Doctor Leonard Reed, The Senior Citizen of Show Business, Part II
Leonard Reed was born in a teepee in Oklahoma. His mother was half Choctaw Cherokee Indian and half Black. His father was White. "My father left us and my mother died when I was two" Reed recalled.
"Friends of my mother took care of me and beat and whipped me. While living in Kansas City, I was with a group of girls and boys who were caught drinking by a truant officer. When he took us to jail, the judge released all of them to their parents. No one came for me. Fortunately, the high school principal, H.O. Cook, showed up and got me released. He told me to show the judge the scars on my body from the beatings. He adopted me and kept me from going bad. It was the turning point of my life."
When the Charleston came out in 1922, Reed began winning dance contests throughout the Southwest and got a job in a show called, "Hits and Bits of 1926," produced by Travis Tucker. Reed credits both Tucker and Zell Rhoen for teaching him everything he knows about show business. Rhoen was owner of the Princess Theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he learned the ins and outs of theatre management.
Next, Reed teamed with Willie Bryant and toured with the Whitman Sisters. When the team broke up in 1928, Reed went to New York where he met Maceo Ellis, a comic tap dancer. "We teamed up and became known as Cutout and Leonard," said Reed. " Our first job was playing the Lincoln Theatre on 135th Street with Mamie Smith, a blues singer. Later, we played Broadway in a show called "Deep Harlem."
Reed learned more tap by visiting the Hoofers Club where dancers traded steps. Maceo Anderson (from an interview before his death) of the Step Brothers recalled meeting Reed there. "We had a ball together," said Maceo. "Leonard could really dance. He was tall and covered a lot of space, a lot like 'Honi' Coles. Leonard taught me the fast time step, the traveling time step, the cross step and the Bambalina. He always tried to help young dancers. He was always friendly to everyone and a great dancer."
With his theatre background, Reed wasn't satisfied to just be a dancer. He wanted to produce shows. Because he felt there was more opportunity in Chicago, he moved there in 1928 and produced "Rhythm Bound," which toured the country. In 1933 he did a second version of the show at the Roosevelt Theatre in Pittsburgh. When Frank Schiffman from the Harlem Opera House (later owner of the Apollo Theatre) saw the show, he decided to bring it to New York. Stock performances followed in Baltimore and Detroit where Reed met Joe Louis.
Through his friendship with the boxer Joe Louis, Reed met important people like Joe Glazer, who managed Pearl Bailey and Billy Holiday. When Glazer told Reed the Cotton Club in New York was looking for a producer, Reed applied and got the job. In 1937 he created "Tall, Tan and Terrific" starring Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway and Ethel Waters. The next year, he produced a show at the Grand Terrace Club in Chicago with Ella Fitzgerald and the Earl Hines and Fletcher Henderson bands. In 1939 Reed staged a show in St Louis at The Plantation and at the Zombie Club in Detroit with 'Peg Leg' Bates, Pearl Bailey and Billie Holiday. A year later at the Hollywood Casino, he produced a show featuring Noble Sissle and Benny Carter.
"During the war, I produced shows at Shep's Playhouse," Reed said. "I kept Sammy Davis' dad and uncle, Will Maston, in the show while Sammy was in the Army. When Sammy got out, they resumed their act."
Reed also produced shows for Dinah Washington, Foxx and White, Joe Louis, Baby Lawrence and Ralph Brown. From 1953 to 1960, he managed the Apollo Theatre.
Reed's career was never monotonous. He probably holds the record for performing in the most theatres and nightclubs. Because his skin was light, he could cross over from the segregated circuits. "I played them all," Reed concluded.
From a birth in a teepee and an abused childhood, to an honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts, Reed's life represents hard work and major accomplishments. Reed is truly a remarkable man in each of the many fields he has conquered. •