Robert Ellis (actor, born 1892)
American actor and film director (1892-1974)

Robert Ellis Reel (June 27, 1892 – December 29, 1974), known professionally as Robert Ellis, was an American film actor, screenwriter and film director. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1913 and 1934. He also wrote for 65 films and directed 61.
Biography
Ellis was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 27, 1892, and he attended St. Francis Xavier College in New York City.
Ellis's wives included actresses May Allison and Vera Reynolds and screenwriter Helen Logan. He and Logan wed in 1962, following Reynolds's death. His relationship with Reynolds drew public attention in 1938 as a lawsuit ended when the two decided to marry. Reynolds had sued Ellis for $180,000 for breach of promise, asserting that after their 1926 marriage in Greenwich, Connecticut, was found to be invalid, he had promised to marry her but failed to follow through. After a month's hearing, their decision to marry ended the litigation.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Robert Ellis (actor, born 1892)” is american actor and film director (1892-1974). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Robert, Ellis and actor, not as a finished interpretation.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7344031. VIAF identifies the subject as 42103082. The Library of Congress control number is n87916639. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1892, 1974, 1913 and 1934.
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This entry incorporates text from “Robert Ellis (actor, born 1892)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.