Carl Benton Reid

Carl Benton Reid (August 14, 1893 – March 16, 1973) was an American actor born in Lansing, Michigan, whose Broadway career spanned from 1929 to 1949. He adopted his full three-part name professionally after discovering that four other performers in the radio industry shared the name Carl Reid.

Before reaching Broadway, Reid spent seven years performing in leading-man roles at the Cleveland Play House, where he also met actress Hazel Harrison, who became his wife. The couple had one daughter, Shirley Jane. His extensive regional theater work provided the foundation for a Broadway career that included productions such as Twelfth Night, Strange Bedfellows, The Cherry Orchard, and Papa Is All, among others. He also appeared in multiple Shakespeare productions on the Broadway stage.

Reid's most significant Broadway achievement came in 1939, when he originated the role of Oscar Hubbard in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, playing one of the scheming brothers opposite Tallulah Bankhead's Regina Giddens. He reprised the role in the 1941 film adaptation, this time alongside Bette Davis, marking his feature film debut. He also appeared in the original Broadway production of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, taking the role of Harry Slade.

On radio, Reid played Roger Allen in the soap opera Big Sister. His television work included the recurring role of the U.S. spymaster known only as The Man in Amos Burke, Secret Agent, four guest appearances on Perry Mason across the show's run between 1957 and 1966, and a final television role as Claude Townsend in The F.B.I. His film credits included the role of the American Admiral overseeing Korean War peace negotiations in MGM's Pork Chop Hill, the Mayor of Middelburg in the 1957 production of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and a judge in Madame X (1966), which served as his final film appearance.

Reid died on March 16, 1973, at his home in Studio City, California, at the age of 79, survived by his wife and daughter.