Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)

Former U.S. President (40th President 1981-1989) Ronald Reagan died Saturday June 5, 2004 in his California home after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Reagan, 93, was the longest living U.S. president.  He was one of the more popular U.S. presidents and presided over the country in a time of prosperity and optimism.

From his first marriage to actress Jane Wyman, he had two children, Maureen and Michael.   In 1952 he married Nancy Davis, who was also an actress, and they had two children, Patricia Ann and Ronald Prescott.  In 1966 he was elected Governor of California by a margin of a million votes; he was re-elected in 1970.

Ronald was in February 6, 1911 to Nelle and John Reagan in Tampico, Illinois. He attended high school in nearby Dixon and then worked his way through Eureka College. There, he studied economics and sociology, played on the football team, and acted in school plays. Upon graduation, he became a radio sports announcer. A screen test in 1937 won him a contract in Hollywood. During the next two decades he appeared in 53 films.

In Knute Rockne, All American Ronald Reagan portrays a young football star named George Gipp from Notre Dame who dies of pneumonia. Gipp's dying words to his coach, Knute Rockne, are, "Someday, when things are tough, maybe you can ask the boys to go in there and win just one for the Gipper."
 
In 1942, Reagan played a war hero alongside Errol Flynn in Desperate Journey. The film is set during WWII. Flynn, Reagan and a few others, including Alan Hale and Arthur Kennedy, survive a plane crash behind enemy lines in Germany.

In 1951, Ronald Reagan starred in his first Western, Calvary Charge.  In the film, two brothers fight in the Civil War, but on opposite sides. Reagan portrays a Confederate soldier whose brother, is battling for the North.

In the same year, Reagan found himself paired with a chimp in Bedtime for Bonzo. In the outrageous comedy, Reagan plays a scientist.  When Reagan turned to politics, he was constantly jabbed for having starred in the silly comedy.

In The Winning Team (1952), Reagan showed his athletic ability by portraying baseball great Grover Cleveland Alexander, aka "Alex the Great."

In 1953, Reagan played a fearless law enforcer named Frame Johnson in the western Law and Order.  Reagan fills the role of a marshal who retires after policing the town.  When he tries to settle down on a pleasant little ranch near the town of Cottonwood, trouble finds him again.

Hellcats of the Navy is the only film in which the future president co-starred with his wife Nancy. The plot is based on a novel by Adm. Charles Lockwood about a World War II submarine crew charged with stopping enemy ships from delivering goods to Japan.

The 1964 movie The Killers, was Reagan's final film. Reagan fills the role of the bad guy, Jack Browning, while Angie Dickinson plays his mistress.