Jane Wyman’s Unique Place in American Politics

June 10, 2022

Actress Jane Wyman enjoyed a long and illustrious Hollywood career that spanned more than seven decades. An award-winning performer, Wyman is one of the leading ladies of the Golden Age of Hollywood. But she was also noted as being the first former wife of a U.S. president who was still living when that president took the oath of office. That’s a rather confusing distinction, but don’t worry. We will hash it out. 

Colorized photo of Jane Wyman, circa 1937, Warners player. (Getty Images)

In these colorized photos, we will also take a closer look at the career of Jane Wyman who used her talents to work her way up from bit parts and B movies to achieve stardom. Along the way, she earned an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two nominations for Primetime Emmy Awards. 

Jane Wyman’s Early Days

When she was born on January 5, 1917, Wyman’s birth certificate read Sarah Jane Mayfield. Her parents divorced when she was young and she tried to help her mother by working odd jobs. In 1932, when she was just 15, she left home and moved to Hollywood. She worked as a switchboard operator while she tried to break into show business. It didn’t take long. Soon she landed small roles in films like The Kid from Spain, Gold Diggers of 1933, All the King’s Horses, Rumba, and King of Burlesque. By 1936, she was under contract with Warner Bros. During this time, she married and divorce her first husband, Ernest Wyman, but she kept his last name to use as her professional name.

Wyman went on to appear in numerous films for Warner Bros. as well as a string of “B” movies. In the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, Wyman transitioned into dramatic roles and took on leading lady status. Her breakout role was in the 1948 film Johnny Belinda. In this movie, she played a deaf-mute rape victim. She won critical acclaim for this performance – as well as an Oscar Award. In fact, she was the first person in Hollywood’s sound era to win an Oscar without uttering a single line.

Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman

Actress Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan in a scene from the movie "Brother Rat" (Photo by Donaldson Collection/Getty Images)

While filming Brother Rat in 1938, a “B” movie in which she had the female lead, Wyman met her co-star Ronald Reagan. By this time, Wyman had been twice married and twice divorced. Following her relationship with Ernest Wyman, she married Myron Futterman for a short time. Wyman and Reagan started a relationship that only grew stronger when the pair was cast in the sequel to Brother Rat, the 1940 film, Brother Rat and a Baby. Ronald Reagan proposed to Wyman at the Chicago Theatre and the couple wed on January 26, 1940, in Glendale, California. The couple had a daughter, Maureen, a daughter Christine who died shortly after birth, and an adopted son, Michael. 

Jane Wyman, Ronald Reagan, and Politics

Jane Wyman was always interested in politics and was a registered Republican her whole adult life. During her marriage to Ronald Reagan, Reagan was a Hollywood Democrat. He campaigned for Harry S. Truman. He served on left-wing committees and spoke out against Republican values. Wyman couldn’t align herself with Reagan’s Democratic beliefs. After nine years of marriage, she filed for divorce. She later married and divorced two more times. Although she cited political differences for the breakup of her marriage to Ronald Reagan, in truth, she later admitted, she simply didn’t like to be married. She enjoyed the romance and companionship, but she didn’t like to feel like a non-entity.

A Divorced President

As we know, Ronald Reagan had a political turn-around and became a staunch Republican. He found that his conservative views were more in line with the Republican Party. His decision to switch sides was also greatly influenced by his new love, Nancy Davis, who was a Republican. Reagan famously explained, “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party. The party left me.”

As Reagan’s interest in politics grew and he became a rising star in the Republican Party, his divorce from Jane Wyman became a bit of an issue. Divorce was still somewhat frowned upon, even into the 1970s. When Ronald Reagan was elected the President of the United States in 1980, he became the first person who had been divorced to take the oath of office. Donald Trump is the only other divorced president.