Maxwell Reed (2 April 1919, Larne, Northern Ireland – 16 August 1974) was a British actor who became a matinee idol during the 1950s with the Rank Organisation in Britain.
He was the first husband of Joan Collins whom he married on 24 May 1952. The marriage ended in divorce in 1956. Collins later claimed in her 1978 autobiography Past Imperfect that the divorce was a result of Reed's alleged attempt to sell her to an Arab sheik.
Reed was best known for his roles in the films The Dark Man, Blackout, Daybreak, The Clouded Yellow, There Is Another Sun and The Brain Machine. He also appeared to good effect in non-genre films such as Helen of Troy, Sea Devils, The Brothers, and The Square Ring (in a role later played on television by Sean Connery).
Reed drifted to the U.S. in the late 1950s and appeared in a few films and was a guest star on many television programs such as Bonanza, Perry Mason and Daniel Boone. He portrayed the title role in the 1950s television series Captain David Grief, based on short stories by Jack London.
He died from cancer, aged 55.