Ronald Reagan, Movie Actor

"Ronald Reagan, Movie Actor"," The former Dixon, Illinois native performed on stage in high school and college but during the Great Depression he had drifted into the sports world.
 Through a friend he got a screen test at Warner Bros.
 He was no Robert Taylor, but he did have more of an All-American look than some of the stars that worked at the Warner's factory, such as James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.
 When questioned about his acting experience Reagan told several lies to pad his resume.
 ""No dice"", Ron said feigning indifference when he was really desperate.
"" He left the studio thinking he had blown any chance to be signed by them.

 It seemed like every film his big line was ""Get me the City desk! I have a story that will break this town wide open!"" Ronald, a former lifeguard and kept detailed records of all the lives he saved, preferred playing heroes to the drunken socialite he portrayed along side Bette Davis in Dark Victory (1939) even if meant he'd be in mostly b-movies.
 He dated some of his leading ladies who fell out of love him after their movie was over.
 And there were tough Directors like the Hungarian born Michael Curtiz, with whom he made Santa Fe Trail (1940).
 ""Get me another minister!"" shouted the angry director.
 Warner Bros.
 Reagan produced a photograph of himself playing college football; he was actually bigger than Gipp.
 One day Reagan showed up to shoot the scene where Gipp ran the ball eighty yards for a touchdown.
 They would film something else instead.
 Then he was informed they were going to film the run after all.


Reagan was a political animal right away, driving his Hollywood co- workers to distraction with his praise of the policies of Franklin Roosevelt.
 One time he was yammering on about the necessity of government aid when a friend suggested he run for President.


Ronald Reagan's Star rose with King's Row (1942) where he gave a dramatic performance in which his legs were amputated and he screamed out,"" Where's the rest of me?"" King's Row gave his agent Lew Wasserman the leverage to negotiate a solid movie star salary for him.
 Though his terrible vision kept him from seeing combat (he was told that if he was sent overseas he would accidentally shoot an American General and probably miss him) the short propaganda films he appeared in (for which he received military, not movie star pay) did little to help his career.
 He overheard young women, who worked at his army base, swooning over newer, younger stars and when the war ended Reagan felt insecure and past his prime.
 She was attracted to him right away but wondered if his niceness was just an act.
 But after the war her career moved ahead of his with her Academy Award winning performance as a deaf mute in Johnny Belinda (1948).
 And his constant harping on politics drove Jane Wyman crazy; sometimes she would yawn away in public when he got on his soapbox.
 During that time the stressed out Midwesterner came down with a severe case of pneumonia that nearly killed him.
 In The Hagen Girl (1947) he reluctantly became the first man to kiss twenty-year-old Shirley Temple on screen.
 Movie patrons shouted, ""Oh no!"" when he and Shirley got into a clinch.
 Perhaps they would throw acid in his face or his bomb his house.
 Movie bosses saw Reagan more as a labor negotiator than a viable Movie Star.
 He publicly stated he could do a better job choosing his roles than Jack Warner, who fired him after fourteen years without a handshake.
 Reagan's money problems became so severe in the early 1950s that he tried to eek out extra cash by selling his autographs through the mail.
 They hit it off immediately, but he took it slow and dated several actresses in Hollywood.
 He and Nancy co-starred in the disappointing, big budget Hellcats Of The Navy (1957)


Ronald Reagan became a rich man by moving into television.
 But success in TV did not translate into high demand at the box office.
 In 1964 he made a film called The Killers where he played a villain for the first time.
 Reagan found the role unpalatable.
 Faced with a future of similar type roles made it easier for him to go into politics full time.
 He felt that the content of his words was more important than his style.
 ""Win one for the Gipper""! ""May the force be you!"" ""Go ahead! Make my day!"" They all became political sound bytes for him.
 Early in his first term as Governor of California the now very conservative Reagan described an encounter with a hippie.
 Once as President he leaned on a prominent Democrat.
"" ""Ninety percent? My God, Mr.