Reginald Sheffield

Reginald Sheffield (18 February 1901 – 8 December 1957) was an English-born American actor.

For the father of Samantha Cameron, see Sir Reginald Sheffield, 8th Baronet.

Life

He was born as Matthew Reginald Sheffield Cassan in the St. George's, Hanover Square district of London, to Matthew Sheffield Cassan and Alice Mary Field. He had a brother, Edward Sheffield Cassan and a sister, Flora Kathleen Sheffield Cassan, who became an actress known as Flora Sheffield.

His father was born in Ireland and his mother in England. They were married in London in 1892. Matthew died when Reginald was nine. In 1913 Reginald Sheffield (billed as Eric Desmond) appeared in David Copperfield. In 1914, Alice Sheffield and her children emigrated to the United States where they lived in Queens, New York. Reginald acted on the stage and in films. While his sister, Flora, was an actress, brother Edward worked as an accountant in a bank and later became a theatrical agent.

Sheffield's Broadway performances credited as Reggie Sheffield include Evidence (1914), in which his mother, Alice Sheffield, also appeared, The Merry Wives of Windsor (1916), If (1917), The Betrothal (1918) and Helena's Boys (1924). His performances credited as Reginald Sheffield include Youth (1920), The Way Things Happen (1924), Hay Fever (1925), playing Sandy Tyrell, Slaves All (1926), Soldiers and Women (1929), playing Lieutenant Mason and Dear Old England (1930).

Reginald Sheffield was married in 1927 to Louise Van Loon (21 January 1905 – 14 April 1987), a New York-born, Vassar College graduate with a liberal arts education. The couple had three children:

  • Mary Alice Sheffield Cassan (born 1928)
  • Jon Matthew Sheffield Cassan (11 April 1931 – 15 October 2010) (aka actor Johnny Sheffield)
  • William Hart Sheffield Cassan (15 July 1935 – 12 December 2010) (actor Billy Sheffield)[1]

As film production became more and more located in Southern California, Sheffield and his wife travelled back and forth between New York City and Los Angeles. After several years they moved permanently to the West Coast.

Being a trained stage actor, Sheffield easily made the transition from silent films to talkies. He was a working actor who became memorable in numerous character and supporting roles and appeared with some of the greatest film stars of the day, including Constance Bennett, William Powell, George Arliss, Loretta Young, Gary Cooper, Errol Flynn, Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine.

In 1954, he began appearing as Professor Mayberry in the television series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. And after his son, Johnny Sheffield, appeared in his last Bomba, the Jungle Boy film in 1955, Reginald created, produced and directed a pilot for a television series, Bantu, the Zebra Boy, but a sponsor was not found and the show was never produced as a weekly series.

Sheffield acted in both versions of Cecil B. DeMille's The Buccaneer in (1938) and (1958), the latter being his last screen appearance.

Death

Sheffield died 8 December 1957 at his home in Pacific Palisades, California, aged 56.[2]

Filmography

TV series starring roles
  • Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1954) .... Professor Mayberry
  • The Robot of Regalio (1956) .... Professor Mayberry
  • Renegade Satellite (1956) .... Professor Mayberry ... aka The Trial of Rocky Jones (1980) (USA video title)
  • The Magnetic Moon (1956) .... Professor Mayberry
  • The Cold Sun (1956) .... Professor Mayberry

TV guest starring roles

References
  1. In Memoriam William Hart Sheffield, M.D.
  2. "Dickens Actor Dies". The Kansas City Times. Missouri, Kansas City. Associated Press. 9 December 1957. p. 23. Retrieved 12 August 2016 – via Newspapers.com.

Bibliography
  • John Holmstrom, The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 17–18.
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