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Robert Reed is a Actor and Director American born on 19 october 1932 at Highland Park (USA)

Robert Reed

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Birth name John Robert Rietz, Jr.
Nationality USA
Birth 19 october 1932 at Highland Park (USA)
Death 12 may 1992 (at 59 years) at Pasadena (USA)

Robert Reed (October 19, 1932 – May 12, 1992) was an American stage, film, and television actor, and television director.

From 1961 to 1965, he portrayed Kenneth Preston on the popular legal drama, The Defenders, alongside E. G. Marshall. He is best known as the father Mike Brady, opposite Florence Henderson's Carol Brady, on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch, which aired from 1969 to 1974. He reprised the role of Mike Brady in later reunion programs. In 1976, he earned two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his guest-starring role in a two-part episode of Medical Center and for his work on the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man. The following year, Reed earned a third Emmy nomination for his role in the miniseries Roots.

Biography

Reed was gay but kept this fact private, fearing it would damage his career. In July 1954, Reed married fellow Northwestern student Marilyn Rosenberger. The couple had one daughter, Karen, before divorcing in 1959.

After his death, Reed's Brady Bunch co-stars – most notably Barry Williams and Florence Henderson – publicly acknowledged Reed's sexual orientation, and admitted that most of the cast and crew of The Brady Bunch were aware, but they did not discuss it with Reed. Barry Williams said, "Robert didn't want to go there. I don't think he talked about it with anyone. I just don't think it was a discussion – period."

Reed was the defendant in a notable case in American and English contract law, Anglia Television Ltd. v. Reed (1971). The case concerned the circumstances under which a victim of breach of contract can recover a "reliance interest" from the breaching party -- that is, a sum of money equivalent to the amount the victim of breach spent in reliance on the breaching party's promise. In the case, Anglia Television had arranged to stage and film the performance of a play, which was to be shown on TV. The station incurred substantial expenses in preparation for the performance before hiring Reed as the lead actor. Reed's manager had made a mistake in booking him for the role, failing to realize that Reed's other acting arrangements and commitments were such that he would not be able to star in the play. Reed breached and acknowledged his liability for doing so, but his lawyers contended that he was not responsible for the costs Anglia Television incurred prior to hiring him for the lead role. Reed's lawyers argued that such expenses could not be deemed a "reliance interest," as the expenses were incurred prior to Reed's agreeing to star in the play, and thus they were not incurred in reliance on his promise, as he had not yet concluded an agreement with Anglia Television. A party cannot rely on a promise that has not yet been made, so the argument goes. The court rejected this argument, holding that Reed must have known at the time of contract that Anglia Television had already incurred significant expenses prior to his contract and that such resources (i.e., the money Anglia Television spent in preparation for his performance) would be wasted in the event of his breach. Reed thus was deemed liable for those expenses and had to pay Anglia Television substantial damages.