Rex Reed

Rex Taylor Reed was born in Fort Worth on Oct. 2, 1938, and spent his childhood bouncing around the South because his father, Jimmy Reed, worked as drilling supervisor on oil rigs in and around the Gulf of Mexico. At Louisiana State University, Mr. Reed said he drew howls of protest with a seething editorial for the student newspaper, The Daily Reveille, called “The Price of Prejudice.” Turner Catledge, then the managing editor of The New York Times, visited a journalism class and offhandedly remarked that any of the students should visit him at the office if they happened to find themselves in New York. He eventually landing a job in the publicity department of 20th Century Fox. Settling in New York, Mr. Reed soon became an in-demand magazine writer, then a hot job. Mr. Reed was also becoming a regular on “The Dick Cavett Show” and “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson. In 1969 he edged out George Hamilton, he said, for a prominent role in “Myra Breckinridge,” Like Steve McQueen, John Phillips and seemingly half of Hollywood, Mr. Reed claims to have turned down an invitation to dine, along with Jacqueline Susann, the “Valley of the Dolls” author, at Sharon Tate’s house the night of the Manson family murders. Mr. Reed may not have made a fortune in the film business, but he is sitting on millions of dollars of real estate.