John Neil Reagan (September 16, 1908 – December 11, 1996) was an American radio station manager,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

senior producer, and senior vice president of

McCann Erickson McCann, formerly McCann Erickson, is an American global advertising agency network, with offices in 120 countries. McCann is part of McCann Worldgroup, along with several other agencies, including direct digital marketing agency MRM//McCann, expe ...

. He was the older brother of the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

star and United States President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

Life and career

Neil Reagan was born in

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

on September 16, 1908.Yager (2006), p. 63 He was baptized as a Catholic, the faith of his father. As an infant, he attended his mother's church, but later became affiliated with his father's religion. His younger brother was baptized and raised in their mother's

Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...

church. Neil was described as a boisterous and gregarious personality in his youth.Yager (2006), p. 64 His family and friends called him "Moon", which came from the ''

Moon Mullins ''Moon Mullins'' is an American comic strip which had a run as both a daily and Sunday feature from June 19, 1923 to June 2, 1991. Syndicated by the Chicago Tribune/New York News Syndicate, the strip depicts the lives of diverse lowbrow characte ...

'' comic strip. In 1933, Neil graduated from

Eureka College Eureka College is a private liberal arts college in Eureka, Illinois, that is related by covenant to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Enrollment in 2018 was approximately 567 students. Eureka College was the third college in the Unite ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. He followed his brother to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and established a career as a television producer and advertising executive. From the 1930s through the 1950s, Neil Reagan directed the radio series '' Dr. Christian'', starring

Jean Hersholt Jean Pierre Carl Buron (12 July 1886 – 2 June 1956), known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is best known for starring on the radio series '' Dr. Christian'' (1937–1954) and in the film ''Heidi'' (1937).Obitua ...

. In between he launched a brief Hollywood career as a supporting actor in films such as ''

Tugboat Annie Sails Again ''Tugboat Annie Sails Again'' is a 1940 American comedy romance film directed by Lewis Seiler. The picture is a sequel to ''Tugboat Annie'' (1933). Marjorie Rambeau took over the late Marie Dressler's role, and the supporting cast features Alan H ...

'' (1940) and ''

Doughboys in Ireland ''Doughboys in Ireland'' is a 1943 American musical war film directed by Lew Landers and starring Kenny Baker, Jeff Donnell and Lynn Merrick.Krutnik p.232 The film offered an early role for future star Robert Mitchum, who appeared in many fil ...

'' (1943). Neil Reagan directed Ronald Reagan in the television series ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

''. He served as president of both the

and Los Angeles advertising clubs, and also served on numerous community and professional boards including: the Crippled Children's Society of Los Angeles, the Kennedy Child Study Center in Santa Monica, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. He was an alternate delegate to the

1972 Republican National Convention The 1972 Republican National Convention was held from August 21 to August 23, 1972 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida. It nominated President Richard M. Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew for reelection. The convent ...

from California, and a delegate to the 1980 Republican National Convention. Neil Reagan served two terms as trustee of

. Reagan died from heart failure at a hospital in San Diego on December 11, 1996, at age 88. The Reagan Physical Education Center on the

campus was dedicated in 1970 in honor of both Ronald and Neil Reagan. Twelve years later,

would return to the Reagan Center to make one of his most important foreign policy speeches of his first term known as the START speech, or Eureka speech.

Family

His wife, Ruth Elizabeth "Bess" Reagan (née Hoffman; 1908–2010), whom he wed in 1935, died in 2010 at the age of 102. The couple had no children.

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (1943)

References

Bibliography

* Harmer, John, ''Reagan: Man of Principle'', Cedar Fort, 2002, * Watson, Robert W., ''White House Studies Compendium, Volume 1'', Nova Publishers, 2007, * Yager, Edward M., ''Ronald Reagan's Journey: Democrat to Republican'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2006, {{DEFAULTSORT:Reagan, Neil 1908 births 1996 deaths California Republicans Eureka College alumni People from Lee County, Illinois People from Tampico, Illinois People from Greater Los Angeles Reagan family Works Progress Administration workers