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Although Reynolds is a grandson of the tobacco company founder RJ Reynolds, makers of Camel and Winston cigarettes, in 1986 Mr. Reynolds spoke out publicly against Big Tobacco in Congress after his father died from smoking. His testimony was reported by news media around the globe, and Patrick went on to become a respected champion of a tobacco free society, campaigning for a smoke-free America.
In 2015 President Obama presented him with the Lifetime Achievement Award. He's a frequent speaker at universities, middle schools, high schools, and health conferences.
"The talks I give these days, especially to kids, amount to giving a 45-minute actor's monologue," Reynolds points out. "Every word has to sound spontaneous and be emotionally on point, in front of large audiences at schools. So I am fully tuned up and ready to act. I'd be pleased to play character roles and am a chameleon, capable of flawless European and US accents. It helps that I speak fluent French, as well as Spanish and German, and spent time in the South."
Patrick's TV appearances include two critically acclaimed short stories for PBS: F. Scott Fitzgerald's Bernice Bobs Her Hair, starring Shelley Duvall, and William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily, with Angelica Huston in the lead. Reynolds also created Bullet Head, an odd-voiced bald character, for the Tony Randall Show, and acted parts in other TV series, including Operation Petticoat, Civil Wars, Santa Barbara and others. In The Biggest Battle, he acted opposite John Huston.
Following his lead in Eliminators, after many callbacks for the role of Captain Pickard on Star Trek: Next Generation, they got down to two actors, both named Patrick, an the role went to Patrick Stewart.
Patrick Reynolds' stage appearances include lead roles in two Gilbert and Sullivan operettas: Ko Ko in The Mikado and Sir Joseph in Pinnafore. He performed in YMCA, an ensemble, off-Broadway show by Rado and Ragny, creators of Hair; and also acted the role of Earnest in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Before he began acting, at age 20 in 1969 Reynolds directed a documentary titled "Berkeley," which won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1970. After that he made several short films and then attended film school at UCLA. He then studied at USC in the Department of Cinema 1973 -74.
When Patrick added acting to his goals in 1974, he studied with Lee Strasberg personally in his Master Class at The Strasberg Institute. Patrick also studied with Justin Smith, and for three years, took voice and singing lessons with Eagles coach Arthur Joseph. He recorded three singles written by Harry Nilsson. He joined a class led by Igor Dimont of the Moscow Art School.
During this period Patrick studied for two years in Bill Sorrells' class at Milton Katselas, where his classmates included Michelle Pfeiffer and Patrick Swayze. At the same time he studied for two years at the Charles Conrad Studio, and for a year with Peggy Feury, where Jeff Goldblum was a classmate.
Mr. Reynolds co-authored a colorful family biography about his RJ Reynolds family, which he hopes to sell to TV. After the William Morris Agency packaged Patrick together with author Tom Shachtman, they co-authored The Gilded Leaf: Three Generations of the RJ Reynolds Family and Fortune. The book was published to critical acclaim by Little Brown in 1989. Info on The Gilded Leaf may be found at www.Tobaccofree.org/book/.
In 2007, Patrick married Alexandra Olympios, his second wife. They live in Los Angeles and have a son, born in 2009.
Reviews
Spark: A Burning Man Story (2013)
I felt like I was at Burning Man
SPARK is fantastic -- I loved this movie! I have been curious about Burning Man since I first learned about it. The movie offers one eerie, surreal image after another. Multiple camera crews on the ground and in the air capture the gathering by night and day -- bacchanalian revelry, colorful people in elaborate costumes, incredibly designed 100' high buildings, fantasy cars, giant statues and more.
No spectators are allowed at Burning Man, only participants. No cash is permitted; participants earn their keep by what they bring, and by the art they contribute. In 2012, 60,000 people attended the week-long event in the Nevada desert; it happens at the end of August every year.
There are plenty of laughs. The film follows two ordinary people, young artists who became extraordinary when they took the step of committing themselves to contributing major art pieces to the festival.
The movie includes footage of the first Burning Man on a San Francisco beach in the 1980's, and shows a Board meeting in crisis mode in 2012. We see the groundbreaking and construction of the 2012 event on the 'Playa', before moving on to the incredible coverage and stories at Burning Man.
SPARK is a truly stunning documentary film. Highly recommended.