Ronald Reagan was an American actor whose first screen credit was the starring role in the movie Love Is on the Air (1937). He later starred in Brother Rat (1938). By the end of 1939, he had already appeared in 19 films. Reagan later played the role of George Gipp in the film Knute Rockne, All American (1940) before appearing in Santa Fe Trail (1940). Reagan portrayed Drake McHugh in Kings Row (1942), which many film critics consider to be his best movie performance. During World War II, Reagan, worked in the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of This Is the Army (1943).[1] By the end of the war, he had produced some 400 training films for the Army Air Force.[2]
Reagan continued his acting career, making films such as The Voice of the Turtle (1947), Bedtime for Bonzo (1951), The Winning Team (1952) and Cattle Queen of Montana (1954). However, he landed fewer film roles in the late 1950s and decided to join television. From 1954 to 1962, he was the host of General Electric Theater, a series of weekly dramas. By the end of his acting career, Reagan appeared in a total of 53 feature films.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | ||||
| 1938 | Radio Announcer | Voice role; uncredited | ||
| Radio Announcer | Voice role; uncredited | |||
| Announcer | ||||
| 1939 | ||||
| Narrator | Short film | [3] | ||
| 1940 | ||||
| "Carlo's Guest" | Short film; uncredited | |||
| 1941 | ||||
| 1942 | Lt. Jimmy Saunders | Documentary short | ||
| Short film | ||||
| Narrator | Short film | |||
| 1943 | ||||
| Lt. Ames | ||||
| 1944–1945 | Narrator | Short film | ||
| 1945 | ||||
| Short film | ||||
| 1947 | Larry Hanrahan | |||
| 1949 | ||||
| Yank | ||||
| — | Cameo | |||
| 1950 | ||||
| 1951 | Narrator/Host | Short film | ||
| 1952 | ||||
| 1953 | ||||
| 1954 | ||||
| Farrell | ||||
| 1955 | Cowpoke | |||
| 1957 | ||||
| 1961 | Narrator | |||
| 1963 | Documentary | |||
| 1964 | ||||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Episode: "The Case of the Missing Lady" | [4] | |||
| 1952 | Episode: "The Priceless Gift" | [5] | |||
| 1953 | Episode: "A Job for Jimmy Valentine" | [6] | |||
| Episode: "Next Stop: Bethlehem" | |||||
| 1953–1954 | 2 episodes | ||||
| 3 episodes | |||||
| Various | |||||
| 1954–1962 | Host / Various | Hosted 235 teleplays; acted in 35 episodes | |||
| 1955 | Co-host | Episode: "Dateline: Disneyland" | [7] | ||
| 1956 | Episode: "The Jungle Trap" | ||||
| 1960 | Alan Royce | Episode: "The Way Home" | |||
| Host | 2 episodes | ||||
| 1961 | Episode: "The Long Shadow" | ||||
| 1961–1963 | Guest Host / Rex Kent | 2 episodes | |||
| 1963 | Cpt. Paul Winters | Episode: "The Fort Pierce Story" | |||
| 1964 | Episode: "A Cruel and Unusual Night" | ||||
| 1964–1966 | Host / Actor | Acted in 8 episodes | [8] |