B. Reeves Eason

B. Reeves Eason
Born William Reeves Eason
(1886-10-02)October 2, 1886
New York City, New York, U.S.
Died June 9, 1956(1956-06-09) (aged 69)
Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
Other names B. Reaves Eason
Breezy Eason
Reeves Eason
"Breezy" Reeves Eason
Occupation Director, actor, screenwriter, second-unit director, assistant director
Years active 19141950
Spouse(s) Jimsy Maye

B. Reeves Eason (October 2, 1886 June 9, 1956) was an American film director, actor and screenwriter. His directorial output was limited mainly to low-budget westerns and action pictures, but it was as a second-unit director and action specialist that he was best known. He was famous for staging spectacular battle scenes in war films and action scenes in large-budget westerns, but he acquired the nickname "Breezy" for his "breezy" attitude towards safety while staging his sequences—during the famous cavalry charge at the end of Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) that Eason directed, so many horses were killed or injured so severely that they had to be euthanized that both the public and Hollywood itself were outraged, resulting in the selection of the American Humane Society by the beleaguered studios to provide representatives on the sets of all films using animals to ensure their safety.

Career

Born William Reeves Eason in New York City, he directed 150 films and starred in almost 100 films over his career. Eason's career transcended into sound and he directed film serials such as The Miracle Rider starring Tom Mix in 1935. He used 42 cameras to film the chariot race as a second-unit director on Ben-Hur (1925), the climactic charge in Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), and also directed the "Burning of Atlanta" in Gone with the Wind (1939).

Family and personal life

His son, B. Reeves Eason, Jr., was a child actor appeared in 12 films, including Nine-Tenths of the Law, which Eason, Sr. directed. Born in 1914, he died in 1921 after being hit by a runaway truck outside of his parents' home shortly after the filming of the Harry Carey silent western The Fox was completed, just before his seventh birthday.

Death

On June 9, 1956, Eason died of a heart attack at the age of 69. He is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Director

Actor

Screenwriter

External links

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