64°F
weather icon Clear

Reagan’s conviction, ability to change worth emulating

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library has a photograph of the former actor-turned-president sitting on a boat at Lake Mead in 1954. Ronald Reagan was an exceptional person and incredible actor and made history as a president. While Reagan was visiting Boulder City’s backyard, Lake Mead, with his wife, Nancy, he already had a full life behind him and probably could not imagine the career change he would have as the leader of our country starting in 1981.

Reagan was born Feb. 6, 1911, in Illinois. His parents were average and his education was, too. In college, he went out for broadcasting and loved to tell stories, which is how Reagan ended up in California. In 1932, while working as an announcer for the Chicago Cubs baseball team, the actor took a screen test while calling an away game for the Cubs. He was immediately hired. In fact, Reagan received a seven-year contract with Warner Bros. Studios.

Before Reagan’s acting career took off, he paid his dues. There were several bit parts and extra roles that he had to take as a contracted actor, but his hard work and persistence eventually paid off. According to IMDb.com, Reagan has made over 50 films and had many more television appearances.

His last movie, made in 1964, was deemed so violent and disturbing that instead of being released as a made-for-TV movie, it was forced to be shown only in the theaters. In “The Killers” Reagan played his first ever role as a villain, portraying Jack Browning opposite actress Angie Dickinson. “The Killers” is based on an Ernest Hemingway story and the version Reagan starred in was a remake. The original came out in 1946 and starred Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner.

Reagan went on to serve on the board of directors, before becoming president for the Screen Actors Guild between 1947 and 1959. It was during this time that he led the SAG through the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings and the Hollywood blacklist era. A Democrat at the time, it was Reagan’s first wife, actress Jane Wyman, who was serving as an FBI informant about which actors were Communist and which ones were not. This side job of Wyman’s, along with Reagan’s aspirations to get into politics, is what started to cause a rift within their marriage. Wyman ended up filing for a divorce from Reagan in 1949, leaving him as the only president, until Donald Trump, who had been divorced.

A year before being photographed at Lake Mead, Reagan married actress Nancy Davis, who ironically commissioned the actor’s help at SAG after her name was confused with another Nancy Davis — one who was being accused of being a Communist.

A lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, Reagan officially switched his political party to Republican in 1962. Five years later the actor became the governor of California. His political career was expansive and plagued with praise and controversy.

Regardless of what one might think of Reagan’s political career and his impact on our country, he was a man who reinvented his life and his career a few times over. He wasn’t afraid to try something new, he didn’t back down in the face of criticism, and he stood strong in his beliefs and never shied away from openly discussing his personal values or religious beliefs. He made his own magic without compromising who he was, which is a hard thing to do in today’s culture.

My Throwback Thursday movie recommendation today is the 1964 version of “The Killers.” I also recommend author Bill Adler’s 1996 book, “The Uncommon Wisdom of Ronald Reagan: A Portrait in His Own Words,” which is an in-depth look at his life from childhood through his two terms as president of the United States.

Tanya Vece is a ghostwriter and independent marketing specialist. She can be reached on Instagram @TanyaLVece.

MOST READ
LISTEN TO THE TOP FIVE HERE
THE LATEST
Bursting our bewitched bubble

It’s that dreaded time of year again. Monstrous in magnitude. A mysterious ritual. Strange, scary, sinister, and spooky. Macabre and menacing. Dark and gloomy. Dastardly and disturbing. Gruesome and ghoulish. Frightful. Creepy. Petrifying. Even eerie. A wicked, morbid tradition that haunts our city annually.

Mayor’s Corner: Helmets save lives

Emergency personnel in Clark County estimate they respond to four accidents each day involving bikes, e-bikes, or e-scooters. A few of these accidents have involved fatalities of minors — a grim reminder of the dangers of these devices when not used responsibly. Our goal as city leaders is to prevent tragedies from occurring. Any loss of life has a dramatic impact on families, loved ones, friends, as well as on the entire community.

Cheers to 40 years in the biz

I thought I’d talk a little about the newspaper business on the heels of the Review winning seven statewide awards the other night in Fallon.

AI is here. Just ask your neighbors

“I’ve done 10 albums in the past year,” my across-the-street neighbor, Dietmar, told me Sunday morning as we stood in the street between our two houses catching up. He added that his wife, Sarah, had put out two collections of songs in the same time period, adding, “You know it’s all AI, right?”

Astronaut lands in Nevada, so to speak

I wish to begin by noting that when it comes to politics, I am registered nonpartisan. So when writing about Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, I’m focusing (well, for the most part), on his role as a retired NASA astronaut, not as a politician.

The patriot way

Today is Patriot Day, a day most of us refer to as 9/11. In the U.S., Patriot Day occurs annually on Sept. 11 in memory of the victims who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Program helps homebuyers in Boulder City

Owning a home is part of the American Dream. Unfortunately, the steep rise in rental rates and increasing costs for goods and services have left many home buyers struggling to save enough for a down payment.