Brother of actor Rhodes Reason.
In 1961, he was offered the role of Raymond Shaw in John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate (1962) by Frank Sinatra as a professional nod to him since they had done a screen test together for Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity (1953) and Sinatra liked his work on the Warner Bros. TV series "The Roaring 20's" (1960). However, Reason had just quit the motion picture business to go into real estate, and could not be reached, so Sinatra cast Laurence Harvey instead.
Interviewed in Tom Weaver's book "They Fought in the Creature Features" (McFarland & Co., 1995).
Well known for his distinctive baritone speaking voice and his good looks.