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 star and United States President Ronald Reagan.

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 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 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 year ...

degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

. He followed his brother to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

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).Obitu ...

. In between he launched a brief Hollywood career as a supporting actor in films such as '' Tugboat Annie Sails Again'' (1940) and '' Doughboys in Ireland'' (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 Hollywood 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 from California, and a delegate to the 1980 Republican National Convention. Neil Reagan served two terms as trustee of Eureka College. 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 Eureka College campus was dedicated in 1970 in honor of both Ronald and Neil Reagan. Twelve years later, Ronald Reagan 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

* '' Doughboys in Ireland'' (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