welcome back to the ancestral findings podcast and Francis Robbins who later changed her name
to Nancy Davis married fellow actor Ronald Reagan and enjoyed a Hollywood Life that
later became a political one she went from first lady of California to first lady of the United
States and is one of our most popular and best-known ones here is her story [Music]
foreign [Music] Nancy Reagan our 40th first lady was born and Frances Robbins Nancy is a
common nickname for Anne on July 6 1921 in Manhattan New York the only child of
Kenneth Robbins and Edith Luckett she spent the first two years of her life in New York City
her father was a farmer and car salesman whose family had once been prosperous her godmother
was a famous silent film star named Allah nazamova soon after Nancy's birth her parents
called her Nancy from the time she was born her parents separated and divorced when she was seven
after the separation Nancy's mother traveled a lot to find acting jobs and Nancy spent six
years living with and being raised by her aunt and uncle Virginia Luckett and oddly Galbraith
in Bethesda Maryland Nancy missed her mother and said that her favorite times in her childhood were
when her mother would get a job in New York City and her aunt would take her by train to stay with
her mother there Nancy's mother remarried when Nancy was eight to Loyal Edward Davis
was a prominent neurosurgeon who moved the family to Chicago he and Nancy got
along very well and Davis later adopted her changing her last name from Robbins to Davis
at the time of the surname change her first name was also legally changed to Nancy
Nancy graduated from the girls Latin School of Chicago in 1939 and attended Smith college in
Massachusetts where she graduated with a degree in English and drama in 1943.
after graduating from college she held jobs as a nurse's aide and sales clerk in Chicago before her
mother's acting colleagues helped her find work as an actress Nancy appeared in Broadway plays
and musicals even playing a Chinese character once when a director told her she looked Chinese
eventually those Broadway roles led to a screen test which she passed and she moved to California
with a seven-year contract with MGM Studios she ultimately appeared in 11 feature films usually
playing a loyal housewife and or responsible young mother her attractiveness along with her distant
and understated demeanor made her perfect for these roles and she became Typecast as them after
her last movie in 1958 she appeared as guest stars on television shows for a while finally retiring
as an actress in 1962. Nancy dated several famous actors during her own acting career including
Clark Gable Peter Lawford and Robert Stack she met her future husband fellow actor Ronald Reagan in
November of 1949 when she noticed her name was on a Hollywood Blacklist since Ronald was then
president of the Screen Actors Guild she sought his help to get her name removed Ronald discovered
she had been mistaken for another actress with the same name and Nancy was removed from The Blacklist
Nancy and Ronald began dating after this and the Press followed their relationship closely
it was noted they did not go out to nightclubs on their dates and the Press thus dubbed them
the vice free couple Ronald had been divorced from actor Jane Wyman and was dating another woman in
addition to Nancy as the divorce had made him wary of remarriage the couple dated for three
years and eventually decided to get married the wedding was on March 4th 1952 in Los Angeles
the wedding was small and arranged quickly to avoid the Press their daughter Patricia was
born eight months later followed six years later by their son Ronald Jr Ronald already had two
other children by his marriage to Jane Maureen and Michael Reagan Ronald and Nancy were always
known to be intimate with each other and displayed their affection openly and often those who knew
them said they never stopped courting each other Ronald called Nancy Mommy and Nancy called Ronald
Ronnie Nancy told Vanity Fair in an interview once that her life really began with Ronnie
and that she couldn't imagine life without him when Ronald died in 2004 Charlton Heston said
it was the end of the greatest love affair in the history of the American presidency
by the time Nancy became first lady the White House had once again fallen into disrepair as
it had so many times over the previous two centuries Nancy wanted to renovate it as the
other first ladies had done to make it into a suitable first home rather than use government
funds as her predecessors had done however she used private donations she redecorated several
rooms in the White House and the entire second and third floors as well as the Press briefing room
she brought out some White House Antiques that had been in storage for ages and also displayed
some of her and Ronald's own collectibles she said she wanted the White House to be a national
home that the entire country could be proud of Nancy also enjoyed entertaining much more than
her immediate predecessors Pat Nixon and Rosalind Carter Nancy hosted 56 State dinners during her
time in the White House and always said hosting was easy that all you had to do was have a good
time and do a little business she was known among the White House staff as being difficult
to work for during State dinners because she was such a perfectionist when it came to them
Nancy remained politically active after leaving the White House though spent much of her time
personally caring for Ronald who announced in 1994 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's
she insisted on caring for him personally as much as she was able to and was always his fiercest
protector beginning with the assassination attempt on him in 1981. Nancy herself died of congestive
heart failure on March 6 2016. at the age of 94. representatives from 10 former and current first
families attended her funeral at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley California
there were a goodly number of Hollywood celebrities there as well approximately
one thousand guests attended Nancy was buried next to Ronald as she would have wanted it
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