Nancy Reagan

Nancy Davis Reagan (born July 6, 1921) is the widow of President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was an actress prior to her marriage.

Related Topics:
July 6 - 1921 - Widow - Ronald Reagan - First Lady of the United States - Actress

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She was born Anne Frances Robbins in New York, New York to Kenneth Seymour Robbins and his actress wife, Edith Luckett. When she was six, her mother married Dr. Loyal Davis, a neurosurgeon. Dr. Davis adopted Nancy, and she grew up in Chicago. She was also god-daughter of Russian-born silent film star Alla Nazimova. She received her formal education at Girls' Latin School and at Smith College in Massachusetts, where she majored in theater.

Related Topics:
New York, New York - Chicago - Russian - Silent film - Alla Nazimova - Smith College - Theater

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Soon after graduation she became a professional actress. She toured with a road company, then landed a role on Broadway in the hit musical Lute Song. More parts followed. One performance drew an offer from Hollywood. Billed as Nancy Davis, she performed in 11 films from 1949 to 1956. Her first screen role was in Shadow on the Wall. Other releases included The Next Voice Your Hear... and East Side, West Side. In her last movie, Hellcats of the Navy, she played opposite her husband.

Related Topics:
Hollywood - Hellcats of the Navy

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She met Ronald Reagan in 1951, when he was president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and an actress with the same name had appeared on the communist blacklist. This name confusion with the other actress was a concern of Nancy Davis in maintaining her employment as a SAG actress in Hollywood and she was put in contact with Reagan for help in getting her name off this list. As anti-communist sentiment ran very high in the United States, those who made a living in the motion picture industry usually were effectively "blacklisted" - not given work - by being labelled potential communists. (See Hollywood blacklist) In the following year they were married in a simple ceremony in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles in the Little Brown Church in the Valley. Mrs. Reagan soon retired from making movies.

Related Topics:
Screen Actors Guild - Hollywood blacklist - San Fernando Valley - Los Angeles

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The Reagans had two children born from their marriage: daughter Patti (referred to as Patti Davis - her professional name) was born on October 21,1952, seven months after the couple's wedding. Son Ron Reagan was born on May 20, 1958. Nancy Reagan is also stepmother to Michael Reagan and the late Maureen Reagan, the children of Ronald Reagan's first marriage to actress Jane Wyman.

Related Topics:
Patti - October 21 - 1952 - Ron Reagan - May 20 - 1958 - Michael Reagan - Maureen Reagan - Jane Wyman

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Reagan is well-remembered for conservative fashions emulated by many women of the time, for championing the "Just Say No" campaign against juvenile drug use, and for her personal use of astrology. She had, in fact, a personal astrologer named Joan Quigley during her time as First Lady; the astrologer(s) were particularly used after the 1981 assassination attempt when she became nothing short of obsessed with her husband's personal safety. It finally became a major embarrassment, as it was disclosed that Nancy influenced the White House time schedule of her husband. Days were color-coded according to the astrologer's advice, being classified as "good" days, "neutral" days or days that should be avoided. The White House Chief of Staff, Donald Regan (of no relation to her husband), finally became extremely frustrated with this irrational and detrimental regime, causing a power struggle between Regan and the First Lady. Regan resigned in 1987.

Related Topics:
Just Say No - Drug - Astrology - Astrologer - Joan Quigley - White House - Donald Regan - 1987

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Biographer Kitty Kelley's 1991 book Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography became the fastest-selling biography in publishing history. It included controversial details about the fomer First Lady's involvement with astrology and alleged White House trysts with Frank Sinatra.

Related Topics:
Kitty Kelley - 1991 - Frank Sinatra

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In 1983 Reagan, along with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and philanthropists Barbara and Marvin Davis, appeared as herself in an episode of the highly popular primetime soap opera Dynasty. In addition, Reagan appeared as herself in an episode of the popular sitcom Diff'rent Strokes to underscore her support for her "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign. To date, she is the only First Lady to appear in a television series while she resided in the White House.

Related Topics:
Henry Kissinger - Dynasty - Diff'rent Strokes - Just Say No - White House

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[[Image:Mrs. Reagan.jpg|thumb|left|Capt. James A. Symonds presents former President Ronald Reagan's casket flag to former First Lady Nancy Reagan.

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She currently resides in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, where she had tended to the former President who, before his death on June 5, 2004, was debilitated by Alzheimer's disease. Reagan has broken Republican Party lines and caused much controversy among the party by urging president George W. Bush to support embryonic stem cell research in the hopes that such research would lead to a cure for Alzheimer's disease.

Related Topics:
Bel Air - Los Angeles - California - June 5 - 2004 - Alzheimer's disease - Republican Party - George W. Bush - Stem cell research

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Mrs. Reagan was briefly hospitalized in 2005 after she fell in her hotel room in London, to visit Margaret Thatcher and Prince Charles.

Related Topics:
2005 - Hotel - London - Margaret Thatcher - Prince Charles

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