Reginald Horace Bannister (born September 29, 1945) is an American musician, actor, producer, writer, and activist. He is known for his role as Reggie in the Phantasm film series.
Bannister is known for playing the gun-toting, ex-ice cream man Reggie in the Phantasm film series directed by Don Coscarelli. Bannister co-starred in the films alongside A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, and Angus Scrimm.
Bannister has appeared in several films and worked with such notables as Ossie Davis, Bruce Campbell and Andy Griffith.
Bannister played Herb Tooklander in the adaption of One for the Road, a short film sequel to Stephen KingâÂÂs Salem's Lot, which he co-produced with director Tim Sullivan and writer/director Paul Ward. The film also stars Adam Robitel and Audrey Walters.
In 2012, Bannister and his wife, Gigi, collaborated with co-writer Shelby McIntyre and co-writer/director Vito Trabucco on the comedy horror film Bloody Bloody Bible Camp. Bannister asked Tim Sullivan to co-produce and star in the film as the main villain, Sister Mary Chopper, and Sullivan accepted.
Bannister composed the song "Have You Seen It" for Phantasm IV: Oblivion, and arranged "Sittin' Here at Midnight" with Bill Thornbury for Phantasm.
Reggie Bannister is a U.S. military veteran who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In an interview, Bannister stated, "Getting back to the Vietnam thing. I was not for that war, I was against it, but there was this thing called the draft. I had friends who were going to Canada and I wasn't going to do that, I stand up to what's in front of me, and so just like anything else, I just thought, 'Soldier? Really? You're gonna be a soldier? Okay, well then you're going to be the baddest-ass soldier that ever put on a uniform.' So I just took that attitude, Landon, and just went for it. I was a head radio operator for an automatic weapons specialty group."
While in the service he was often around .40 and .50 caliber weapons, ultimately resulting in some hearing loss. Because of this, he is a service-connected disabled veteran, on top of which he was exposed to Agent Orange. Bannister took his GI bill from the military and used it to study acting.
Bannister resides in Crestline, California, where he lives with his wife.
In 2016, he was diagnosed with dementia and Parkinson's disease.
On February 21, 2025, it was announced that Bannister's health was deteriorating and that he was going to begin receiving hospice care at his home in Crestline.