Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

   Nancy Reagan was an actress who would rise to become First Lady in the White House. During the Ronald Reagan administration, she’s best known for her Just Say No anti-drug campaign. Her personal friends included Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Rock Hudson, Robert Taylor, and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

   Besides Just Say No, her own agenda included bringing glamour and glitz back into the White House. She asked Reagan to break his silence on the AIDS crisis. The First Lady attended Cabinet meetings; acted as a presidential adviser that led to his acceptance of executive responsibility after the Iran-Contra scandal, and ouster of chief-of-staff Don Regan; and she urged him to thaw United States  relations with the Soviet Union despite objections from members of his Cabinet and Senate leaders. Nancy was by his side when President Reagan demanded that Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev tear down that wall separating Germany in his 1987 remarks at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.                                                                                NANCY REAGAN

   Her mother was film and stage actress Edith Luckett. She majored in drama at Smith College, and found stage work with the help of her mom’s connections. After a few years on Broadway, Nancy Davis moved to California and signed a seven-year contract with MGM. She made 11 films, including Portrait of Jennie, It’s a Big Country, and Hellcats of the Navy  (with Ronald Reagan). She was cast in supporting roles, and co-stars included Glenn Ford, Barbara Stanwyck, Ann Southern, Ray Milland, Zachary Scott, James Mason, Jennifer Jones, and Joseph Cotton. Nancy also made television appearances from 1953-1962, as a guest star in The Ford Television Theatre, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, General Electric Theatre, and Wagon Train. She briefly dated Clark Gable.

   She met Ronald Reagan in 1950, when he was president of the Screen Actors Guild, and she was seeking help with a problem: Her name had been wrongly included on a published list of suspected communist sympathizers. They discussed it over dinner, and she later wrote that she realized on that first blind date she had met her soul mate. They wed two years later, on March 4th, 1952 and William Holden was the Best Man. Daughter Patti was born in October of that year, and son Ron followed in 1958. Reagan already had a daughter, Maureen, and an adopted son, Michael, from his marriage to actress Jane Wyman. They remained married for 52 years.

   Nancy was thrust into the political life when her husband ran for California governor in 1966 and won. She found it a surprisingly rough business. When they swept into the White House, the former actress committed to the agenda set forth by her beloved Ronnie. She was steadfast and devoted to his complete recovery after an attempted assassination two months into his administration in 1981. Later, she supported background checks for gun owners.

   She went public in her personal fight over breast cancer. After her tenure as First Lady, Nancy spent the remainder of her life in a battle against Alzheimer’s disease. The affliction that marked the post-presidency of Ronald Reagan had a lasting influence on her. She raised millions for research, breaking with fellow conservative Republicans in advocating for stem cell studies. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine lost a friend and a champion.

  Senator John McCain called their union a real Hollywood love story. As the president’s body lay in state in the rotunda of the United States Capitol, Mrs. Reagan caressed and gently kissed the flag-draped casket, a defining moment that underscored their mutual and lasting love. After her husband’s passing, Nancy was a frequent fixture at the Ronald Reagan Library, remarkably orchestrating his legacy over the past twelve years. She also supported Republican Party causes and campaigns through the Ronald Reagan Foundation.

   The gracious Nancy Reagan was 94. She will be buried next to her beloved Ronnie at the Presidential Library location in Simi Valley.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 6th, 2016 at 11:56 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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