Z. Smith Reynolds

Zachary Smith Reynolds (November 5, 1911 - July 6, 1932) was an American amateur aviator and younger son of R. J. Reynolds. The Zachary Smith Reynolds story was the basis for two movies, Reckless, starring Jean Harlow, and the popular 1950s classic, Written on the Wind. The latter was loosely based on a novel by Robert Wilder. In addition, the 1933 film Sing, Sinner, Sing was loosely based upon the allegations surrounding Reynolds' death.

Reynolds (also known as Z. Smith Reynolds, or just Smith) was the youngest child of R. J. Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and Mary Katharine "Katharine" Smith Reynolds.

R.J. Reynolds died in 1918 of pancreatic cancer, and Katherine Reynolds died in 1924. The Reynolds children then went to live with their uncle, William Neal Reynolds, and his wife Kate, who did not have children of their own. Reynolds quit school as a teenager to focus on flying planes, for which he had a talent. He was scheduled to receive $17 million from his father's estate at the age of 21.

Reynolds was an avid aviator like his older brother R. J. Reynolds, Jr., also known as "Dick". Smith bought a S.56C amphibian biplane built by American Aeronautical Corporation in Port Washington, New York under license from Italian manufacturer Savoia-Marchetti in the spring of 1931, it was customized for him to have a single seat and extra fuel capacity as he planned to fly it around the world. After a couple of aborted starts, Reynolds began a long-distance flight (London to Hong Kong) in December 1931 right after his marriage to Libby Holman. She was touring the United States in a road production of Three's A Crowd, reprising her Broadway theatre role. His solo flight was not really publicized and he was completing the ocean portions via boat. His flight journal survives.

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