Career beginning Reeves moved to New York where he studied acting under
Stella Adler, but after arguments he was refunded his tuition. He studied instead at the Theodora Irvin School of the Theatre. He began performing a vaudeville act with a comedian named Dick Burney. One of
Cecil B. De Mille's talent scouts saw him and had him tested for
Samson and Delilah (1949). Reeves received a seven-year contract with
Paramount. Reeves stated that De Mille wanted to cast him in the lead role, but told Reeves he had to lose 15 pounds in order to look convincing on-camera. Reeves says he tried to lose the weight and worked on his acting in preparation for the role over three months. Then, De Mille told him he was going to give the role to
Victor Mature.
Early acting appearances In 1949, Reeves filmed a
Tarzan-type
television pilot called
Kimbar of the Jungle, and in 1950 he became
Mr. Universe. He appeared on television in
Stars Over Hollywood in the episode "Prison Doctor" with
Raymond Burr. He appeared on the TV series
Topper (in the episode "Reducing"). In 1954, Reeves had a small supporting role as a policeman in the
Ed Wood film
Jail Bait. It was his first film and earned him his
Screen Actors Guild card. "I had a suit on at all times," he later recalled. "I even had a tie. Only took my shirt off once. Those were the days, huh?" The same year Reeves was in the MGM musical
Athena, playing the would-be boyfriend of
Jane Powell's character. Reeves guest-starred on
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show as the owner of a gym. In 1955, Reeves appeared in two Broadway shows,
Kismet and
The Vamp. He had a costume test for the lead in ''
Li'l Abner'' (1959) but lost the part to
Peter Palmer. He worked for American Health Studios in public relations, opening up fitness studios. That same year he married his first wife, Sandra Smith.
Hercules '' In Italy, director
Pietro Francisci wanted to make a film about
Hercules but could not find anyone suitable to play the role. His daughter recommended Reeves on the basis of his appearance in
Athena and Francisci offered him the role and a plane ticket to Italy. Reeves at first did not think he was serious but eventually agreed and flew to Italy to make the film. His fee was $10,000.
Hercules was a relatively low-budget epic based loosely on the tales of
Jason and the
Argonauts, though inserting
Hercules into the lead role. The film proved popular in Europe. What made it an international sensation was that US distribution rights were bought by
Joseph E. Levine, who promoted it and turned it into a major box-office success, grossing $5 million in the United States in 1959. However this did not happen until Reeves had already made four more films in Europe. The first was a sequel to
Hercules,
Hercules Unchained (1959), again directed by Francisci. Reeves was paid the same fee, although his wage would double from then on. This film was another huge success, being the third most popular film in Britain in 1960. Nonetheless Reeves would not play Hercules again, despite his identification with the role. Reeves' third film as star was
The White Warrior (1959), based on
Hadji Murat, the novel by
Leo Tolstoy. He played
Hadji Murad, a 19th-century
Avar naib who led his warriors in raids against the Russians invading his homelands in the North Caucasus (modern-day
Dagestan and
Chechnya). '', a film poster by
Reynold Brown Reeves played Emiliano in
Terror of the Barbarians, about the
Lombard invasion of Italy.
American International Pictures bought US rights and retitled it
Goliath and the Barbarians (1959), with Reeves's character renamed "Goliath". The film earned $1.6 million in North America during its initial release, when it was
double billed with
Sign of the Gladiator.
Injury Reeves portrayed Glaucus Leto in
The Last Days of Pompeii (1959), based on the novel by Sir
Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It co-starred
Christine Kaufmann and
Fernando Rey and was mostly directed by
Sergio Leone. During the filming, Reeves dislocated his shoulder when his
chariot slammed into a tree; Reeves had a change of pace in
Morgan the Pirate (1960) where he played pirate and occasional governor of Jamaica, Captain
Henry Morgan.
Andre de Toth and
Primo Zeglio directed. He then did an "Eastern",
The Thief of Baghdad (1961), playing Karim, directed by
Arthur Lubin. In
The Trojan Horse (film) (1961) Reeves played
Aeneas of
Troy, opposite
John Drew Barrymore. He co-starred with his fellow body builder
Gordon Scott in
Duel of the Titans (1961), the two playing
Romulus and
Remus respectively.
Sergio Corbucci directed. Reeves played Randus, the son of
Spartacus, in
The Slave (1962) then reprised his role as Aeneas in
The Avenger (1962) (a.k.a.
The Legend of Aeneas).
Later roles Reeves played
Sandokan in two films, both directed by
Umberto Lenzi:
Sandokan the Great (1963) and
Pirates of Malaysia (1964). Reeves said that by this stage his fee was $250,000 a film. Reeves reportedly turned down the
James Bond role in
Dr. No (1962) Reeves also declined the role that finally went to
Clint Eastwood in
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) because he did not believe that Italians could make a
western out of a Japanese samurai film.
George Pal contacted Reeves for the role of
Doc Savage in
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, the first of what was meant to be a
film series, but when filming was about to begin a Hollywood writers' strike put the film on hold with Reeves and the original director replaced. Reeves's last screen appearance was in 2000 when he appeared as himself in the made-for-television
A&E Biography: Arnold Schwarzenegger Flex Appeal.
Post-acting Reeves decided to retire for several reasons: stress, his injury, and the decline in the market for his sort of movies. He had earned enough to retire and moved to the Suncrest Stock Ranch he purchased in
Jacksonville just outside of
Medford, Oregon – north of the California border. He later purchased a ranch in
Valley Center, California. It would be his home for the rest of his life. Reeves
bred horses and promoted
drug-free bodybuilding. The last two decades of his life were spent in Valley Center, where he lived with his second wife, Aline, until her death in 1989. ==Other interests==