Hovering over and around the politics of California is the presence of Ronald Reagan. GOP candidates claim his mantle in their battle to take away a state that has turned resolutely Democratic. Jerry Brown, the man who replaced Reagan as governor, is going to be governor again.
Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth. But election eve seemed a good time to look back at some of the places scattered around our region that are linked with the titan of conservative politics.
Reagan moved to Southern California in 1937 after following the Chicago Cubs to their Southern California spring training camp on Catalina. He took a screen test and was signed to a contract by Warner Bros. Studio. He married actress Jane Wyman in 1940 at a church at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. They divorced in 1949.
During World War II, Reagan served in the 1st Motion Picture Unit, making films for the war effort in Hollywood, and left the Army at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro as a captain in 1945.
In the postwar years, he appeared in films and TV, and served seven terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild. Reagan came to Hollywood as a Roosevelt Democrat, but by the late 1950s he was a conservative. His 1952 marriage to actress Nancy Davis introduced him to her father’s circle of influential businessmen.
Reagan ran for governor in 1966, and celebrated his defeat of incumbent Edmund G. Brown at the Ambassador Hotel. Reagan served two terms and was followed by Brown’s son, Edmund G. Brown Jr., better known as Jerry. Reagan was elected president in 1980 and re-elected in 1984. He returned to Southern California in 1989, splitting his time between the Los Angeles area and his beloved ranch in Santa Barbara. His presidential library opened in Simi Valley. Reagan died in 2004 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
An interesting footnote can be found in Compton. Reagan’s vice president and successor in the White House, George H.W. Bush, lived there for six months in 1949, along with his wife, Barbara, and son, future President George W. Bush (then 3 years old). Bush’s daughter, Robin, was born in California. The family moved to Midland, Texas in 1950.
Southern California sites linked to Ronald Reagan:
Catalina: Reagan came to California to cover the Chicago Cubs for a radio station. The Cubs were owned by the Wrigley family (of chewing gum fame), who also owned the island. 310-510-2000 or VisitCatalinaIsland.com.
Warner Bros. Studios: Reagan’s first studio during his movie career. 4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank, 818-954-1744. Tours available. warnerbros.com.
Montecito Apartments: 6650 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles. Reagan’s apartment during his early Hollywood days. Private property.
Wee Kirk o’ the Heather Church: 1712 S. Glendale Ave., Glendale. Where Ronald Reagan married actress Jane Wyman in a chapel surrounded by a memorial park. Open to the public
Reagan-Wyman home: Apartment 5 at 1326 Londonderry View. West Hollywood home for the newlyweds in the early 1940s. Private home
Little Brown Church in the Valley: 4418 Coldwater Canyon Road, Studio City. Where Reagan married Nancy Davis, who was his First Lady in Sacramento and Washington.
Raleigh Studios: 5300 Melrose Avenue. Where Reagan hosted the TV show “Death Valley Days” in the period between his early Hollywood stardom and later political career. Near Paramount Studios.
Ambassador Hotel (site is now a high school): 3400 Wilshire Blvd. Richard Nixon holed up here to write his “Checkers” speech, which saved his place on the Republican ticket. Where Ronald Reagan celebrated his 1966 governor’s victory. It’s best known as where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.
Century Plaza Hotel (now the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza): A favorite for political parties in Southern California, it was the site of Reagan’s 1984 re-election celebration. 2025 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles. 310-228-1234. centuryplaza.hyatt.com
Post-presidential home: 668 St. Cloud Road, Bel-Air. Where Reagan lived after he left the White House. It’s next door to the house used as the exterior for Jed Clampett’s mansion in “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Private property.
Fox Plaza: 2121 Avenue of the Stars. Reagan’s post-White House office. Its exterior was used in the original “Die Hard” action film starring Bruce Willis.
Reagan’s star. The star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for the actor-turned-president is at 6374 Hollywood Blvd., near Ivar Avenue. Reagan is the only president with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The walk also has stars for former California Sen. George Murphy and soon to be ex-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. 323-469-8311 or hollywoodchamber.net.
Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library & Museum, 40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley. The 135,000-acre complex has Reagan’s mementos from his days in Hollywood, Sacramento and Washington, as well as one of the largest remaining chunks of the Berlin Wall. 800-410-8354 or reaganlibrary.com
George Bush’s house: 624 S. Santa Fe Ave., Compton. Location of future 41st president’s home in 1949. Private property.
Contact the writer: travel@ocregister.com
