Reagan turning his head back, smiling while sitting on a director's chair that has his name on it
Publicity photograph of Reagan as host of General Electric Theater, 1950s

Ronald Reagan was an American actor whose first screen credit was the starring role in the movie Love Is on the Air (1937). He later starred in Brother Rat (1938). By the end of 1939, he had already appeared in 19 films. Reagan later played the role of George Gipp in the film Knute Rockne, All American (1940) before appearing in Santa Fe Trail (1940). Reagan portrayed Drake McHugh in Kings Row (1942), which many film critics consider to be his best movie performance.[1] During World War II, Reagan, worked in the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of This Is the Army (1943).[2] By the end of the war, he had produced some 400 training films for the Army Air Force.[3]

Reagan continued his acting career, making films such as The Voice of the Turtle (1947), Bedtime for Bonzo (1951), The Winning Team (1952) and Cattle Queen of Montana (1954). However, he landed fewer film roles in the late 1950s and decided to join television. From 1954 to 1962, he was the host of General Electric Theater, a series of weekly dramas. By the end of his acting career, Reagan appeared in a total of 53 feature films.[4]

Film

Photograph of Reagan in football gear
Still of Reagan from Knute Rockne, All American, 1940
Photograph of Reagan wearing glasses and speaking in front of three microphones
Reagan, then-president of the Screen Actors Guild, testifying at a House Un-American Activities Committee hearing, 1947
Film credits
Year Title Role Notes Refs.
1937 Love Is on the Air Andy McCaine [5]
1938 Hollywood Hotel Radio Announcer Voice role; uncredited [6]
1938 Sergeant Murphy Pvt. Dennis Reilley [7]
1938 Swing Your Lady Jack Miller [8]
1938 Accidents Will Happen Eric Gregg [9]
1938 Cowboy from Brooklyn Pat Dunn [10]
1938 The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse Radio Announcer Voice role; uncredited [11]
1938 Boy Meets Girl Announcer [12]
1938 Girls on Probation Neil Dillon [13]
1938 Brother Rat Dan Crawford [14]
1938 Going Places Jack Withering [15]
1939 Secret Service of the Air Lt. "Brass" Bancroft [16]
1939 Dark Victory Alec Hamm [17]
1939 Code of the Secret Service Lt. "Brass" Bancroft [18]
1939 Naughty but Nice Ed "Eddie" Clark [19]
1939 Hell's Kitchen Jim Donohue [20]
1939 The Angels Wash Their Faces Deputy District Attorney Patrick "Pat" Remson [21]
1939 Smashing the Money Ring Lt. "Brass" Bancroft [22]
1939 Sword Fishing Narrator Short film [23]
1940 Brother Rat and a Baby Dan Crawford [24]
1940 An Angel from Texas Marty Allen [25]
1940 Murder in the Air Lt. "Brass" Bancroft [26]
1940 Knute Rockne, All American George "The Gipper" Gipp [27]
1940 Tugboat Annie Sails Again Eddie Kent [28]
1940 Alice in Movieland "Carlo's Guest" Short film; uncredited [23]
1940 Santa Fe Trail George Armstrong Custer [29]
1941 The Bad Man Gilbert "Gil" Jones [30]
1941 Million Dollar Baby Peter "Pete" Rowan [31]
1941 International Squadron Jimmy Grant [32]
1941 Nine Lives Are Not Enough Matt Sawyer [33]
1942 Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter Lt. Jimmy Saunders Documentary short [23]
1942 Kings Row Drake McHugh [34]
1942 Juke Girl Steve Talbot [35]
1942 Mister Gardenia Jones Gardenia Jones Short film [23]
1942 Desperate Journey Johnny Hammond [36]
1942 Beyond the Line of Duty Narrator Short film [23]
1943 Cadet Classification Narrator Short film [23]
1943 The Rear Gunner Lt. Ames Short film [23]
1943 For God and Country Fr. Michael O'Keefe Short film [23]
1943 This Is the Army Cpl. Johnny Jones [37]
1944–1945 Hesitation Upwind Narrator Short film
1945 Target Tokyo Narrator [23]
1945 The Fight for the Sky Narrator Short film [23]
1945 The Stilwell Road Narrator [23]
1945 Wings for This Man Narrator [23]
1947 Stallion Road Larry Hanrahan [38]
1947 That Hagen Girl Tom Bates [39]
1947 The Voice of the Turtle Sgt. Bill Page [40]
1949 John Loves Mary John Lawrence [41]
1949 Night Unto Night John Galen [42]
1949 The Girl from Jones Beach Bob Randolph [43]
1949 The Hasty Heart Yank [44]
1949 It's a Great Feeling — Cameo [45]
1950 Louisa Harold "Hal" Norton [46]
1951 The Big Truth Narrator/Host Short film [23]
1951 Storm Warning Burt Rainey [47]
1951 The Last Outpost Cpt. Vance Britten [48]
1951 Bedtime for Bonzo Prof. Peter Boyd [49]
1952 Hong Kong Jeff Williams [50]
1952 The Winning Team Grover Cleveland Alexander [51]
1952 She's Working Her Way Through College Prof. John Palmer [52]
1953 Tropic Zone Dan McCloud [53]
1953 Law and Order Frame Johnson [54]
1954 Prisoner of War Webb Sloane [55]
1954 Cattle Queen of Montana Farrell [56]
1955 Tennessee's Partner Cowpoke [57]
1957 Hellcats of the Navy Cdr. Casey Abbott [58]
1961 The Young Doctors Narrator [23]
1963 Heritage of Splendor Narrator Documentary [23]
1964 The Killers Jack Browning [59]

Television

Television credits
Year Title Role Notes Refs.
1950 The Nash Airflyte Theater Tommy Blunt Episode: "The Case of the Missing Lady" [60]
1952 Hollywood Opening Night Episode: "The Priceless Gift" [61]
1953 Medallion Theatre Episode: "A Job for Jimmy Valentine" [62]
1953 The Revlon Mirror Theater Episode: "Next Stop: Bethlehem" [23]
1953–1954 Lux Video Theatre Merle Fisher 2 episodes [23]
1953–1954 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars 3 episodes [23]
1953–1954 The Ford Television Theatre Various 3 episodes [23]
1954–1962 General Electric Theater Host / Various Hosted 235 teleplays; acted in 35 episodes [23]
1955 Walt Disney's Disneyland Co-host Episode: "Dateline: Disneyland" [63]
1956 General Electric Summer Originals Episode: "Jungle Trap"
1960 The DuPont Show with June Allyson Alan Royce Episode: "The Way Home" [23]
1960 Startime Host 2 episodes
1961 Zane Grey Theatre Maj. Will Sinclair Episode: "The Long Shadow" [23]
1961–1963 The Dick Powell Show Guest Host / Rex Kent 2 episodes [23]
1963 Wagon Train Cpt. Paul Winters Episode: "The Fort Pierce Story" [23]
1964 Kraft Suspense Theatre Judge Howard R. Stimming Episode: "A Cruel and Unusual Night" [23]
1964–1966 Death Valley Days Host / Actor Acted in 8 episodes [23][64]

References

  1. ^ Vaughn 1994, p. 37.
  2. ^ "President Ronald Reagan". National Museum of the United States Air Force. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  3. ^ "Military service of Ronald Reagan". Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Retrieved June 22, 2007.
  4. ^ Vaughn 1994, p. 30.
  5. ^ Eliot 2008, pp. 50–51.
  6. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 36.
  7. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 39.
  8. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 38.
  9. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 44.
  10. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 50.
  11. ^ Eliot 2008, p. 73.
  12. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 53.
  13. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 55.
  14. ^ Thomas 1980, pp. 59, 61.
  15. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 64.
  16. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 67.
  17. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 73.
  18. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 76.
  19. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 79.
  20. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 82.
  21. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 86.
  22. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 89.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z "Ronald Reagan's Filmography". Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  24. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 93.
  25. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 95.
  26. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 98.
  27. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 102.
  28. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 107.
  29. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 109.
  30. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 115.
  31. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 118.
  32. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 124.
  33. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 121.
  34. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 128.
  35. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 133.
  36. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 137.
  37. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 141.
  38. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 145.
  39. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 149.
  40. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 153.
  41. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 156.
  42. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 159.
  43. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 163.
  44. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 169.
  45. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 168.
  46. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 173.
  47. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 176.
  48. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 182.
  49. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 179.
  50. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 186.
  51. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 193.
  52. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 190.
  53. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 198.
  54. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 202.
  55. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 206.
  56. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 210.
  57. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 214.
  58. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 218.
  59. ^ Thomas 1980, p. 222.
  60. ^ ""Suddenly, It's A New Life For Old Reagan Movies"". Newspapers.com. 1980-12-07. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  61. ^ Metzger, Robert P. (1989). Reagan: American Icon. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-8122-1302-7. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  62. ^ Scheuer, Steven H. (July 18, 1953). "TV Key". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 4. Retrieved April 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  63. ^ Cotter, Bill (1997). The Wonderful World of Disney Television. New York: Hyperion Books. p. 17. ISBN 0-7868-6359-5.
  64. ^ "Death Valley Days · Season 14 Episode 18 · The Courtship of Carrie Huntington - Plex". Plex Inc. Archived from the original on November 5, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.

Works cited

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