Nancy Reagan
Date of birth: 1921-07-06
Place of birth: New York City, New York, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Anne Frances Robbins, Nancy Davis, Nancy Frances Robbins, Nancy Davis Reagan
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nancy Davis Reagan (born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and the wife of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. She served as the First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Davis' film career began with small supporting roles in two films that were released in 1949, The Doctor and the Girl with Glenn Ford and East Side, West Side starring Barbara Stanwyck. She played a child psychiatrist in the film noir Shadow on the Wall (1950) with Ann Sothern and Zachary Scott; her performance was called "beautiful and convincing" by New York Times critic A. H. Weiler. She co-starred in 1950's The Next Voice You Hear..., playing a pregnant housewife who hears the voice of God from her radio. Influential reviewer Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that "Nancy Davis [is] delightful as [a] gentle, plain, and understanding wife." In 1951, Davis appeared in Night into Morning, her favorite screen role, a study of bereavement starring Ray Milland. Crowther said that Davis "does nicely as the fiancée who is widowed herself and knows the loneliness of grief," while another noted critic, The Washington Post's Richard L. Coe, said Davis "is splendid as the understanding widow." MGM released Davis from her contract in 1952; she sought a broader range of parts, but also married Reagan, keeping her professional name as Davis, and had her first child that year. She soon starred in the science fiction film Donovan's Brain (1953); Crowther said that Davis, playing the role of a possessed scientist's "sadly baffled wife," "walked through it all in stark confusion" in an "utterly silly" film. In her next-to-last movie, Hellcats of the Navy (1957), she played nurse Lieutenant Helen Blair, and appeared in a film for the only time with her husband, playing what one critic called "a housewife who came along for the ride." Another reviewer, however, stated that Davis plays her part satisfactorily, and "does well with what she has to work with." Author Garry Wills has said that Davis was generally underrated as an actress because her constrained part in Hellcats was her most widely seen performance. In addition, Davis downplayed her Hollywood goals: promotional material from MGM in 1949 said that her "greatest ambition" was to have a "successful happy marriage"; decades later, in 1975, she would say, "I was never really a career woman but [became one] only because I hadn't found the man I wanted to marry. I couldn't sit around and do nothing, so I became an actress." Ronald Reagan biographer Lou Cannon nevertheless characterized her as a "reliable" and "solid" performer who held her own in performances with better-known actors. After her final film, Crash Landing (1958), Davis appeared for a brief time as a guest star in television dramas, such as the Zane Grey Theatre episode "The Long Shadow" (1961), where she played opposite Ronald Reagan, as well as Wagon Train and The Tall Man, until she retired as an actress in 1962.
Movie Credits
The Dark Wave
1956-06-01
A young girl, normal in every way, is affected with severe epilepsy.
Family Fundamentals
2002-05-26
With a rare gift for unflinching impartiality, director Arthur Dong delves into the lives and attitu
Shadow on the Wall
1950-05-19
Angered that her sister Celia has stolen her fiance, Dell Faring kills her and allows Celia's husban
Donovan's Brain
1953-09-30
A scientist takes the brain of dead man and revives it via electrodes as it lays suspended in a tank
Zappa
2020-11-27
With the help of more than 10,000 dedicated Zappa fans, this is the long-awaited definitive document
The Next Voice You Hear...
1950-06-29
The Next Voice You Hear... (1950) is a drama film in which a voice claiming to be that of God preemp
Anxiety. Thoughts of an Old Man
1984-01-01
The director's reflections on the modern politics of the Reagan administration.
Hellcats of the Navy
1957-05-01
Future "first couple" Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis made their only joint film appearance in Hellcat
The New Air Force One: Flying Fortress
2021-02-16
The New Air Force One: Flying Fortress follows the new presidential aircraft's creation, diving into
It's a Big Country
1951-11-20
Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American prop
Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven
2007-04-11
At the end of 2005, New York's famed restaurateur, Sirio Maccioni, closed Le Cirque, destination of
Talk About a Stranger
1952-04-18
Small-town gossips rage over the arrival of a mysterious stranger.
Crash Landing
1958-07-01
Airplane passengers prepare for a crash landing in the ocean.
East Side, West Side
1949-12-22
A vain businessman puts strains on his happy marriage to a rich, beautiful socialite by allowing him
Remembering Reagan at His Ranch
2004-06-22
Ronald Reagan said of his beloved Santa Barbara, California ranch, “No place before or since has eve
Shadow in the Sky
1952-07-18
Burt, a Marine suffering from Battle Fatigue, is deathly afraid of rain and confined to an asylum, b
Night Into Morning
1951-06-08
Berkeley university professor adjusts (using alcohol) to tragic fire deaths of wife & son.
How to Win the TV Debate
2010-04-12
With Britain's first-ever political leaders' television debate imminent, award-winning reporter Mich
The Road to Mass Incarceration
2018-06-13
This video, The Road to Mass Incarceration, by Greenhouse Media summarizes criminal justice policy d
Ronald Reagan: An American Journey
2011-02-01
The Reagan Era was marked with names, triumphs and tragedy that made history that became the fabric
La Coupe Stanley à Montréal en 1993
2008-01-01
HyperNormalisation
2016-10-25
We live in a world where the powerful deceive us. We know they lie. They know we know they lie. They
The Making of Trump
2015-11-30
As every day of Donald Trump's presidential campaign seemingly generates new headlines, this two-hou
Portrait of Jennie
1948-12-25
A mysterious girl inspires a struggling artist.
The Reagan Show
2017-04-22
Comprised entirely of archival footage taken during those pre-reality-television years, The Reagan S
All the Presidents' Wives
2008-06-24
A look at the women who has served as First Ladies of the United States.
Reagan
1998-02-23
In 1988, after two terms in office, Ronald Reagan left the White House one of the most popular presi
Inside the White House
1996-01-01
Featuring behind-the-scenes footage and unprecedented access to its hallowed halls, this program fro
The Presidents' Gatekeepers
2013-09-12
An analysis of what the role of the Chief of Staff is in his position at the service of the Presiden
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
1990-06-04
This tribute to Myrna Loy is organized chronologically with a few photographs, many film clips, a ha
Nancy Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime
2010-02-06
Part of a series of portraits of past first ladies, this PBS documentary explores the political and
Silk Road: Drugs, Death and the Dark Web
2017-08-21
Documentary looking at the black market website known as the Silk Road, which emerged on the darknet
Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol
1990-07-18
Iconic American artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol is the subject of this documentary, which looks at
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1987-03-13
Documentary about James Stewart's long career as an actor and positive personal life.
The Flintstone Kids' "Just Say No" Special
1988-09-15
A special that shows the young Flintstones trying to raise money so they can go to a concert. The st
Kill the Messenger
2014-10-09
A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide af
The Doctor and the Girl
1949-09-29
Dr. Michael Corday, a recent graduate of the Harvard Medical School, is the son of Dr. John Corday,
Reversing Roe
2018-09-01
Documentary that delves deep into the history of abortion law, revealing the contradictory ways in w
Get Me Roger Stone
2017-04-23
From his days of testifying at the Watergate hearings to advising recent presidential candidate Dona
How to Win the US Presidency
2016-08-01
This whimsical look at rough-and-tumble American politics examines the influence of money, religion
Our Nixon
2013-01-23
Never before seen Super 8 home movies filmed by Richard Nixon's closest aides - and convicted Waterg
Reagan
2011-02-07
Based on the story of Americas enigmatic career of one of the revered architects of the modern world
Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn
2019-09-29
Legendary and controversial attorney Roy Cohn was a power broker in the rough and tumble world of Ne
The Way I See It
2020-09-18
Former Chief Official White House Photographer Pete Souza's journey as a person with top secret clea
The House I Live In
2012-10-05
In the past 40 years, the War on Drugs has accounted for 45 million arrests, made America the world'
Stand-up Reagan
2004-09-07
From his very first day in office Ronald Reagan endeared himself to millions of Americans with his a
Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics
2010-11-09
A look at the history of the comic book publication that launched such legendary characters as Super
The Chemical People
1983-11-02
A two-part program examining the scope of drug and alcohol abuse among schoolchildren. Viewers learn
13th
2016-10-07
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history o
Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
2021-01-11
A cheap, powerful drug emerges during a recession, igniting a moral panic fueled by racism. Explore
Joan Rivers at the BBC
2024-09-08
Katherine Ryan presents a celebration of one of the biggest comedy talents to ever appear on the sma
A Child is Born: A Christmas Story Presented by Ronald Reagan
1956-12-23
This special is a wonderful retelling of the Nativity story from the point of view of the Innkeeper'
Grass
1999-09-15
Marijuana is the most controversial drug of the 20th Century. Smoked by generations to little discer
Tupac: Resurrection
2003-11-14
Home movies, photographs, and recited poetry illustrate the life of Tupac Shakur, one of the most be
American Made
2017-08-18
The true story of pilot Barry Seal, who transported contraband for the CIA and the Medellin cartel i