ELLIOTT REID

January 16, 1920

Edgeworth Blair “Elliott” Reid was born in New York City in 1920. He attended the Professional Children’s School. In 1935, Reid debuted on the radio program “The March of Time”, which led to regular work on radio dramas during the golden age of radio.  From 1937 to 1960 Reid also appeared on Broadway.

In some early performances he was credited as ‘Ted Reid’.

In 1940 Reid made his screen debut in the film The Ramparts We Watch.

Reid got into television in its early stages, acting in a Kraft Television Theatre production of “The Importance of Being Earnest” in December 1947. 

Reid’s first time acting with Lucille Ball came in “Face To Face” aka “The Ricardos are Interviewed” (ILL S5;E7) filmed on October 20, 1955 and aired on November 14, 1955. 

In it, Reid played Edward Warren, a parody of Edward R. Murrow (right), who hosted “Person to Person” from 1953 to 1959. Reid was a master imitator who studied tapes of Murrow to perfect the characterization. 

Reid returned to work with Lucille Ball in “Lucy Visits the White House” (TLS S1;E25) airing on March 25, 1963.  In addition to his brief scene in a trackside diner (above), Reid’s skill at imitating famous voices was used to impersonate the off-screen voice of President John F. Kennedy in the episode’s final moments, although he was never credited for it. His impersonation of JFK later got him invited to the White House to perform for the President himself.

Two years later, Reid returned to “The Lucy Show” to play a German doctor in “Lucy the Stockholder” (TLS S3;E25) first aired on March 29, 1965.

Dr. Kurtzman (Reid) hypnotizes Lucy and Viv, thinking they are subjects of his age regression experiment.  

On “Here’s Lucy” Reid first played police detective Harvey Gaynes, investigating a series of neighborhood break-ins. 

He hilariously gets caught up in Lucy’s home-made theft-protection system as the finale to “Lucy’s Burglar Alarm” (HL S2;E7) first airing on November 7, 1969. 

In “Lucy Meets Sammy Davis Jr.” (HL S3;E3), Reid played Otto, a film director making a movie with Sammy Davis Jr. Reid once again uses his German accent for the character. The episode first aired on September 28, 1970. 

His final appearance with Lucille Ball was in “Milton Berle Is The Life of the Party” (HL S6;E19) first aired on February 19, 1974.  

Reid played the host of a telethon. 

Auctioning off Milton Berle as a party guest, Milton begs Reid for mercy when he realizes that loony Lucy has made the top bid! 

In addition, he appeared on the “Our Miss Brooks” (1955) and “The Danny Thomas Show” (1959), two shows filmed at Desilu Studios. 

Reid’s final screen appearance was on an episode of “Maybe This Time” starring Betty White on September 15, 1995. 

Elliott Reid died of heart failure on June 21, 2013. He was 93 years old.