- Born
- Died
- Nickname
- The Beautiful Beast
- Height6′ 3½″ (1.92 m)
- After a short time working as a merchant seaman, followed by a few appearances on stage, Maxwell Reed moved to London and was signed by the Rank Organisation. He made many British films during the 40s and 50s, rotating between leads in B movies and supporting roles in major productions. He also appeared in a few Hollywood swashbucklers and TV series before succumbing to cancer in the 70s. He was a bona fide teen idol in the late 40s, being the heart throb of many a schoolgirl. He was married to Joan Collins during the early 50s but the marriage ended in divorce.- IMDb Mini Biography By: The Captain
- Born in Ireland, the son of a boat builder he went to sea as a galley boy when he was 15 and served on the 'Spanish Blockade'. His parents eventually persuaded him to return and finish his schooling.Later deciding he wanted to be an actor he studied for a term at RADA then on the outbreak of war joined the RAF as a pilot. Demobbed after crashing he joined the merchant navy as an ordinary seaman. After the war he got some walk on work in the work in repertory theatre but not getting any where he returned to Ireland to consider things then read that film maker Sydney Box at Riverside Studios was looking for young actors so applied. The casting director was impressed by him and his appearance and signed him up to be a member of their repertory company and training in such as fencing and dancing. Before long he made his screen debut in 'No Ladies Please' followed by such as 'Gaiety George','Daybreak' and 'The Brothers'.. He married the actress Joan Collins and appeared with her in the film 'The Square Ring'.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5
- SpouseJoan Collins(May 24, 1952 - May 29, 1956) (divorced)
- Joan Collins's first husband. She married him at age 19. She advised him to base his acting style on James Mason. Reed ignored her advice and used Stewart Granger as his role model instead.
- Had an interest in military history (especially World War II), and collected memorabilia from that period.
- Post World War II Reed auditioned successfully for The Rank Organisation and became part of their 'Company of Youth' based at Highbury in London. Reed was aged 27 at the time.
- Ex-brother-in-law of Jackie Collins.
- Divorced Joan Collins in 1956 and sued her for alimony claiming he only earned $1,000 over 12 months. He later withdrew his claim and Collins wrote in her biography that she was advised to settle for $10,000 and she had to get an advance on her salary at Fox.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content