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Ronald Reagan was one of the most powerful and popular American presidents. To fully understand the later, political Reagan, whose charismatic style and restraint in the exercise of power earned him the respect of virtually everyone of all political persuasions internationally, it is necessary to get to know the earlier Ronald Reagan, the Hollywood actor who fought tirelessly for recognition, success and, ultimately, popularity. However, almost all of Reagan's biographers have not delved into his years as a film star, trade union activist, and gallant womaniser. Mark Elliot, a renowned film critic and historian, set out to fill this gap. Drawing on original research, unpublished interviews, documents and materials, he has painted the most truthful and detailed portrait of the man. Elliot traces the beginnings and development of Reagan's acting career, describes his bachelor days, his two marriages, recalls his controversial eight years as president of the Screen Actors Guild, and reveals a new perspective on Reagan's work in film and television, side by side with the greatest figures in Hollywood at the time.

Ronald Reagan not only managed to survive his years in Hollywood, but at the end of that period he was able to make a stunning metamorphosis from a leading film actor to a statesman, from a minor role in the film sets to a man whose greatest role was played on the greatest stage in the world. Hollywood helped to create the public image of the man who would later become the leader of the free world, so it is in Hollywood that we should look for the key to understanding Reagan: who he was before he became.

Against the backdrop of the magnificent and sometimes brutal history of Hollywood's famous Golden Age, Eliot's biography reveals the origins of the man of legend, Ronald Reagan.

For a wide range of readers.