Rex Reason

Acting

Rex Reason

Born — Died

1928-11-30 — 2015-11-19

Place of birth

Berlin, Germany

Known for

Acting

Credits

36 titles

Rex Reason was an American actor born on November 30, 1928, in Berlin, Germany, to American parents. He grew up in Los Angeles and initially had no acting aspirations, but his mother encouraged both him and his brother Rhodes Reason to pursue acting careers. Reason's acting journey began when he played the lead in "Seventh Heaven" at Glendale's Hoover High School. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army at 17, serving from 1946 to 1948. After his discharge, he enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse and became involved in little theater. His film career started with a leading role in "Storm Over Tibet" (1952). Reason then signed with Universal-International in 1953, where he appeared in several notable…

Known for

Perry Mason poster
7.7

The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.

Perry Mason

1957

Matinee Theater poster
5.3

Matinee Theater is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from 1955 to 1958. The series, which ran daily in the afternoon, was frequently live. It was produced by Albert McCleery, Darrell Ross, George Cahan and Frank Price with executive producer George Lowther. McCleery had previously produced the live series Cameo Theatre which introduced to television the concept of theater-in-the-round, TV plays staged with minimal sets. Jim Buckley of the Pewter Plough Playhouse recalled: When Al McCleery got back to the States, he originated a most ambitious theatrical TV series for NBC called Matinee Theater: to televise five different stage plays per week live, airing around noon in order to promote color TV to the American housewife as she labored over her ironing. Al was the producer. He hired five directors and five art directors. Richard Bennett, one of our first early presidents of the Pewter Plough Corporation, was one of the directors and I was one of the art directors and, as soon as we were through televising one play, we had lunch and then met to plan next week’s show. That was over 50 years ago, and I’m trying to think; I believe the TV art director is his own set decorator —yes, of course! It had to be, since one of McCleery’s chief claims to favor with the producers was his elimination of the setting per se and simply decorating the scene with a minimum of props. It took a bit of ingenuity.

Matinee Theater

1955

77 Sunset Strip poster
7.2

Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this Warner Brothers drama. They work out of an office located at 77 Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, California, right next door to a snazzy restaurant where Kookie works as a valet. The finger-snapping, slang-talking Kookie occasionally helps Stu and Jeff with their cases, and eventually becomes a full-fledged member of the detective agency. Rex Randolph and J.R. Hale also join the firm, and Suzanne is their leggy secretary.

77 Sunset Strip

1958

Sugarfoot poster
5.1

Sugarfoot is an American western television series that aired on ABC from 1957 to 1961. The series stars Will Hutchins as Tom Brewster, an Easterner who comes to the Oklahoma Territory to become a lawyer. Jack Elam is cast in occasional episodes as sidekick Toothy Thompson. Brewster was a correspondence-school student whose apparent lack of cowboy skills earned him the nickname "Sugarfoot", a designation even below that of a tenderfoot.

Sugarfoot

1957

Trackdown poster
6.9

Trackdown is an American Western television series starring Robert Culp that aired on CBS between 1957 and 1959. More than seventy episodes of this series were produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television and filmed at the Desilu-Culver Studio. The series was itself a spin-off of Powell's anthology series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater.

Trackdown

1957

The Millionaire poster
5.8

An anthology series that explored the ways sudden and unexpected wealth changed life for better or for worse. It told the stories of people who were given one million dollars from a benefactor who insisted they never know him, with one exception.

The Millionaire

1955

Film credits

1950s · 19 titles

Scaramouche poster
7.0

In 18th-century France, a young man masquerades as an actor to avenge his friend's murder.

Scaramouche

1952

Salome poster
5.8

In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending him to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are–contrary to Scripture–nearing conversion to the new religion.

Salome

1953

Band of Angels poster
6.3

Living in Kentucky prior to the Civil War, Amantha Starr is a privileged young woman. Her widowed father, a wealthy plantation owner, dotes on her and sends her to the best schools. When he dies suddenly Amantha's world is turned upside down. She learns that her father had been living on borrowed money and that her mother was actually a slave and her father's mistress.

Band of Angels

1957

Smoke Signal poster
6.9

Capt. Harper's cavalry patrol returns to the fort to find it besieged by Ute Indians. The apparent cause is the recapture of Army traitor Brett Halliday, who deserted to the Utes in a previous war; but Brett has a different story. With capture imminent, the only chance for the surviving men (and one woman) is to boat down a wild, uncharted river, where Harper and Halliday must pull together, like it or not.

Smoke Signal

1955

Lady Godiva of Coventry poster
5.7

Fictionalized account of events leading up the famous nude ride (alas, her hair covers everything) of the militant Saxon lady.

Lady Godiva of Coventry

1955

This Island Earth poster
6.0

Aliens have landed and are hiding on Earth, but need Earth’s scientists to help them fight an inter-planetary war.

This Island Earth

1955

Taza, Son of Cochise poster
5.6

Three years after the end of the Apache wars, peacemaking chief Cochise dies. His elder son Taza shares his ideas, but brother Naiche yearns for war...and for Taza's betrothed, Oona. Naiche loses no time in starting trouble which, thanks to a bigoted cavalry officer, ends with the proud Chiricahua Apaches on a reservation, where they are soon joined by the captured renegade Geronimo, who is all it takes to light the firecracker's fuse...

Taza, Son of Cochise

1954

Yankee Pasha poster
5.3

Tale of an adventurer trying to rescue a damsel kidnapped by pirates.

Yankee Pasha

1954

The Creature Walks Among Us poster
5.5

Scientists surgically transform the Creature into an air-breather, but being able to live on land is not enough to make him comfortable with humans. Enraged, he turns his wrath on anyone who comes near as he desperately tries to return to the deep-water world where he truly belongs.

The Creature Walks Among Us

1956

The Rawhide Trail poster
8.0

In this western two wagon masters are wrongfully accused of driving their wagon train in to a Comanche raid and are sentenced to hang. Now they must work hard and fast to prove their innocence.

The Rawhide Trail

1958

Raw Edge poster
6.2

A Texan arrives in Oregon and seeks justice for his innocently-hanged brother.

Raw Edge

1956

The Miracle of the Hills poster
10.0

A minister arrives at a run-down mining town to take over the church there. He finds he has his work cut out for him, especially when an earthquake causes a flood in the mineshaft and traps some of the local children.

The Miracle of the Hills

1959

The Sad Horse poster
7.0

A lonely boy finds companionship with a horse.

The Sad Horse

1959

Under Fire poster
7.5

An Army lawyer defends a World War II hero and his men accused of desertion.

Under Fire

1957

Badlands of Montana poster
7.0

Wanting to follow in his late father's footsteps, eager reformer Steve Brewster runs for mayor of a small Montana town but is forced to flee and join a gang of notorious outlaws after he's provoked into killing two corrupt officials in self-defense. Gang leader Hammer takes Steve in, and Steve falls for his daughter, Susan, but his loyalties are divided when he's appointed marshal of his hometown.

Badlands of Montana

1957

Allen in Movieland poster
4.5

TV goes Hollywood when Steve Allen visits Universal-International to prepare for his upcoming title role in "The Benny Goodman Story."

Allen in Movieland

1955

Kiss of Fire poster
5.5

In 1700, a Spanish princess travels from New Mexico to California with ruthless outlaw El Tigre as guide.

Kiss of Fire

1955

Thundering Jets poster
9.0

An Air Force captain teaches pilots to fly jets but doesn't like it.

Thundering Jets

1958

Storm Over Tibet poster
7.0

During World War II, David Simms pilots supplies between India and China over the Himalaya Mountains.

Storm Over Tibet

1952

Series credits

Perry Mason poster
7.7

The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.

Perry Mason

1957

Matinee Theater poster
5.3

Matinee Theater is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from 1955 to 1958. The series, which ran daily in the afternoon, was frequently live. It was produced by Albert McCleery, Darrell Ross, George Cahan and Frank Price with executive producer George Lowther. McCleery had previously produced the live series Cameo Theatre which introduced to television the concept of theater-in-the-round, TV plays staged with minimal sets. Jim Buckley of the Pewter Plough Playhouse recalled: When Al McCleery got back to the States, he originated a most ambitious theatrical TV series for NBC called Matinee Theater: to televise five different stage plays per week live, airing around noon in order to promote color TV to the American housewife as she labored over her ironing. Al was the producer. He hired five directors and five art directors. Richard Bennett, one of our first early presidents of the Pewter Plough Corporation, was one of the directors and I was one of the art directors and, as soon as we were through televising one play, we had lunch and then met to plan next week’s show. That was over 50 years ago, and I’m trying to think; I believe the TV art director is his own set decorator —yes, of course! It had to be, since one of McCleery’s chief claims to favor with the producers was his elimination of the setting per se and simply decorating the scene with a minimum of props. It took a bit of ingenuity.

Matinee Theater

1955

77 Sunset Strip poster
7.2

Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this Warner Brothers drama. They work out of an office located at 77 Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, California, right next door to a snazzy restaurant where Kookie works as a valet. The finger-snapping, slang-talking Kookie occasionally helps Stu and Jeff with their cases, and eventually becomes a full-fledged member of the detective agency. Rex Randolph and J.R. Hale also join the firm, and Suzanne is their leggy secretary.

77 Sunset Strip

1958

Sugarfoot poster
5.1

Sugarfoot is an American western television series that aired on ABC from 1957 to 1961. The series stars Will Hutchins as Tom Brewster, an Easterner who comes to the Oklahoma Territory to become a lawyer. Jack Elam is cast in occasional episodes as sidekick Toothy Thompson. Brewster was a correspondence-school student whose apparent lack of cowboy skills earned him the nickname "Sugarfoot", a designation even below that of a tenderfoot.

Sugarfoot

1957

Trackdown poster
6.9

Trackdown is an American Western television series starring Robert Culp that aired on CBS between 1957 and 1959. More than seventy episodes of this series were produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television and filmed at the Desilu-Culver Studio. The series was itself a spin-off of Powell's anthology series, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater.

Trackdown

1957

The Millionaire poster
5.8

An anthology series that explored the ways sudden and unexpected wealth changed life for better or for worse. It told the stories of people who were given one million dollars from a benefactor who insisted they never know him, with one exception.

The Millionaire

1955

Bronco poster
6.0

Bronco is a Western series on ABC from 1958 through 1962. It was shown by the BBC in the United Kingdom. The program starred Ty Hardin as Bronco Layne, a former Confederate officer who wandered the Old West, meeting such well-known individuals as Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Theodore Roosevelt, Belle Starr, Cole Younger, and John Wesley Hardin.

Bronco

1958

Lux Video Theatre poster
6.7

Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.

Lux Video Theatre

1950

Bourbon Street Beat poster
6.0

"Bourbon Street Beat" is a private detective series produced by Warner Brothers Television which aired on the ABC network from October 5, 1959, to July 4, 1960. It featured Richard Long as Rex Randolph, Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, Van Williams as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell as Melody Lee Mercer, the secretary at the New Orleans detective agency in which they worked. The show is set in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA and revolves around the lives of Rex Randolph (Long) and Cal Calhoun (Duggan), who run a detective agency called Randolph and Calhoun — Special Services. The agency is based in the Absinthe House, a French Quarter nightclub on Bourbon Street.

Bourbon Street Beat

1959

The Roaring 20's poster
NR

The adventures of a newspaper reporter covering the world of cops and gangsters in 1920s Chicago.

The Roaring 20's

1960

The Alaskans poster
6.7

The Alaskans is a 1959-1960 ABC/Warner Brothers western television series set during the late 1890s in the port of Skagway, Alaska. The show features Roger Moore as "Silky Harris" and Jeff York as "Reno McKee", a pair of adventurers intent on swindling travelers bound for the Yukon Territories during the height of the Klondike Gold Rush. Their plans are inevitably complicated by the presence of singer "Rocky Shaw", "an entertainer with a taste for the finer things in life". The show was the first regular work on American television for the British actor Roger Moore.

The Alaskans

1959

Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers poster
7.5

Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers is a television series broadcast in the United States by NBC during its 1956-57 season. In a period in which much of the programming on U.S. television consisted of Westerns, Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers could best be described as an "Eastern". It consisted of the adventures of a fictional regiment of the famed real-life cavalry of the British Indian Army. The leading characters were the 77th's officers: the commander, Colonel Standish and two of his lieutenants, William Storm and Michael Rhodes. Rhodes was portrayed as a Canadian, purportedly because the actor portraying him, a native of New Jersey, could not be coached to produce a credible British accent.

Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers

1956

General Electric True poster
NR

Anthology series based on stories from "True" magazine, hosted by Jack Webb.

General Electric True

1962

Man Without a Gun poster
8.0

Man Without a Gun, is an American western television series produced by 20th Century Fox television and presented in first-run syndication in the United States from 1957 to 1959. Set in the town of Yellowstone near Yellowstone National Park in the then Dakota Territory during the 1870s, the program starred Rex Reason as newspaper editor Adam MacLean, who brought miscreants to justice without the use of violence or gunplay but through his Yellowstone Sentinel. The co-star was Mort Mills, as Marshal Frank Tallman, who intervened when the "pen" proved not to be "mightier than the sword".Harry Harvey, Sr., was cast in twenty-one episodes as Yellowstone Mayor George Dixon. The program is considered to have been unique because it showcased MacLean's moral ethics and common sense to bring outlaws to justice. The show was also used as a schoolroom to teach the youngsters of the 1950s about decency and the differences between right and wrong.

Man Without a Gun

1957