Dean Cyril Reed (September 22, 1938 – June 13, 1986) was an American actor, singer-songwriter, director, and social activist who lived a great part of his adult life in South America and then in East Germany.

Nicknamed the Red Elvis, Reed was the best-selling Western performer in communist countries, with his songs often topping the local charts, and millions of his records were sold in the Eastern Bloc and elsewhere mostly under the Soviet Melodiya label. He never renounced his U.S. citizenship, despite often denouncing the policy of the U.S. government, and was seen by the Western media as a threat and as a revolutionary artist.

Dean Reed was born in Denver, Colorado, on September 22, 1938. His father was a high school math and history teacher, described as a staunch anticommunist and supporter of Barry Goldwater, while his mother was a homemaker. He had two elder brothers, Dale and Vernon. Reed's family moved many times during the 1940s, living in various cities in California and Utah, before returning to Colorado.

He graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in 1956, where he was a star athlete on the track team. Despite his father's desire for Reed to enroll in a military academy, Reed studied meteorology for a couple of years at the UUniversity of Colorado Boulder and earned money in bars singing rock and roll and country music.

Reed moved to Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, at the age of 19 and with his good looks won roles in TV. He took acting classes with Warner Bros under Paton Price amongst others. Price was a pacifist and taught him that art should be a mode of promoting one's beliefs.

After realizing he had some talent as a musician, he recorded "Once Again" for Imperial Records as a one-off single to see if reaction to it would justify a full contract. Imperial did not offer a contract, but in 1958 Reed signed a long-term recording contract with Capitol Records. Capitol groomed him to be a teen idol and he produced some modestly popular singles, including "Annabelle", "The Search", "No Wonder", "A Pair of Scissors", "I Kissed a Queen", and "Our Summer Romance". He also made guest appearances on family television programs such as Bachelor Father. In 1985 he said, "When I was in Hollywood it was a place of fear and exploitation, a prostitution camp, where very few people could keep their integrity. I'm not ready to come back and do Coca-Cola ads to make a living."

Reed never achieved musical success in the U.S., where "The Search" became his only Billboard entry at No. 96. However, "Our Summer Romance" proved to be very popular in South America. In March 1962, Capitol sent him on a forty-day tour of Brazil, Chile, and Peru. While in Chile, he developed a left-wing political philosophy, and began to speak out against oppression and poverty. He protested against nuclear weapons and US foreign policy, and performed shows free in poor neighborhoods and in prisons. After learning Spanish, he stayed on in Argentina for approximately four years.

During his live concert performances, he was accompanied by the group Los Dominantes, a rock-band from Lanus, formed by Juan Luis Bhe 'Ricky' (keyboard), Carlos Reale 'Charly' (bass), Dardo Rivero (first guitar), Juan Chiarello (second guitar), and Jacinto Atencio (drums). Reed made numerous albums and movies, toured extensively, and even appeared on his own television programs in Buenos Aires, such as Sabados Continuados, with the appearance of Antonio Carrizo.^{[citation needed]}