Reagan did not soon become a star, but he worked steadily and achieved a series of small successes playing leads in B movies and minor parts in more significant films. His early screen image did not differ greatly from his own personality: good-natured, easygoing, and sincere. The studio considered him a dependable actor who did whatever he was told. In 1939, he was cast in the film version of Brother Rat , a Broadway play. It was his most substantial role in a major film yet, but its chief significance for Reagan was that he played opposite the actress Jane Wyman, then in the final stages of a divorce. By the time filming ended, they were engaged.
They married in January 1940 and had two children, Maureen, born in 1941, and Michael, whom the couple adopted in 1945, a few days after his birth.
So far, Reagan had moved through his movie career relatively passively, taking the parts he was offered and seldom complaining. But Wyman pressed him to be more assertive, and in 1940 he pursued the part of George Gipp, a famous Notre Dame football player and an important character in the Warner Brothers feature Knute Rockne—All American . Reagan was not yet a "name player," and some studio executives resisted his request. But his enthusiasm for the role and his background as a sports announcer finally won him the part. The success of the film, and the critical acclaim Reagan received for it, propelled his career. He began to receive better parts, and his performances in such front-rank films as King's Row (1941) and Desperate Journey (1942) earned him more critical praise.
His growing success also won him a series of deferments from military service (at the request of Warner Brothers) once the United States entered World War II, and then—after he was called up and commissioned an officer in the cavalry—an assignment with an army film unit. He spent the war in California making army training movies at a military base in Los Angeles, with time off to make feature films at Warner Brothers (among them the successful 1943 tribute to the military, This Is the Army ). Much of the time, he lived at home with his family. Despite his later claims to the contrary, he never left the country and never saw combat. But he cooperated with studio public relations efforts to portray him as a soldier, who, like other soldiers, left his family to go "off to war." Feature stories described Wyman bravely carrying on, raising the children and maintaining the household while her man was away. Newsreels and magazine photos depicted Reagan "coming home" for leaves and visits. Reagan later sometimes seemed actually to have believed the ruse. Even decades later, he liked to talk about "coming back from the war," like other veterans, eager to take up family life again (a life that in his case had hardly been interrupted).
Reagan's postwar acting career never regained the momentum it had enjoyed in the early 1940s.
They married in January 1940 and had two children, Maureen, born in 1941, and Michael, whom the couple adopted in 1945, a few days after his birth.
So far, Reagan had moved through his movie career relatively passively, taking the parts he was offered and seldom complaining. But Wyman pressed him to be more assertive, and in 1940 he pursued the part of George Gipp, a famous Notre Dame football player and an important character in the Warner Brothers feature Knute Rockne—All American . Reagan was not yet a "name player," and some studio executives resisted his request. But his enthusiasm for the role and his background as a sports announcer finally won him the part. The success of the film, and the critical acclaim Reagan received for it, propelled his career. He began to receive better parts, and his performances in such front-rank films as King's Row (1941) and Desperate Journey (1942) earned him more critical praise.
His growing success also won him a series of deferments from military service (at the request of Warner Brothers) once the United States entered World War II, and then—after he was called up and commissioned an officer in the cavalry—an assignment with an army film unit. He spent the war in California making army training movies at a military base in Los Angeles, with time off to make feature films at Warner Brothers (among them the successful 1943 tribute to the military, This Is the Army ). Much of the time, he lived at home with his family. Despite his later claims to the contrary, he never left the country and never saw combat. But he cooperated with studio public relations efforts to portray him as a soldier, who, like other soldiers, left his family to go "off to war." Feature stories described Wyman bravely carrying on, raising the children and maintaining the household while her man was away. Newsreels and magazine photos depicted Reagan "coming home" for leaves and visits. Reagan later sometimes seemed actually to have believed the ruse. Even decades later, he liked to talk about "coming back from the war," like other veterans, eager to take up family life again (a life that in his case had hardly been interrupted).
Reagan's postwar acting career never regained the momentum it had enjoyed in the early 1940s.
Movies Ronald Reagan Starred In:
• The Word Universe: A Journey to West Africa (1995)
• Roger & Me (1989)
• Stand-Up Reagan (1985)
• Hollywood on Trial (1976)
• The Killers (1964)
• The Young Doctors (1961)
• Hellcats of the Navy (1957)
• Wagon Train (1957)
• Zane Grey Theater (1956)
• Tennessee's Partner (1955)
• Cattle Queen of Montana (1954)
• Prisoner of War (1954)
• Tropic Zone (1953)
• The Orchid Award (1953)
• General Electric Theater (1953)
• Law and Order (1953)
• Death Valley Days (1952)
• She's Working Her Way Through College (1952)
• The Winning Team (1952)
• The Last Outpost (1951)
• Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)
• Hong Kong (1951)
• Storm Warning (1951)
• Louisa (1950)
• What's My Line (1950)
• The Girl from Jones Beach (1949)
• The Hasty Heart (1949)
• It's a Great Feeling (1949)
• John Loves Mary (1949)
• Night Unto Night (1949)
• Stallion Road (1947)
• That Hagen Girl (1947)
• The Voice of the Turtle (1947)
• Target Tokyo (1944)
• This Is the Army (1943)
• Jap Zero (1943)
• The Rear Gunner (1943)
• Desperate Journey (1942)
• Juke Girl (1942)
• Kings Row (1942)
• The Bad Man (1941)
• International Squadron (1941)
• Million Dollar Baby (1941)
• Nine Lives Are Not Enough (1941)
• Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940)
• An Angel from Texas (1940)
• Brother Rat and a Baby (1940)
• Knute Rockne, All American (1940)
• Murder in the Air (1940)
• Santa Fe Trail (1940)
• Naughty But Nice (1939)
• Dark Victory (1939)
• The Angels Wash Their Faces (1939)
• Code of the Secret Service (1939)
• Hell's Kitchen (1939)
• Secret Service of the Air (1939)
• Smashing the Money Ring (1939)
• Boy Meets Girl (1938)
• The Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938)
• Accidents Will Happen (1938)
• The Amazing Doctor Clitterhouse (1938)
• Brother Rat (1938)
• Girls on Probation (1938)
• Going Places (1938)
• Sergeant Murphy (1938)
• Swing Your Lady (1938)
• Hollywood Hotel (1937)
• Love Is on the Air (1937)
• Submarine D-1 (1937)
• The Word Universe: A Journey to West Africa (1995)
• Roger & Me (1989)
• Stand-Up Reagan (1985)
• Hollywood on Trial (1976)
• The Killers (1964)
• The Young Doctors (1961)
• Hellcats of the Navy (1957)
• Wagon Train (1957)
• Zane Grey Theater (1956)
• Tennessee's Partner (1955)
• Cattle Queen of Montana (1954)
• Prisoner of War (1954)
• Tropic Zone (1953)
• The Orchid Award (1953)
• General Electric Theater (1953)
• Law and Order (1953)
• Death Valley Days (1952)
• She's Working Her Way Through College (1952)
• The Winning Team (1952)
• The Last Outpost (1951)
• Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)
• Hong Kong (1951)
• Storm Warning (1951)
• Louisa (1950)
• What's My Line (1950)
• The Girl from Jones Beach (1949)
• The Hasty Heart (1949)
• It's a Great Feeling (1949)
• John Loves Mary (1949)
• Night Unto Night (1949)
• Stallion Road (1947)
• That Hagen Girl (1947)
• The Voice of the Turtle (1947)
• Target Tokyo (1944)
• This Is the Army (1943)
• Jap Zero (1943)
• The Rear Gunner (1943)
• Desperate Journey (1942)
• Juke Girl (1942)
• Kings Row (1942)
• The Bad Man (1941)
• International Squadron (1941)
• Million Dollar Baby (1941)
• Nine Lives Are Not Enough (1941)
• Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940)
• An Angel from Texas (1940)
• Brother Rat and a Baby (1940)
• Knute Rockne, All American (1940)
• Murder in the Air (1940)
• Santa Fe Trail (1940)
• Naughty But Nice (1939)
• Dark Victory (1939)
• The Angels Wash Their Faces (1939)
• Code of the Secret Service (1939)
• Hell's Kitchen (1939)
• Secret Service of the Air (1939)
• Smashing the Money Ring (1939)
• Boy Meets Girl (1938)
• The Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938)
• Accidents Will Happen (1938)
• The Amazing Doctor Clitterhouse (1938)
• Brother Rat (1938)
• Girls on Probation (1938)
• Going Places (1938)
• Sergeant Murphy (1938)
• Swing Your Lady (1938)
• Hollywood Hotel (1937)
• Love Is on the Air (1937)
• Submarine D-1 (1937)