R. J. Reynolds, Jr.

Richard "Dick" Joshua Reynolds Jr. (April 4, 1906 - Dec 14, 1964) was an American entrepreneur and the son of R.J. Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

Biography

Reynolds was an American businessman, politician, activist and philanthropist.

His political career included serving as treasurer of the National Democratic Party under President Roosevelt and as Mayor of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. As a businessman, he acted as President of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and was involved in creating Delta Air Lines. He was also a yachtsman, pilot, aviator, and philanthropist.

Family life

Reynolds had four sons with his first wife, socialite Elizabeth McCaw Dillard: Richard Joshua Reynolds III (1933-1994), John Dillard Reynolds (1935-1990), Zachary Taylor Reynolds (1938-1979), and William Neil Reynolds (1940-2009). From his second marriage to the Hollywood stage and movie actress, Marianne O'Brien, his sons were: the activist Patrick Reynolds, and Michael Randolph Reynolds (1947-2004). His third marriage was to Muriel Marston Greenough, the younger sister of Anthony Heselton Marston, who was a major Canadian industrialist. His first three marriages ended in divorce. His fourth marriage, in 1961, was to Dr. Annemarie Schmitt, a psychiatrist.

Death

Reynolds was diagnosed with emphysema in 1960 and died four years later in Switzerland.