Marshall Reed

Marshall Reed was a supporting actor famous for his roles as a villain in Westerns. Born in 1917, Reed appeared in more than 150 films over the course of his career. Before getting into movies, however, Reed worked as, among other things, a meter reader, a mail clerk, and a horse trainer. During the golden years of the B Westerns in the 1940s and '50s, Reed was a regular for many of the big studios, including Columbia, Republic, P.R.C., and Monogram/Allied Artists, all of whom were churning out Westerns at the time. Though his characters were usually on the wrong side of the law, he did score a part as a protagonist every once in awhile, most notably in his only starring role, as Bill Cody in the 1954 film "Riding with Buffalo Bill." As Westerns began to decline in popularity, Reed moved on to TV work. He landed a costarring role on the police drama "The Lineup" as Inspector Fred Asher, a role he held for the six-year duration of the series. Though he would return to his Western roots every once in a while, with guest roles on "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke," Reed stuck mainly to police dramas throughout the '60s and '70s. He appeared in three episodes of "Perry Mason" and, several years later, had a guest role on "Dragnet 1967."