sanitized", edited, and de-classified, and are now available to the public.
Reed Hadley died on December 11, 1974 in Los Angeles, California, of a heart attack. [1] He was aged 63 at the time of his death, and the place of his burial is unknown.
Buffalo International Film Festival celebrates Movies of the World
