William Wallace Halleck Reid (1891 - 1923)

Born 15 Apr 1891 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Descendants

Died 18 Jan 1923 at age 31 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

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Biography

Wallace Reid is Notable.

Wallace Reid was an American actor in silent films, called the "180 pound diamond" by movie mogul Jesse Lasky and "the screen's most perfect lover" by Motion Picture Magazine. He starred in dozens of films during the silent era and was often cast as the guy with a fast life and fast cars, which mirrored his personal life. His breakout role was as Toodles Walden in "The Roaring Road" (1919), followed by "Double Speed," 1920; "Excuse My Dust," 1920; "What's Your Hurry," 1920; and "Too Much Speed," 1921. He worked with Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Gloria Swanson, Geraldine Farrar and many other stars of the time.

Wallace was born William Wallace Reid 15 April 1891 in St. Louis, Missouri,^[1] the son of Hal Reid, a playwright, and Bertha Westbrook, a writer. He grew up on the road, and often appeared in his father's theatrical productions.

Wallace married Dorothy Davenport, an actress, 13 October 1913, in Los Angeles, California.^[2] They were the parents of a son, William Wallace Reid, Jr., who was born 18 June 1917 in Los Angeles.^[3] The family resided in Los Angeles.^[4]

His film career suffered a blow after Wallace was involved in a terrible train accident in 1919 when he was filming "The Valley of the Giants." Wallace was severely injured; in spite of this, the studio insisted that the film be finished and Wallace was given morphine to ease the pain while filming. After that, he was hooked.

Wallace died in a sanitarium 18 January 1923 in Los Angeles at the age of 31. ^[5] His remains were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.^[6]

An overview of his life and career can be found on Wikipedia here.^[7]

There is a nice biography of him at IMDb by Tony Fontana, which can be found here.^[8]

The Los Angeles Times has a short, but good biography here.^[9]

Associated Press Obituary, Friday, January 19, 1923:^[10]

Wallace Reid Dies in Fight on Drugs

Motion Picture Star Expires at Hollywood After Nervous Breakdown.

He Had Held Out Gamely

Told His Wife He Was Winning, Gained Screen Fame After Stage Career

"Los Angeles, Jan. 18 (Associated Press)-- Wallace Reid, motion picture actor, died this afternoon in the Hollywood Sanitarium, in which he had been under treatment for more than a month. His wife and children were with him. The direct cause of death, according to physicians, was congestion of the lungs and kidneys, induced by his recent nervous collapse."

"According to Dr. G. S. Herbert, who had been attending Reid since he entered the sanitarium, the actor's health was broken by his fight to rid himself of the use of narcotics. Reid, who was six feet tall and whose normal weight was 185 pounds, had lost sixty pounds during the last few weeks."

"Up to about a week ago relatives said that he was improving, and would be able to resume work in the studio of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation by July at the latest. "I'm winning the fight, Mamma," was his invariable greeting to his wife when she called on him."

"Mrs. Reid said that her husband contracted the drug habit during an illness nearly two years ago. His fatal siege began last November when, while working here on a picture, he collapsed. He was advised to take a long rest and started on a mountain trip with Mrs. Reid and "Teddy," his trainer. On his return to Los Angeles, his condition showing no improvement, he went to the sanitarium."

"Shortly before Christmas his family made public the cause of his breakdown, Mrs. Reid saying that she believed the information might aid in arousing public sentiment to the necessity of suppressing the narcotic traffic."

"It was announced tonight that the funeral would be held Saturday afternoon in an Episcopal Church yet to be definitely selected that the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks would have charge of the services, which would be open tot he public, and that the body would be cremated. "

Won Many Screen Successes

"Before his entrance into motion picture work, Wallace Reid played lighter roles in melodramas, which made his father, Hal Reid, well known as a playwright. His first appearance as an actor was in St. Louis in 1896. Reid was 4 years old then and he took the part of a little girl in the melodrama "Slaves of Gold," one of his father's. From that time on, all through childhood, he appeared with both his father and mother, who was Bertha Westbrook, in melodrama."

"When he was 10 years old the Reid family moved to New York. The boy went to the public schools and later to the New Jersey Military Academy. In 1909 his family moved again, this time to Wyoming, in the Big Basin District. There, young Reid worked as a ranch hand, ran a hotel and worked on the Government survey of the Shoshone Dam."

"Afterward he came back to the East and went to work as a reporter for a New York Paper. His return to the stage was in a vaudeville sketch written by his father "The Girl and the Ranger.""

"His first appearance in the movies was with the Vitagraph Company as a female impersonator with John Bunny. For nine months he continued with the pictures and did everything fro operating a camera to acting. Then he took a position on the editorial staff of The Motor Magazine, but soon went back to the screen and stage. For eleven months he played with his father in "The Confession," and then turned again to the movies, directing, acting, setting up the camera or writing the scripts as the occasion demanded."

"He played a minor role in the "Birth of a Nation" and other pictures for D.W. Griffith. Then he went to the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation and starred with Geraldine Farrar in the screen version of "Carmen" and "Joan the woman." From that time on his successes were many. Among them were "Peter Ibbetson" "Clarence," "Across the Continent," "The Roaring Road" and "The firefly of France." He had a smile which made a hit with screen crowds."

"Several years go while preparing one of his pictures he was struck on the head. It was about that time, it is said, that Reid, becoming afflicted with violent headaches, began to use drugs. About ten years ago, he married Dorothy Davenport, a motion picture actress, whom he met when he was with the Unib Films at Universal City. They had one son, Wallace Jr., and about four months ago they adopted a little girl."

"Mrs. Bertha Westbrook Reid said at her home last night that in addition to his activities in the motion picture world her son had found time to develop a decided talent in two other fields, music and art. "He was a good violinist," she said, "to me a wonderful violinist, and he spent a good many hours of his scant leisure with his instrument. He was also something of an artist. J. Wilson MacDonald, the sculptor, was his great-uncle, and I have always thought that Wallace inherited some of the family talent for work in clay. I think that if he could have devoted himself to art he would have succeeded as well in that field as he did in his chosen one.""

""Before his illness Wallace was an outdoor man. In spite of what has been said about him, he was a man's man. He loved golf, and spent all the time he could on the links. Last Winter when I was at his home he was greatly interested in his guns. He was always planning a deer hunt or a bear hunt or some other kind of recreation that would take him out from the city and into the woods and open country.""

Sources

1. ↑ U.S. World War I Registration Card; William Wallace Reid; born 15 April 1891 at St. Louis, Missouri. Occupation: Moving Picture Actor. Employer; Laskey Feature Co., Hollywood, CA. Physical description: tall, medium build, with dark blue eyes and light brown hair. 5 June 1917. Los Angeles, CA. "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZVN-VXX : 13 March 2018), William Wallace Reid, 1917-1918; citing Los Angeles City no 14, California, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,530,903.
2. ↑ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XL4R-PMK : 8 December 2017), William Wallace Reid and Fanny Dorothy Davenport, 13 Oct 1913; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 1,033,238.
3. ↑ "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGL7-VZVG : 18 January 2018), William Wallace Reid in entry for William Wallace Reid, 18 Jun 1917; citing Birth, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, California State Archives, Sacramento.
4. ↑ At the time of the 1920 US Federal Census, Wallace and Dorothy, along with their son, were living in Los Angeles. Wallace was 28; Dorothy was 24; and their son William, Jr. was 2. Also living in the household were Oscar Smith, a servant; Nora Smith, a servant; Luella Banchens, a nurse, age 64, and Vernon Peck, a chauffeur, age 21."United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHQF-XFM : accessed 3 July 2019), Wallace Reid, Los Angeles Assembly District 63, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing ED 160, sheet 4A, line 2, family 107, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 106; FHL microfilm 1,820,106.
5. ↑ "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGRW-78Q7 : 22 August 2018), William Wallace Reid, 1923.
6. ↑ Find a Grave Memorial for Wallace Reid.
7. ↑ Wallace Reid on Wikipedia.
8. ↑ Wallace Reid on IMDb.
9. ↑ Wallace Reid Biography Los Angeles Times Hollywood Star Walk.
10. ↑ The New York Times, Friday, January 19, 1923, page 17.