He Caught the Acting Bug in College
Following several motivational conversations with his drama teacher, Watson B. Duncan, Reynolds tried out for a play he was producing. Duncan was so impressed by this charismatic student that he cast him in the lead role. Reynold’s spectacular performance won him the 1956 Florida State Drama Award.
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Reynolds’s award included a scholarship to the Hyde Park Playhouse, a summer stock theatre in New York. Thanks to that scholarship trip, Reynold’s met Joanne Woodward , who helped him find an agent. She described him as a “cute, shy, attractive boy. He had the kind of lovely personality that made you want to do something for him.”