I hadn't heard that Reagan's acting career "failed."
Nevertheless, he was an actor with intelligence.
Luckily he did find something more important.
I think your idea of associating lack of intelligence with acting might more accurately be applied to those who think to find freedom on the left. 'Course that describes most actors, so maybe you're right.
Funny how the Dems consistently and dishonestly label the more popular conservative presidents as stupid. I've heard both Bush and Reagan referred to that way by folk who should know better within the last couple weeks.
Reagan may be our only president in a long time who understood and believed in the ideals of our founding fathers. I guess that makes him stupid to a leftist.
Radical too.
Reagan's career was on he wane, probably due to his increased interest in politics. However, as one actor who was interested in "acting history" explained it to me -- during the late 40s/50s there as a split in acting styles between the older actors and the new guys coming up. Brando was among the first of these new guys. If you're interested in this kind of thing, rent an older movie from the 40s, then a new one and compare acting styles. Interestingly, you can see glimpses of the new style in White Heat with Cagney.