Reagan: The Hollywood Years

By Marc Eliot

Book Overview

The compelling biography of an American icon's early years-as an aspiring actor, Hollywood star, and family man. Ronald Reagan was one of the most powerful and popular American presidents. The key to understanding his political success and the remarkable likability and effortless charisma that made it possible lies embedded in his early years as a Hollywood movie star. Using never-before-published interviews, documents, and other materials, acclaimed writer and biographer Marc Eliot sheds new light on Reagan's film and television work opposite some of the most talented women of the time; his starlet-strewn bachelor days; his tumultuous first marriage to Jane Wyman and his career-making second marriage to Nancy Davis; his controversial eight years as the president of the Screen Actors Guild; his place in the "Irish Mafia" alongside Pat O'Brien, James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, and Errol Flynn; and his friendships with Jimmy Stewart and William Holden, as well as with super-agent Lew Wasserman, who was instrumental in developing the persona that would prove essential to Reagan's future as a world leader. Set against the glamorous and often combative background of Hollywood's Golden Age, Eliot's biography provides a nuanced examination of the man and uncovers the startling origins of the legend. "A fresh look . . . at the genesis of Reagan's later public persona." - New York Times "Film critic and historian Marc Eliot has dug up even more about young sportscaster 'Dutch' Reagan, his journey west to Hollywood, his B-movie career . . . his relationship with super-agent Lew Wasserman, and his rocky marriage to his first wife, actresss Jane Wyman." - USA Today

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307405133
• ISBN13: 9780307405135
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group, The
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent! extremely entertaining and enlightening

As a big movie fan (especially of old movies and "old" Hollywood) as well as a politics "junkie", I found this book to be a fantastic read. Not only does the Reagan movie catalogue receive the most comprehensive analysis available probably anywhere, Reagan as an actor is given a serious, scholarly look,and that's rare. Yet, there's plenty of juicy "gossipy" stories too--and a lot of them are told first-person by those who were there as part of an impressive amount of interviews that have never been published before (or at least I have never seen them anywhere, and I'm familiar with several other books about Reagan). The most fascinating thing to me, though, is the long section about Reagan and the Screen Actors Guild. I think a lot of people will be surprised to see how the seeds of Reagan's political ideology were evident during this period of his life. Eliot makes that connection in a really revealing way, and he does it without taking sides. Many of Reagan's speeches and congressional testimony before he was Governor of California, presented in this context, made the book more than a Hollywood bio for me. It made me look at Reagan's life story as one that made more sense, instead of as two wildly different, mis-matched parts. And the amount of research and details are staggering, with tons of new information. I would definitely reccommend this book to anyone interested in Reagan, even those who think there is nothing new to tell.