Early Reagan: The Rise to Power

Interviews with more than two hundred friends, family members, and colleagues and extensive research that included access to the minutes of the Screen Actors Guild meetings and to the Warner Bros. archives provide the basis for this profile

Edwards traces Reagan's acting career from start to finish, and his gradual shift from fervent Roosevelt Democrat to the day in 1966 when he announced his candidacy, as a Republican, for governor of California. She refutes Reagan's claim that he was typecast as an actor, that the studios offered him second-rate roles in revenge for his union demands as president of the Screen Actors Guild. (Perhaps the most revealing section of the book revolves around his aggressive leadership of that organization.) Reagan's marriage to Jane Wyman and the early years of his marriage to the former Nancy Davis are covered, along with interesting tidbits about his relationships with acting colleagues, directors, gossip columnists and his boss of many years, studio head Jack Warner. As a Hollywood biography, the book is only mildly interesting, but as a political biography it is intriguing; Edwards (Sonya, etc.) skillfully combines the two elements into a unique drama that should find many readers. Photos.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This breezy, anecdotal book by the biographer of Katharine Hepburn, Margaret Mitchell, and others details Reagan's movie and television career while deemphasizing his political career. Despite his father's ardent support of Franklin Roosevelt, Reagan became a Republican because his friends and most of the actors he associated with were conservative. Although lacking the eloquence and brooding introspection of Gary Wills's Reagan's America: innocents at home ( LJ 2/1/87), this book is a lively recounting of Reagan's childhood and years in the entertainment industry, where his political instincts and interests were kindled. A fine selection for public libraries. Karl Helicher, Wolfsohn Memorial Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.