Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan
Maureen, Ronald, Michael and Jane Wyman Reagan
1947 Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan
Posted on 09/10/2007 4:54:33 PM PDT by bd476
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jane Wyman, the Oscar-winning actress who was Ronald Reagan's first wife and starred in the popular 1980s television drama "Falcon Crest," died on Monday at age 90, her longtime manager said.
Wyman married fellow actor and future U.S. President Reagan in 1940 but divorced him in 1948. She died at her home in Palm Springs, California, having been in failing health for several years, business manager Michael Mesnick said in a statement.
Known as "one-take Wyman" for her professional work ethic, Wyman appeared in more than 80 films during a career spanning four decades. Her last movie was the 1969 musical comedy "How to Commit Marriage" with Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason.
Starting out as a radio singer, the Missouri-born Wyman broke into the movies in the 1930s as a Goldwyn Girl and signed with Warner Bros. studio in 1936. Her film acting debut came with a bit part in "Gold Diggers of 1937."
Initially typecast as a perky, sometimes flaky or tart-tongued blonde, Wyman toiled for a decade in mostly B-movie fare and supporting roles in bigger films. She gained notice in 1945 for her role as the girlfriend of a chronic alcoholic in Billy Wilder's drama "The Lost Weekend."
Generally appearing as a brunette after that film, Wyman went on to give a string of Oscar-nominated performances as a leading lady, beginning with "The Yearling" opposite Gregory Peck in 1946.
OSCAR TIME AND DIVORCE
She won the Oscar as best actress for her 1948 role -- played when she was 34 -- as a teenage deaf-mute raped in "Johnny Belinda." She and Reagan, once hailed by the Hollywood publicity machine as the ideal couple, saw their marriage collapse.
Wyman's two other Oscar nominations came for the 1951 drama "The Blue Veil," in which she played a self-sacrificing nursemaid, and the 1954 Douglas Sirk-directed romance "Magnificent Obsession," opposite Rock Hudson.
She sang in duet with Bing Crosby on the Oscar-winning song, "In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening," from Frank Capra's 1951 musical comedy "Here Comes the Groom," and shared the screen with Marlene Dietrich in Alfred Hitchcock's 1950 thriller "Stage Fright."
Wyman began a television career in the 1950s, hosting the drama anthology series "The Jane Wyman Theater." She became best known to a later generation of viewers as the ruthless family matriarch Angela Channing in the CBS melodrama "Falcon Crest."
The show was a 1980s hit during the White House administration of her former second husband, Reagan, with whom Wyman had a daughter, Maureen, who died in 2001, and adopted a son, Michael, who became a conservative radio host.
By then Reagan, whom Wyman had met and began dating during their work together on the 1938 film "Brother Rat," had long been married to another of his onetime co-stars, Nancy Davis.
Despite concerns in Reagan's camp during his first White House bid about winning election as the first divorced president, Wyman remained scrupulously silent about her ex-husband, as she had during her time as California governor.
Michael Reagan wrote years later that his father "wouldn't have been president being married to Jane Wyman. He needed a Nancy, who was willing to give up her career to be there, by his side."
While her birthdate was widely cited as being in January 1914, her manager Mesnick said Wyman was actually born three years later, a fact she had long obscured for professional reasons because she had wanted to be seen as older.
She was herself married a total of four times to three different men, divorcing the last in 1965.
Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan
Maureen, Ronald, Michael and Jane Wyman Reagan
1947 Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan
Beautiful couple
Beautiful children
Just couldn’t make it I guess.
Rest in peace Jane Wyman and President Reagan.
May Michael Reagan find comfort knowing he had the love of two great parents. How alone he must feel today with his parents and sister gone.
RIP- A wonderful lady, Michael stands alone, godspeed.
Rest in peace Jane Wyman and God Bless and comfort Michael Reagan and his family.
Agree, Jonsie. May she rest in peace.
Thoughts and prayers for Michael. Rest in peace, Miss Wyman.
WRONG! For the record, her last movie was "The Incredible Journey of Dr.Meg Laurel. It was a made for TV movie filmed in 1978. It also starred Lindsay Wagner, Dorothy McGuire and Gary Lockwood, Tracy Gold and yours truly.
This was Jane's coming out after many years of not working. She then went on to star in Falcon Crest.
Jane was in my opinion the star of the show when we were filming this movie. She was a joy to work with, not to be confused with Lindsay Wagner.
I remember Maureen as well, she had tough breaks. In their way as a split family with a famous person in the mix, they more than did well for themselves. Godspeed, Jane. And put in a good word for me up there, please.
To be a nitpicker, the last picture, with 1947 in its title? The calendar behind says 1940. Yeah, picky, picky.
But thanks for the pictures. I have yet to see an frowning Reagan.
The calendar says 1940!
Give it up, good sport. What’s your filmography and how did you cope as a conservative in Hollywood?
Yes, May Jane Wyman Rest in Peace.
God bless her! She was an impressive and dignified actress.
I heard she attended one of the services for Reagan dressed in black but stayed in the background.
Luckily Michael has his own family - wife and children, to comfort him. RIP Jane Wyman. She was a good actress and very pretty.
That is wonderful that you were able to work with her!
Jane Wyman always seemed to be a graceful lady, despite what tabloids would try to imply.
God Bless Jane Wyman and God Comfort Michael Reagan in his loss.
“How alone he must feel today with his parents and sister gone.”
I was just thinking the same thing as I read the article. God bless them all.
Prayers to Michael and his family and rest in peace, Jane Wyman.
Thanks, you're both right that the calendar says 1940.
I found this photo and its title was "WymanJ_1947." I saved it to my hard drive then loaded it up onto tinypic. I'll see if I can find it again to figure out why there is a discrepancy between the calendar date and the title of the photo.
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