author
Hal Reid
1862–1920
A prolific man of the theater who moved into silent films, he wrote plays, acted on stage and screen, and directed movies during the industry's early years. He is also remembered as the father of silent-film star Wallace Reid.
1 Audiobook
The shoemaker
by Olive Harper, Hal Reid
About the author
James Halleck Reid, usually credited as Hal Reid, was an American playwright, actor, and early film director active from the 1880s into 1920. Reliable sources describe him as a stage professional whose plays reached Broadway and as a performer who later carried his work into the new world of silent motion pictures.
By 1910, Reid had entered filmmaking as an actor, writer, and director. His credited work includes films such as Rip Van Winkle (1912), The Deerslayer (1913), and Prohibition (1915). Sources also note that his son, Wallace Reid, went with him into the film business and became one of silent cinema's best-known stars.
There is some disagreement in sources about his birth year, with records variously giving 1862 or 1863. He died in New York City on May 22, 1920. Even if his name is less familiar today, Hal Reid helped bridge the world of popular 19th-century theater and the fast-growing American film industry.