Tim Reid is an African American actor and filmmaker born in Norfolk, Virginia, on December 19, 1944. After working in business as a marketing representative, he turned to acting, with an early break on The Richard Pryor Show before landing the role that defined his television career: Venus Flytrap, the smooth late-night radio host Gordon “Venus Flytrap” Sims on WKRP in Cincinnati, beginning in 1978. In 1987 he starred in Frank’s Place on CBS, a comedy-drama set in a New Orleans restaurant, and earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series the following year; the show itself was nominated for outstanding comedy series. His television work also includes Sister, Sister.
Reid extended his career into production. He and his wife, the actress Daphne Maxwell Reid, built and operated New Millennium Studios in Petersburg, Virginia, one of the few full-service studios in the Southeast at the time and a resource that helped bring film productions to the area. In 2015, he confirmed the studio’s sale to local broadcaster NBC12 for $1.5 million.
In 2011, Reid formed the Legacy Media Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to educating young filmmakers on the entertainment business. In a 2019 talk at William & Mary, he encouraged younger storytellers to take responsibility for how their communities are represented. The William & Mary account also describes his work through the institute. At the event, Reid used examples from his teaching to discuss how scripts and images can shape public understanding. His message connected the craft of filmmaking with a concern for who gets to tell a community’s stories.
