Ione Reed

{{Short description|American actress}}

{{Infobox person

| name =Ione Reed

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| birth_date = February 11, 1903

| birth_place = Cade, Texas, United States

| death_date = August 11, 1985 (aged 82)

| death_place = Dallas, Texas, United States

| othername =

| occupation = Actress

| yearsactive = 1924–1945 (film)

}}

Ione Reed (1903–1985) was an American film actress, a stunt double, and a safety instructor.

She played the female lead in a number of silent westerns.{{cite book |last1=Katchmer |first1=George A. |title=A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses |date=May 20, 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0905-8 |page=318 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnGeCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Ione+Reed%22+actress&pg=PA318 |access-date=May 26, 2024 |language=en}}

Reed also worked as a stunt double,{{cite book |last1=Magers |first1=Boyd |last2=Fitzgerald |first2=Michael G. |title=Westerns Women: Interviews with 50 Leading Ladies of Movie and Television Westerns from the 1930s to the 1960s |date=July 15, 2004 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-2028-5 |page=156 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E2YvBhX8CZ0C&dq=%22Ione+Reed%22+actress&pg=PA156 |access-date=May 26, 2024 |language=en}} including doubling for Maureen O'Hara in The Hunchback of Notre Dame{{cite book |last1=Gregory |first1=Mollie |title=Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story |date=19 November 2015 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-6624-7 |page=285 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_dCqCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Ione+Reed%22+actress&pg=PA285 |access-date=May 26, 2024 |language=en}} and for Claire Trevor in The Desperadoes.{{cite book |last1=Sculthorpe |first1=Derek |title=Claire Trevor: The Life and Films of the Queen of Noir |date=May 7, 2018 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-7193-2 |page=82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HspZDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Ione+Reed%22+actress&pg=PA82 |access-date=May 26, 2024 |language=en}}

In 1937 Reed was a member of an expedition to the Glapagos Islands and Central America. Sponsored by the California Zoological Society, the expedition went to collect birds and small animals for the society's Zoopark in Los Angeles. Reed was chosen to participate because of her "wide experience in handling animals".{{cite news |title=Zoo Expedition to Sail for Galapagos |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-citizen-news/148080570/ |access-date=May 26, 2024 |work=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News |date=December 11, 1937 |page=11|via = Newspapers.com }}

Reed appeared in newspaper advertisements for Camel cigarettes.{{cite news |title=She risks her life for the movies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-washington-herald/148080091/ |access-date=May 26, 2024 |work=The Washington Herald |date=March 9, 1938 |location=District of Columbia, Washington |page=7|via = Newspapers.com }}

A 1941 diagnosis of makeup poisoning led to a change in careers for Reed. A doctor told her that she could not use makeup for a year, so she sought other employment. Her first job was being a hot tinner in a radio factory, and in several months she had been promoted to head of the department. After that, she went to work for Lewyt, a company that manufactured electronic equipment, including radar devices, during World War II, and there her focus turned to plant safety. After she created several devices to protect workers, her boss made her a safety supervisor. She used her acting experience in training sessions to dramatize ways to avoid dangerous situations on the job. Improvements that she suggested led to fewer accidents and increased production at the factory.{{cite news |title=Stunt Girl Teaching War Workers Safety |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/blackwell-journal-tribune-ione-reed/148081407/ |access-date=May 26, 2024 |work=Blackwell Journal-Tribune |date=May 20, 1945 |page=2}}