Real-life
heroes not infrequently go on to disappointing acting careers. Ronald
Reagan, who died on June 5, 2004, at 93 years of age, is a case of a
second-tier actor who went on to become a real-life hero and play a
larger-than-life role as President of the United States. With the late Pope
John Paul II at his side, and all the virtues of Western movie heroes in his
personal moral arsenal, Ronald Reagan challenged the Soviet leadership and
brought down the Evil Empire.
During an acting career that stretched from 1937, with
Love is on the Air, to 1964, with The Killers, the future
president starred ina broad range of Westerns also. He appeared in the
B-movie Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938), in the Erroll Flynn spectacle
Sante Fe Trail (1940)--as General Custer!, in Cattle Queen of Montana
(1954) with Barbara Stanwyck, Tennessee's Partner (1955) with Fhonda
Fleming, and Law and Order (1956) with Russell Johnson.
Mr. Reagan also made numerous appearances in early '60s TV
show, including Wagon Train and Death Valley Days. What he may
have lacked in dramatic presence on screen the far-sighted actor began to
make up for with off-screen leadership as president of the Screen Actors
Guild from 1947 to 1953 and 1959 to 1960. The SAG became ultimately Mr.
Reagan's stepping stone to politics, from the governorship of California to
the presidency. |
