Neil "Moon" Reagan

Birth: Sep. 16, 1908 Tampico Whiteside County Illinois, USA Death: Dec. 11, 1996 San Diego San Diego County California, USA

Actor. The brother of the late actor and President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, he was born John Neil Reagan. A native of Tampico, Illinois, he was affectionately known as 'Moon' because of his likeness to the "Moon Mullins" fooball comic strip. His film credits include, "Tugboat Annie Sails Again" (1940), "Good Luck, Mr. Yates" (1943), "Doughboys In Ireland" (1943), "There's Something About A Soldier" (1943), "The Black Parachute" (1944), and "U-Boat Prisoner" (1944). He also appeared in a na episode of the television series, "This Is Your Life", in 1954. Reagan passed away from heart failure in San Diego, California, at the age of 88.

Family links:

Parents:

 John Edward Reagan (1883 - 1941)

 Nelle Wilson Reagan (1883 - 1962)

Sibling:

 John Neil Reagan (1908 - 1996)

 Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911 - 2004)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial: Cremated, Ashes given to family or friend.

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Maintained by: Find A Grave Originally Created by: Erik Lander Record added: Jun 09, 2004 Find A Grave Memorial# 8893588

Neil Reagan was born in Tampico in 1908. He was baptized as a Roman 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. In 1933, Neil graduated from Eureka College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He followed his brother to California 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. 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.

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 before his death in December 1996.[citation needed] Reagan died on December 11, 1996 in San Diego, California.

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.

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