Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library

Biography > Hollywood Years

1938	February 1 Sergeant Murphy (Reagan's 2nd film) released
1940	January 16 Married Jane Wyman, who he had met while filming the Warner Bros. picture, Brother Rat. September Played the role of football legend George Gipp in the Warner Bros. picture, Knute Rockne - All American.
1941	January 4 Maureen Reagan was born. September 17 Gave testimony to the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding communism in Hollywood.
1942	April 19 Called to active duty and reported to Fort Mason, California. Later he was transferred to the Army Air Corps and assigned to the 1st Motion Picture Unit in Culver City, California. Called "Fort Roach," this unit made over 400 training films. September Played the role of Drake McHugh in the Warner Bros. picture, Kings Row, his most artistically acclaimed role. In this picture, he uttered the line, "Where's the rest of me?"
1943	January 14 Promoted to First Lieutenant. July 22 Promoted to Captain.
1945	February 2 Recommended for promotion to Major. March 14 Adopted son, Michael, was born. July 17 Promotion to Major disapproved. August 21 Signed a million-dollar contract with Warner Bros. December 9 Honorably discharged from the Army.
1947	March Elected President of the Screen Actors Guild for the first time. He would be re-elected for five more consecutive one-year terms. June 4 With Shirley Temple, made Warner Bros. picture, That Hagen Girl, his personally least liked role. October 25 Testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee on communism in Hollywood.
1948	September 23 Introduced Harry Truman at a campaign rally in Los Angeles.
1949	June 28 Divorce with Wyman finalized.
1950	Wrote guest columns for Victor Riesel, the labor columnist. April Supported Helen Gahagen Douglas for U.S. Senator, but in the fall, switched his support to Richard Nixon. December 7 Made his first television network debut in Nash Airflyte Theatre. He would eventually have over sixty television credits.
1951	Appeared in Bedtime for Bonzo, a Universal film, starring opposite a chimpanzee.
1952	March 4 Married Nancy Davis at the Little Brown Church in Studio City, California. June Made the commencement address, America the Beautiful, at William Woods College in Fulton, Missouri. October 22 Patricia Reagan was born. Fall Campaigned as a Democrat for Eisenhower. Fall Played the role of baseball player, Grover C. Alexander, in his last picture for Warner Bros., The Winning Team.
1953	May 2 Named Honorary Mayor of Malibu Lake.
1954	September 26 First appeared on GE Theater. He accepted a job as host and occasional star of GE Theater, and as spokesman for the General Electric Company. This allowed him to tour the country giving speeches.
1955	Named Honorary Mayor of Thousand Oaks, but was disappointed in his unsuccessful bid to be Honorary Mayor of Hollywood.
1956	Campaigned again as a Democrat for Eisenhower.
1957	Appeared, with Nancy Davis in Hellcats of the Navy, their first and only picture together. February 28 Awarded the Golden Globe, Hollywood Citizenship Award at the 14th Annual Golden Globes.
1958	May 28 Ronald Prescott ("Skipper") Reagan was born.
1959	November Elected President of the Screen Actors Guild for the last time.
1960	July After strike negotiations were over, resigned as President of the Screen Actors Guild, and he and Nancy, later, resigned from the Board. Fall Campaigned as a Democrat for Nixon.
1962	February 5 Made a grand jury appearance in the MCA-SAG anti-trust hearing. March General Electric decided to discontinue GE Theater because of low ratings. His last appearance was broadcast on August 26, 1962. Fall Officially changed his party registration to Republican.