Remembering Dean Reed

Dean Cyril Reed was born on September 22, 1938, in Denver Colorado. He went to Hollywood where he signed a record contract with Capitol Records in 1958, but his third single, "Our Summer Romance" was so popular in South America he went on tour there. More became more popular than Elvis Presley, and stayed to enjoy his incredible fame in Chile, Peru and Argentina. He made albums, starred in movies and had his own television show in Buenos Aires. He was known as ‘Mr. Simpatia’ because he worked free in barrios and prisons and protested US policy, nuclear bomb tests etc. His politics moved to the left but he never joined the Communist party. He was deported from Argentina in 1966 and ended up in Rome, where he made "Spaghetti westerns" for several years. He made his first concert tour of the Soviet Union in 1966 and became a mega star there and in Eastern Europe. He continually got into trouble with the U.S. State Department for protesting the Vietnam War and attending International Peace Conferences. He moved to East Germany in 1973 where he made numerous albums, starred in and wrote and directed his own films

 
His last visit to the U.S. in late 1985 where he was encouraged to make a career for himself back home, especially if he could return with his current project in hand, a movie about the war between AIM and the FBI at Wounded Knee, 1973. An East German/Soviet Union co-production, the film had taken years to get off the ground. Just days before shooting was due to begin, Dean Reed's body was found in a lake near his home outside of East Berlin. He had been missing for several days. Many close to him in the GDR suspected suicide; his family and friends in America believed he was murdered by the KGB.
 
Reed made nine Euro-westerns from “Buckaroo” in 1967 to “Sing Cowboy, Sing” in 1981. He’s probably best remembered for his role as Ballantine in 1970’s “Adios Sabata” with Yul Brynner.
 
Today we remember singer, actor, screenwriter, director Dead Reed on what would have been his 75^th birthday.