The President's Ladies: Jane Wyman and Nancy Davis

303 Pages·2014·71.8 MB·English

by  Bernard F. Dick

The PresidenT’s Ladies
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The
P Lr e s ai dde inets’ s
Jane Wyman and Nancy Davis
B e r n a r d F. di c k
University Press of MississiPPi • Jackson
www.upress.state.ms.us
The University Press of Mississippi is a member of the Association of American
University Presses.
Copyright © 2014 by University Press of Mississippi
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing 2014
∞
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dick, Bernard F.
The president’s ladies : Jane Wyman and Nancy Davis / Bernard F. Dick.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61703-980-5 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-61703-981-2 (ebook)
1. Motion picture actors and actresses—United States—Biography. 2. Presi-
dents’ spouses—United States—Biography. 3. Wyman, Jane, 1917–2007.
4. Reagan, Nancy, 1923– 5. Reagan, Ronald. I. Title.
PN1998.2.D4955 2014
791.4302’80922—dc23 2013039754
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
For Peter N. Chetta
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co n t e n t s
introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1 The Abandoned Child .......................... 7
2 The Name below the Title ....................... 16
3 Jane and Ronnie .............................. 30
4 Slouching toward Stardom ...................... 37
5 Reaganless for the Duration—and Beyond.......... 47
6 Angel in the Wings ............................ 52
7 Highs and Lows ............................... 58
8 Going for the Gold ............................ 66
9 Frontier Gal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
10 Strange Interlude ............................. 76
11 And the Winner Is ............................ 80
12 The Non-Marrying Kind ........................ 85
13 These Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
14 The Rest—and Best—of Reagan .................. 100
15 Stars in Her Eyes .............................. 111
16 Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Starlet ................... 120
17 Nancy at Tiffany’s ............................. 124
18 The Empress of Ice Cream....................... 136
19 Post-Oscar Blues .............................. 139
20 The Last Picture Shows ......................... 143
21 A Cathedral and a Conversion ................... 150
22 Zinging with Bing ............................. 155
23 Glass Animals and Blue Veils, Cabbages and Couture.. 162
VIII contents
24 Addio del passato ............................. 171
25 I Do, I Don’t, I Do, I Don’t ...................... 175
26 The Actress and the Octopus .................... 181
27 The Actress and the Auteur ..................... 187
28 The Beginning of the End ....................... 201
29 Worlds Elsewhere ............................. 207
30 From the Hearth to the Vineyards ................ 221
31 Unholy Families .............................. 239
epilogue ................................... 249
notes ...................................... 251
appendix ................................... 261
index ...................................... 270
The PresidenT’s Ladies