Tom Reese obit

Tom Reese, Burly Actor Famous for His Movie Fistfights, Dies at 89

He battled Elvis Presley in 'Flaming Star' and Dean Martin in 'Murderers' Row' and appeared on 'The Twilight Zone' and 'Ellery Queen.'

 

He was not on the list.

Tom Reese, a menacing-looking character actor who had his share of memorable onscreen fistfights and appeared in the noteworthy “The Midnight Sun” episode of The Twilight Zone, has died. He was 89.

Reese died Dec. 12 at a hospice facility in Studio City after a brief illness, his longtime friend Charles Leinenweber told The Hollywood Reporter.

A former U.S. Marine and military policeman who was a sturdy 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds in his prime, Reese played the cowpoke named Jute who has a knock-down, drag-out with Elvis Presley in Flaming Star (1960), directed by Don Siegel. Pacer Burton (Presley, who was taking karate lessons at the time and did his own stunts) throws Reese’s character off a barn roof and beats his head against a wall.

Reese had no qualms about sticking his nose into fictional fights during his career, also battling Tony Curtis in 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), Glenn Ford in The Money Trap (1965), Dean Martin in the Matt Helm movie Murderers’ Row (1966) — playing a henchman named Ironhead in that one — and Mike Connors on TV’s Mannix.

One would have thought that Reese would have had a somewhat easier time during a tussle with Woody Allen in Sleeper (1973). However, as Gene Freese noted in his 2017 book, Classic Movie Fight Scenes: 75 Years of Bare Knuckle Brawls, Reese was injured during a scene with Allen and received 12 weeks of workers’ comp. It was a knee injury, Leinenweber said, and it plagued Reese for the rest of his life.

Freese wrote that when the actor “arrived in Hollywood, Reese felt obliged to do his own fights until he realized he was keeping stuntmen from their checks.”

On the “Midnight Sun” episode of The Twilight Zone that premiered in November 1961, Reese played the intruder who bursts into the New York City apartment occupied by two women (Lois Nettleton and Betty Garde) as the planet is growing increasingly hotter.

Reese also was known for his portrayal of the cigar-loving Sgt. Thomas Velie on the single season of the 1975-76 NBC detective series Ellery Queen, starring Jim Hutton and David Wayne.

Tom Allen was born on Aug. 8, 1928, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His father and uncle had been country western singers in an act known as the Allen Brothers.

After five years of service with the U.S. Marine Corps, Reese took advantage of his G.I. Bill benefits to study acting with the American Theatre Wing in New York, then joined John Cassavetes‘ Actors Workshop.

He made his movie and TV debuts in 1959 when he appeared in the Cassavetes projects Shadows and the NBC detective series Johnny Staccato (on which he, naturally, got into a fight).

Reese drew upon his military experience to play a private in Raoul Walsh’s Marines, Let’s Go! (1961), portrayed the apostle Thomas in the George Stevens epic The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and was a sheriff in Richard C. Sarafian’s Vanishing Point (1971).

Westerns were a specialty, and he appeared with Dan Duryea in Taggart (1964) and in Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969). On television, he also worked on Gunsmoke (as various characters in 15 episodes), Have Gun – Will Travel, Lawman, Bonanza, The Virginian, The Guns of Will Sonnett, Rawhide and Branded.

His movie résumé also included roles in The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967), The Outfit (1973), James Ivory’s The Wild Party (1975) and Ted Kotcheff’s North Dallas Forty (1979).

Survivors include his brother Louis Sr., sister Dorothy and nephew Louis Jr.

 

Filmography

Film

 

    Shadows' (1958) as Tom

 

    Flaming Star (1960) as Jute

 

    Marines, Let's Go[3] (1961) as Pfc. Desmond "Let's Go" McCaffrey

 

    40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) as Bassett / Uncle Norman

 

    The Money Trap (1966) as Matthews

 

    Murderers' Row (1966) as Ironhead

 

    The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) as Thomas

 

    Vanishing Point (1971) as Sheriff

 

    Blood on the Arrow (1964) as Charlie

 

    Taggart (1964) as Vince August

 

    The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) as Ted Newberry

 

    Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) as Gunfighter (uncredited

 

    The Outfit (1973) as Hit Man

 

    The Wild Party (1975) as Eddy

 

    North Dallas Forty (1979) as Coach Waddy

 

    Dark and Stormy Night (2009) as Inspector Riley

 

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1959      Johnny Staccato                Eddie Dasko        "The Return "

1960      Bonanza               Burton "Blood on the Land"

1960      Gunsmoke           Tulsa      "Gentleman's Disagreement"

1960      Gunsmoke           Leeds     "Friend's Pay-Off"

1960      Have Gun – Will Travel    Yates      "The Tender Gun"

1960      My Sister Eileen]: 1205  Alan Dahorsameche, "The Wreck"             "You Should See My Sister"

1961      Gunsmoke           Ben        "Tall Trapper"

1961      Gunsmoke           Scorp     "Harriet"

1961      Lawman               Bob Mengis        "The Son"

1961      The Twilight Zone             Intruder               "The Midnight Sun"

1962      Gunsmoke           Wellman              "Reprisal"

1962      The Virginian      Wid        "Woman from White Wing"

1963      The Untouchables            Sonny Dale          "Search for a Dead Man"

1964      Bonanza               Lee Burton          "The Underdog"

1965      The Fugitive        Norman                "Scapegoat"

1964      Gunsmoke           Judd       "Friend"

1964      Rawhide               Bert Carrico        "Piney"

1965      Gunsmoke           Wayne Hooker   "The Pariah"

1965      Gunsmoke           Wade Keys          "The Hostage"

1965      Laredo Tom Baker           "The Golden Trail"

1965      Rawhide               Jennings               "Escort to Doom"

1965      The Virginian      Hans Wollsack   "Dangerous Road"

1965      The Wild Wild West[17]                Wagon Driver     "The Night of the Inferno"

1966      Bonanza               Sgt. Devlin           "The Last Mission"

1966      Branded               Jess Muhler        "McCord's Way"

1966      Gunsmoke           Okie       "The Brothers"

1966      Gunsmoke           Dave Westerfeldt              "Quaker Girl"

1966      Laredo Jake McBryde     "That's Noway, Thataway"

1967      Dick Tracy[6]      Ben        TV movie

1967      The Guns of Will Sonnett[1]         Lando    "Meeting at Devil's Fork"

1967      Gunsmoke           Ben Stearman    "Nitro!" Parts 1 & 2

1967      Stranger on the Run[10]: 337       Leo Weed            TV movie

1968      Gunsmoke           Slick Ragan          "Waco"

1968      The High Chaparral[19] Judson "Ebenezer"

1969      The Bold Ones: The Protectors    Tony Stovall        "Draw a Straight Man"

1969      Land of the Giants[17]: 1981        Sgt. Gedo             "Rescue"

1972      Mannix[3]           Sweeny                 "Lost Sunday"

1973      Mannix[3]           Springer               "Cry Danger"

1974      Emergency![20]                Dando   "Details"

1974      Kung Fu[21]        Sheriff   "Blood of the Dragon (Part 1)"

1974      The Six Million Dollar Man[22]   Joe Alabam         "The Last of the Fourth of Julys"

1974      The Virginia Hill Story[11]             Mac Hill                TV movie

1975      Gunsmoke           Charlie Dent       "The Squaw"

1975      Ellery Queen[12]              Sgt. Thomas Velie             22 episodes (1975–1976)

1976      Once an Eagle[8]              Sergeant Stoner                TV mini series, parts 4 & 5

1976      Police Woman[23]           Piers      "The Melting Point of Ice"

1976      Wonder Woman               Carl        "Wonder Woman vs Gargantua"

1977      Charlie's Angels                 Reed      "Circus of Terror"

1977      The Red Hand Gang         Dolan's Partner 3 episodes

1978      Eight Is Enough[24]         Jack O'Hara         "A Hair of the Dog"

1982      Simon & Simon[25]         Frost      "Double Entry"

1984      Knight Rider[17]                Brother Carey    "The Ice Bandits"

1987      Six Against the Rock[9]   Captain Weinhold             TV movie

1989      The Hollywood Detective[7]         Lt. Victor Grabouski         TV movie