Famous Like Me > Actor > R > Dean Reed
Profile of Dean Reed
on Famous Like Me |
| |
| Name: |
Dean Reed |
|
| |
|
| Also Know As: |
|
| |
|
| Date of Birth: |
22nd September 1938 |
| |
|
| Place of Birth: |
Denver, Colorado, USA |
| |
|
| Profession: |
Actor |
| |
|
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Dean Cyril Reed (September 22, 1938 - June 13, 1986) was an American actor, singer and songwriter who lived much of his adult life in communist East Germany.
Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Reed moved to California as a young man and signed a record contract with Capitol Records in 1958. Capitol groomed him to be a teen idol, and he produced some modestly popular singles, including "Our Summer Romance" and "Whirly Twirly," and made guest appearances on family television programs, such as Bachelor Father.
While never achieving great fame in his home country, "Our Summer Romance" proved to be so popular in South America that he stayed on in Argentina following a South American tour. His fame there exceeded that of Elvis Presley, and he made numerous albums, movies and even his own television program in Buenos Aires.
While living in South America, his left-leaning political beliefs began to be played out in public. He protested against nuclear weapons and U.S. foreign policy, and performed shows gratis in poor barrios and in prisons. His politics eventually ran foul of the Argentine government, which deported him in 1966.
He lived in Rome for a time, acting in films and touring the Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, where he was immensely popular. In 1973, he settled in East Germany for good, where he continued to write, direct, and perform in films.
While deeply committed to the politics of his adopted socialist home, he himself never joined the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED), and never viewed himself as a communist. However, in a television interview on CBS's 60 Minutes, he defended the building of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which angered many in the US, including family and friends.
Despite his opposition to the policies of the US, he professed his love of America until the end of his life, and his songs often reflected his fondness for his homeland. He never renounced his US citizenship, and even continued to file returns for the Internal Revenue Service.
In 1986, he was found dead in a lake near his home near East Berlin. Officially ruled a drowning, his friends in Germany suspect it was a suicide, while his family in the United States thought that he was murdered.
The University of Colorado sponsors the Dean Reed Peace Prize, an annual essay contest held in Reed's memory.
This content from
Wikipedia is licensed under the
GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article Dean Reed
|
