Nancy Davis was born on July 6, 1921, in New York City. She was raised in Chicago, and graduated from the Girls' Latin School before going on to Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she graduated in 1943.
In her early career, Nancy Davis worked as an actress in stage, film, and television productions. Her stage performances ranged from summer stock to road tours to Broadway. In 1949, she was signed to a seven-year contract with MGM. She made eleven films in all. Her last film, at Columbia in 1956, was "Hellcats of the Navy," in which she and her husband appeared in together.
After her husband became Governor of California in 1967, Mrs. Reagan began visiting wounded Vietnam veterans and became active in projects concerning POWs and servicemen missing in action. During the war, she wrote a syndicated column, donating her salary to the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Action in Southeast Asia. While First Lady of California, Mrs. Reagan made regular visits to hospitals and homes for the elderly, as well as schools for physically and emotionally handicapped children. During one of these hospital visits in 1967, she observed participants in the Foster Grandparent Program, and soon became its champion.
After Reagan was elected President, as First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Reagan continued to help expand the Foster Grandparent Program on a national level and promote private funding in local communities. With Jane Wilkie, she co-authored a book, "To Love a Child." Mrs. Reagan's special project, as First Lady, was fighting drug and alcohol abuse among youth. She has appeared on television talk shows, taped public service announcements, written guest articles, and visited prevention programs and rehabilitation centers across the country.
In April 1985 Mrs. Reagan expanded her drug awareness campaign by inviting First Ladies from around the world to attend a two-day briefing in Washington, D.C., a