We know the 40th president was Ronald Reagan. Some of us know he was the Governor of California. But an even smaller percentage knows Reagan was a sports broadcaster and actor!!! Wow!! Who would’ve known?After Reagan graduated from Eureka in 1932, he decided to look for a job close to home, broadcasting. He drove to Iowa and got a job broadcasting University of Iowa home football games and was paid $10 per game. He applied at WOC in Davenport, Iowa and was given the job, which paid $100 per month. He earned the job by impressing the manager with a vivid description from memory of a Eureka College football game. A job as chief sports announcer on WHO in Des Moines came up and his skill and enthusiasm won him the job. Reagan quickly became a very popular sportscaster in Iowa.
^Cowboy from BrooklynReagan loved broadcasting Chicago Cubs baseball games. WHO couldn’t afford to send him to Wrigley Field though, so he had to rely on running accounts of the games provided by wire services. In 1937, Reagan went along with the Cubs to their training camp in California. He arranged this trip in order to explore a possible movie career.Due to his good looks and confidence, he attracted an agent. A screen test was set up with Warner Brothers, and Reagan was offered a seven year contract starting at $200 a week. He accepted and later brought his parents to live with him.
Reagan did not become an immediate star. He worked hard and played leads in B movies and had minor parts in other significant films. His first screen credit was his starring role in the movie Love Is on the Air. He was cast in the film version of Brother Rat, a Broadway play, it was his most substantial role in a major film, but it was also where he met his first wife.
^King's RowReagan had moved through his career taking the parts he was offered and hardly ever complaining. But his wife told him he should be more aggressive. So he pursued the part of George Gipp, a famous Notre Dame football player, in the feature Knute Rockne-All American. Some studios resisted his request, but his enthusiasm and background as a sports broadcaster got him the part. The film was a success and Reagan’s career was propelled. He was given better parts and performed in King’s Row and Desperate Journey. Two months after Reagan became a star in King’s Row, he was drafted into the U.S. army. He spent the war making training movies at a military base. After World War II, Reagan returned to the movies and acted in Tennessee’s Partner, Hellcats of the Navy, This is the Army, Dark Victory, Bedtime for Bonzo, Cattle Queen of Montana, and The Killers. That was his final film.
Reagan had such a fun life before he was president that most of us never knew about. I’m so glad I found this out about him. I might even go watch some of his movies now!!~Cora
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