Ronald Reagan - C McGivern

This full colour, impressively weighty biography, concentrates on the lengthy movie career of Ronald Reagan; a first career, founded in an explosive era that generated such powerful Presidential politics two decades later. Sadly, Reagan's diverse collection of films tends to be scoffed at by the scholarly, and they are today largely ignored, obscured behind his later political achievements. But, for those wanting to understand what made this charismatically popular President of the United States of America tick, his Hollywood years must be looked at in depth. For it was there he learned the actor's skills that allowed the politician to communicate so effectively. The unusually close relationships he was later able to forge with world leaders and the American public makes little sense without the framework of their development. He was a major Hollywood player. He starred in some classic film contributions. He enjoyed the company of some of the day's favourite leading female stars; he married two of them. He worked with top producers and directors. From his very early days as a film star, he was deeply involved in Hollywood's politics, and his broad-smiling affability and silky voice hid the steel that would lead him right to the top. Loaded with stills, detailed movie production notes, synopses, financial records and reviews.