om Reese (Aug 8. 1928  - Dec 12. 2017)
Length: 6' 3" (1.91 m) Weight: 230 lbs. Marriages: (1) none known Siblings: Margaret Ruth (Oct 30. 1930 - May 17. 2010) Chuck ( - bfr. 2017) Louis Sr. Dorothy
Right: Tom Reese ca. 2006, click on Old Time Radio (above left) to hear Tom with an audio clip from The Twilight Zone (1961).
Born as Thomas E. Allen/Tom Allen, in East Chattanooga, Tennessee, on August 8, 1928, he was the son of Austin* A. Allen and Ethel Madden. His father Austin and uncle Lee were country-western singers "The Allen Brothers". Austin mainly did the singing and played the banjo while Lee concentrated on the guitar and kazoo. They were nicknamed "The Chattanooga Boys" since many of their songs mentioned Chattanooga. Traveling around in a trailer performing their bluegrass music with the family, including Tom, in tow. They played up and down the Mississippi river regions, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville, on radio stations, medicine shows and on Vaudeville stages.
Above: Family picture of the Allen brothers, Lee (far left) and Austin (far right) were known as "The Chattanooga Boys".
At 15, Tom was first heard on radio on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, then the Arthur Godfrey Show and Ted Mack. 1934 saw the Chattanooga Boys break-up and Lee went back to Tennessee while Austin stayed in New York City,  where Tom's dad supported the family working as a steelworker in the daytime and a singing waiter at night. Tom later held the expected assortment of odd jobs (Automat busboy, usher, etc.) in New York. Worked weekends in nightclubs in amateur shows where he also did impressions of Cagney or Bogart. With a distinctly recognizable Tennessee accent, he was teased at school and went to the movies on 42nd Street instead. Starting at 17 he served two tours of duty in the Marine Corps (five years in total).  Later, Tom did impressions of singers (and Bogart, Cagney) on the road in various clubs and studied theatre on his GI Bill in New York after he got out of the Marines in ‘51. This was in the American Theater Wing, (which he combined with delivering sandwiches) and John Cassavetes’ Actors Workshop. He spent 15 years on the road working nightclubs (emceeing, doing stand-up, etc.). He studied with Lee Strasberg, did some work off-Broadway and in local TV shows and finally made his film bow in John Cassavetes' New York-made Shadows (Lion International, Nov. 1958 & Nov. 1959). Cassavetes also had Reese fly out to Hollywood to play a part in "The Return" an episode of his detective series Johnny Staccato (NBC,  Sep. 17. 1959), Reese's Hollywood debut. He was ready to return to New York after doing the show but an agent signed him and he has been in California ever since. His first major film was Flaming Star (20th Century-Fox, Dec 16. 1960), an Elvis Presley western and the start of Reese's long career in big- and small-screen oaters.
Above left: Tom Reese in Shadows (Lion International, Nov. 1958 & Nov. 1959) (Source). Above right:  Tom Reese with some Japanese girls in Marines Let's Go (20th Century-Fox, Aug 15. 1961).
Above: In Flaming Star (20th Century-Fox, Dec 16. 1960) Tom got into a fight with Elvis Presley.
He broke into films in the early 1960's, getting parts like security guards, cops on the beat, and body guard-types. His Tom Reese as Sgt. Velie's large frame and serious face made him a natural for such roles but kept his options narrow and his celebrity low key. However, his roles as small-time guest star on TV shows - mostly westerns - dominated his resume.  The Untouchables (ABC, Jan. 21. 1960 - Jan. 1. 1963, min. 2 episodes), Bonanza (NBC, Feb. 13. 1960 - May 8. 1966, min. 3-5 episodes), He played 13 different characters on 14 different episodes of TV's Gunsmoke (CBS, Apr. 30. 1960 - Jan. 6. 1975, min. 14-22 episodes), The Virginian (NBC, Sep. 26. 1962 - Mar. 17. 1965, min. 2-5 episodes), Rawhide (CBS, Oct. 9. 1964 - Oct 12. 1965, min. 2 episodes), Laredo (NBC, Nov. 4. 1965 - Jan. 20. 1966, min. 2 episodes), Branded (NBC, Jan. 30. 1966, min. 1 episode), In 1967, he won a number of roles that earned him praise including the role of "Leo Weed" in the TV movie Lonesome Gun (aka Stranger on the Run) (NBC, Oct. 31. 1967) and the role of "Ben" in the unsold TV pilot "The Plot to Kill NATO" of Dick Tracy (20th Century-Fox TV, 1967), and The High Chaparral (NBC, Nov. 1. 1968, min. 1 episode).
Above left: The Twilight Zone episode "The Midnight Sun" (CBS, Nov. 17. 1961). Above right: 40 Pounds of Trouble (Universal, Dec. 31. 1962) with "Private Eye" Tom Reese opposite Tony Curtis.
Above left: Tom Reese as "Ironhead" in Murderer's Row (Columbia, Dec. 20. 1966). Above right: The High Chaparral "Ebenezer" (NBC, Nov. 1. 1968) with Tom Reese.

From January 9. 1969, the controversial gay-themed prison drama 'Fortune and Men's Eyes' was performed at the Coronet Theatre, running for 9 months in Los Angeles and 3 months in San Francisco. Don Johnson and Tom Reese starred in the production, under the direction of Sal Mineo. One would have thought that Reese would have had a somewhat easier time during a tussle with Woody Allen in Sleeper (United Artists, Dec 17. 1973). However, as Gene Freese (3) noted in his 2017 book, Reese was injured during a scene with Allen and received 12 weeks of workers’ comp. "It was a knee injury," Leinenweber said, and it plagued Reese for the rest of his life. Freese wrote that when the actor “arrived in Hollywood, Reese felt obliged to do his own fights until he realized he was keeping stuntmen from their checks.” Tom Reese was a masterful villain, but he'll always be best remembered for his good guy role, Sgt. Velie, a cigar-chomping, bull-in-a-china shop cop on the TV show Ellery Queen (NBC, Mar. 23. 1975 - April 4. 1976, 22 episodes). While the character of Sergeant Velie as the good Inspector's "right-hand man" is a necessary device, he makes it much more than that. He rarely smiles and gives us very few glimpses into the home life of Velie, yet still manages to make us feel he's part of our family (sort of the stern big brother type.) The main trait he conveys is that you know you can count on Velie. If the Inspector gives him a task, he'll be there to do it.

Above: Tom Reese as Sergeant Velie in Ellery Queen (NBC, Mar. 23. 1975 - April 4. 1976, 22 episodes).

Above left: Tom Reese and David Wayne in Ellery Queen "The Adventure of the Comic Book Crusader" (NBC, Oct. 2. 1975). Above right: "Maestro" Jim Hutton (Ellery Queen) with Tom Reese (Sgt. Velie).

His relationship with Ellery is a different matter. He never says so directly, but it's quite obvious he's fond of him and even looks up to him. He refers to Ellery as "Maestro", showing he sees him as a leader in his milieu. (Pictures above left and right) And you get the feeling that while Velie plays the obedient son to Richard Queen, it's Ellery he'd prefer to be off sleuthing with. No episode showed his willingness to "play the game" better than in "The Mad Tea Party" (NBC, Oct. 30. 1975). There is indeed one time when we get a small look into the Velie off-duty persona. That's in the episode, "The Adventure of Auld Lang Syne" (NBC, Sep. 11. 1975)  at the New Year 1947 party where the initial murder takes place. Attending the party is non other than Mrs. Velie, played by veteran actress, Peggy Rea (more recently "Jean Kelley" in Grace Under Fire). There are those that have said that this was our insight into why Velie spends so much dedicated time to work, but the bond between the Velies can clearly be seen.

Above left: In an episode from Moonlighting, called "Cool Hand Dave: Part 2" (ABC, Dec. 1. 1987), Tom Reese played Grogan (guard). Above right: The hitman in "Murder Through the Looking Glass" (CBS, Feb 21. 1988) from Murder She Wrote is played by Tom.

While Tom Reese's career ended in the late early 90s he had one role in 2009 as Inspector Riley in the film Dark and Stormy Night (Shout!, Jan. 16. 2009). Until 2015 Tom was known to still attend conventions and film festivals.  His longtime friend Charles Leinenweber announced in March 2018 that Reese had died December 12. 2017 at a hospice facility in Studio City after a brief illness. During his career, he was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, had been a member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, was a regular parishioner of the Methodist church, traveled around the nation in his own one man show, presided on his local charters of the United Way and Habitat for Humanity, had been a commercial model for the Forbes Agency, was the celebrity spokesman for Old Country Buffet and Guitar Center, had been a theatrical instructor for the Pasadena Playhouse, was a notable audiobook narrator, had been the official stand-in for Dan Duryea, and was a generous benefactor for several state parks and charities.

Above left: This 2006 convention saw Tom Reese and Lois Nettleton reunited. Both had starred in The Twilight Zone episode "The Midnight Sun" (1961). Above right: Tom Reese at the 2010 Williamsburg Film Festival.

Notes: * Austin Allen, born Feb. 7. 1901 in Sewanee, Tennessee, died Jan. 5. 1959. Survived by his wife. All dates for movies are for the first US release. All dates for TV programs are original first airdates. All dates for (radio) plays are for the time span the actor was involved. Facts in red still need confirmation.

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Other references (1) IMDb (2) Wikipedia (3) "Tom Reese as Sergeant Velie" from Ellery Queen TV Series      Companion (4) Classic Movie Fight Scenes: 75 Years of Bare Knuckle Brawls -      Gene Freeze 2017 (5) Tom Reese, Burly Actor Famous for His Movie Fistfights, Dies at 89      by Mike Barnes for The Hollywood Reporter. (6) R.I.P. Tom Reese, TV and movie actor known for amazing fistfights      MeTV March 17. 2018 Additional video & audio sources (1) Marines Let's Go clip 1961 movie (2) A Stroll down memory lane with Tom Reese YouTube (3) "The Plot to Kill NATO" Dick Tracy 1967 TV-pilot YouTube (Tom around 10:00) (4) Fortune and Men's Eyes (1969) 16 mm film - Youtube

This actor profile is a part of Ellery Queen a website on deduction. The actor above played Velie in the 1975-76 TV-series of Ellery Queen. Click Uncle Sam if you think you can help out...! Many of the profiles on this site have been compiled after very careful research of various sources. Please quote and cite ethically!

Page first published on November 23. 2016 Latest update May 15. 2024

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