View source for Patrick Reynolds (activist)

{{short description|American activist and actor}}

{{other people|Patrick Reynolds}}
{{Infobox person
| name           = Patrick Reynolds
| image          = Patrick Reynolds 4759Print.jpg
| imagesize      = 
| caption        = Reynolds in 2020
| birth_name     =
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1948|12|2}}
| birth_place    = [[Miami Beach, Florida]], [[United States]]
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| occupation     = Actor, activist
| yearsactive    = 1977-1992
| spouse         = Regine Wahl (1983<ref name=marries>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aqgcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=E2IEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5144,4793581|title=Millionaire Marries|date=11 July 1983|work=Pittsburgh Press|access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref>-1985<ref name=mother/>)<br />Alexandra Reynolds (2007-present) (1 child)
}}

'''Patrick Cleveland Reynolds''' (born December 2, 1948) is an American [[Tobacco control movement|anti-smoking activist]] and former [[actor]].

Born in [[Miami Beach, Florida]],<ref name=UPI/> he is the grandson of the tobacco company founder, [[R. J. Reynolds]],<ref name=chat/> and speaks of how he believes his family business has killed millions, including his own father, [[R. J. Reynolds Jr.]], and half brother, R. J. Reynolds III.<ref name=mother>{{cite web|first=Greg|last=Mitchell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PucDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA2|title=Fresh Heir|work=Mother Jones Magazine|date=November 1988|access-date=2010-01-24 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.latimes.com/1994-07-15/local/me-16089_1_patrick-reynolds | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Bob | last=Pool | title=Memorial Message : Tobacco Scion R.J. Reynolds III, an Emphysema Victim, Is Eulogized by His Brother, an Anti-Smoking Activist | date=15 July 1994}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://med.stanford.edu/medicalreview/smrp6-13.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-02-21 |archive-date=2013-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502181803/http://med.stanford.edu/medicalreview/smrp6-13.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>  He is a frequent speaker on the dangers of smoking, and founded a non-profit organization dedicated to anti-tobacco campaigning.

==Social activism==
{{quote box|align=right|width=20%|quote=I consider myself the white sheep of my family|source=Reynolds, 1986<ref name=UPI/>}}

In April 1986, Reynolds went with a friend to a meeting with Senator [[Robert Packwood]], where the issue of a proposed cut in tobacco tax was raised. Outraged, Reynolds stood up and asked why US tobacco taxes were so low.<ref name=mother/> By June 1986, Reynolds had become an anti-smoking activist, appearing in adverts for the [[American Lung Association]] and testifying before a congressional subcommittee at the invitation of Packwood,<ref name=anti>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3RoyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RagFAAAAIBAJ&pg=985,2390774|title=Tobacco family scion to do anti-smoking ads|last=Camili|first=Doug|date=14 July 1986|work=Montreal Gazette|access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref><ref name=bucking/> to the dismay of his family. He had already sold his tobacco stock in 1979,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/61569375.html?dids=61569375:61569375&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+06%2C+1992&author=R.+DANIEL+FOSTER&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=Tobacco+Road+Health%3A+The+grandson+of+R.+J.+Reynolds+has+battled+the+industry+his+ancestors+helped+created.+He+supports+a+proposed+ban+on+smoking+in+L.A.+restaurants.&pqatl=google|title=He supports a proposed ban on smoking in L.A. restaurants.|last=Foster|first=R. Daniel|date=6 February 1992|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref> and tried to get hired by RJR Nabisco Inc. from 1983–85, in an attempt to get the company to divest their tobacco holding.<ref name=fuming/> Reynolds was himself a smoker for 17 years until he quit in 1985 after over 10 years of trying.<ref name=anti/><ref name=bucking>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vHQdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u2IEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6285,5004948|title=Bucking the family|date=25 June 1986|work=Pittsburgh Press|access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rJwrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=D_wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5652,5104617|title=R.J. Reynolds' son urging Congress to ban tobacco ads|last=Carelli|first=Richard|date=18 July 1986|agency=Associated Press|access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref> He has appeared on many national television programs.

In 1989, Reynolds founded The Foundation for a Smokefree America.<ref name=chat>{{cite news|url=http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_74847.asp|title=Patrick Reynolds Brings 'Truth About Tobacco' Nov.22|date=26 October 2005|work=The Chattanoogan|access-date=24 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819130824/http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_74847.asp|archive-date=2010-08-19|url-status=dead}}</ref> That same year, Reynolds published ''The Gilded Leaf'' with Thomas Shachtman, chronicling three generations of his family and its tobacco business,<ref name=gilded>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ca0qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sWMEAAAAIBAJ|title='Gilded Leaf' a revealing look at Reynolds tobacco clan|last=Frizzi|first=Ginny|date=8 July 1989|work=Pittsburgh Press|access-date=24 January 2010}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/20/books/in-short-nonfiction-672689.html?pagewanted=1|title=In short; Non-fiction|last=Cooper|first=Andrea|date=20 August 1989|work=New York Times|access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref> a book he had been working on since 1980.<ref name=mother/> The book was re-issued in 2006 ({{ISBN|0-595-83831-6}}). In 2007 he released an educational video on DVD of a tobacco prevention talk he gave titled The Truth About Tobacco.

Former [[Surgeon General of the United States|Surgeon General]], [[C. Everett Koop]] M.D., called him "one of the nation's most influential advocates of a smokefree America."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24777705.html?dids=24777705:24777705&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+18%2C+1988&author=Jon+Anderson&pub=Chicago+Tribune+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=A+NEW+LEAF+A+TOBACCO+HEIR+REJECTS+THE+LEGACY&pqatl=google|title=A NEW LEAF A TOBACCO HEIR REJECTS THE LEGACY|last=Anderson|first=Jon|date=18 May 1988|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref> He continues to speak on tobacco control to adult groups, and also gives motivational prevention talks before high school and elementary school audiences. He advised the Greek government on anti-smoking measures in 2009, and in 2011 was seeking sponsorship for a world tour.<ref name=MW01>Lewis, Al,[http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tobacco-heir-still-battling-his-legacy-2011-12-14 "Tobacco heir still battling his legacy"],''MarketWatch'', December 14, 2011, 10:41 am EST. Retrieved 2011-12-14.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_ell_2_29/04/2009_312621 |title=Kathimerini.gr &#124; «Σύμμαχοι» οι καπνιστές στα νέα μέτρα |website=news.kathimerini.gr |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212161410/http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_ell_2_29/04/2009_312621 |archive-date=12 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://www.tobaccofree.org/news%20articles/2009-04-29-To-Vima-Greece/2009-04-29-To-Vima-MAG-Greece.pdf Primary source]</ref>

Relative to the friction within his family over his public campaign, he said in 2011 it has eased. "[S]ince 1986, the price of the stock kept going up. And as far as being an embarrassment, I received an award from the World Health Organization; I brought honor to the Reynolds family."<ref name=MW01/>

==Personal life==
His mother was his father's second wife, actress Marianne O'Brien who appeared in the 1940s in films like ''[[The Very Thought of You (film)|The Very Thought of You]]'', contracted to [[Jack L. Warner]].<ref name=UPI/> His parents separated when he was three and he did not meet his father again until he was nine. His father died five years later from emphysema aged 64,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/orlandosentinel/access/92864521.html?dids=92864521:92864521&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+25%2C+1986&author=Peter+S.+Canellos%2C+Washington+Post&pub=Orlando+Sentinel&desc=A+TOBACCO+HEIR+IN+THE+ANTI-SMOKING+CAMP&pqatl=google|title=A TOBACCO HEIR IN THE ANTI-SMOKING CAMP|last=Canellos|first=Peter S.|date=25 July 1986|work=Orlando Sentinel|access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref> leaving a will that disinherited Patrick and his brother and four half-brothers. He received $500,000 from his father's fourth wife in agreement not to contest the will.<ref name=gilded/> He inherited $2.5 million from his grandfather in 1969, when he was 21.<ref name=fuming>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BaArAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WPwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6670,5311096|title=Tobacco heir's fight has family fuming|last=Minehart|first=Tom|date=17 August 1986|work=The Associated Press|access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref>

Having attended [[Hotchkiss School|The Hotchkiss School]], Reynolds studied filmmaking at the [[University of California]]<ref name=UPI/> and the [[University of Southern California]]. He ventured into acting in 1975, during a visit to the set of ''[[Nashville (film)|Nashville]]''. His live-in girlfriend, actress [[Shelley Duvall]], had invited him to the set, and director [[Robert Altman]] cast him in a small non-speaking role. Reynolds subsequently studied acting at several Los Angeles schools; with [[Milton Katselas]], classmates included [[Michelle Pfeiffer]] and [[Patrick Swayze]]. At the urging of his voice coach, he recorded three unreleased pop singles in 1982.<ref name=mother/> He married his first wife Regina Wahl in Ofterschwang, West Germany in July 1983,<ref name=marries/> quit acting and briefly began working for [[Wahl & Söhne|her father's international bus company]]. He returned to acting after being offered a lead role in ''[[Eliminators (1986 film)|Eliminators]]''.<ref name=mother/> His mother died in 1985.<ref name=mother/> In 1986, he spoke out publicly for the first time against the tobacco industry. He remarried in 2007, and lives in [[Los Angeles]] with his wife Alexandra and their son, born in October 2009.

==Partial filmography==
*''[[Civil Wars (TV series)|Civil Wars]]''
*''[[Santa Barbara (TV series)]]''
*''[[Pumping Iron]]''
*''[[All My Children]]''
*''[[Eliminators (1986 film)|Eliminators]]'' (1986)<ref name=UPI>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ppMUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JIQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7118,2337120|title=Patrick Reynolds: Poor little rich actor|last=Scott|first=Vernon|date=13 February 1986|work=United Press International|access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref>
*[[Bernice Bobs Her Hair]] PBS Adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story
*[[A Rose for Emily]] PBS Adaptation of William Faulkner's short story
*[[Olivia Newton-John]] [[Physical (Olivia Newton-John song)]] music video

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0721898|name=Patrick Reynolds}}
* {{Official website|http://Tobaccofree.org}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Patrick}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Miami Beach, Florida]]
[[Category:Hotchkiss School alumni]]
[[Category:American motivational speakers]]
[[Category:American motivational writers]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:American male soap opera actors]]
[[Category:Anti-smoking activists]]
[[Category:Reynolds family]]
[[Category:American health activists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]