Jane Wyman

Jane Wyman, TOSD ( WY-mən; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007) was an American actress. A star of both movies and television, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress, four Golden Globe Awards and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 1960 she received stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for both motion pictures and television. She was the first wife of actor and future U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Jane Wyman made her theatrical film debut in The Kid from Spain (1932) as an uncredited chorus girl. Wyman always maintained that she got her start in 1934 at 17 dancing in the chorus for LeRoy Prinz at Paramount Pictures. In 1936 Bryan Foy signed Wyman, at 19 years old, to her first studio contract with Warner Bros. During her tenure there, Wyman began appearing in bit roles but progressed into supporting roles, including My Love Came Back (1940), Footlight Serenade (1942), and Princess O'Rourke (1943).

By 1945, Wyman emerged as a prominent A-list actress with successful releases in The Lost Weekend (1945), The Yearling (1946), Johnny Belinda (1948), Stage Fright (1950), The Blue Veil (1951), So Big (1953), Magnificent Obsession (1954), and All That Heaven Allows (1955). She received four nominations for Academy Award for Best Actress between 1946 and 1954, winning one for Johnny Belinda (1948).

In 1955, Wyman transitioned into television, forming her own production company Lewman Productions Ltd. (co-owned with MCA Inc.). She was also made the producer, host, and frequent star of the last three seasons of NBC's Fireside Theatre, which was rebranded with Wyman's name. Her career declined shortly after, and she went into virtual retirement for several intervals of the 1960s and 1970s.

Wyman's career resurged when she appeared on the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest (1981–1990), portraying the villainous matriarch Angela Channing. She retired in 1993, after appearing in an episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Wyman died from natural causes in 2007, at the age of 90. She was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic.