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Robert Ellis (actor, born 1892)

American actor and film director (1892-1974)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ7344031 ↗
Source-derived summary

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.

Editorial summary

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.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1892, 1974, 1913, 1934—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1892-06-27. For this dossier, Robert, Ellis and actor is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american actor and film director (1892-1974)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

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.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Robert Ellis (actor, born 1892)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Robert Ellis (actor, born 1892) primary sources, Robert Ellis (actor, born 1892) archive and Robert research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Robert Ellis (actor, born 1892)”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

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.