John Reed (actor)

John Reed is an English baritone singer and actor, known for his performances in the comic leads of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.

Reed was born in February 1916 in Bishop Auckland, and he joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1951 as the understudy to Peter Pratt, who was then the comic baritone of the group. His first leads were minor roles in operettas such as The Gondoliers and Cox and Box .

His real career began in 1959, when Pratt retired and Reed became the principal comic in the company. His roles were numerous: Bunthorne in Patience, Sir Joseph Porter in H.M.S. Pinafore, Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance, Ko-Ko in The Mikado, the Duke of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers, John Wellington Wells in The Sorcerer, the Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe and King Gama in Princess Ida.

Though he left the company in the late 1970s, Reed continued to perform Gilbert and Sullivan for the rest of his career. He appeared numerous times with D'Oyly Carte after his retirement, including their "last night" concert. Reed also spent some time in the 1980s with the CU Opera Company in Boulder, Colorado.

John Reed recorded all of his major roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for Decca Records; these recordings are still available. He also appeared in videos of H.M.S. Pinafore and The Mikado as Sir Joseph Porter and Ko-Ko, respectively.