Jane Wyman (
January 5,
1917 –
September 10,
2007)
[Actress, Philanthropist Jane Wyman Dies. Retrieved September 10 2007.][Birth and death dates from the Social Security Death Index.] was an
American actress. Her most prolific appearances in film came in the 1940s and 1950s and included her best known film roles in
Johnny Belinda, for which she won an Oscar, and
Magnificent Obsession opposite
Rock Hudson. The actress became known to new generations in the 1980s, not only for her leading role as the malevolent matriarch Angela Channing on the hit
prime-time soap opera Falcon Crest, but because of her prior marriage to
Ronald Reagan.
Early life
Wyman was born
Sarah Jane Mayfield in
St. Joseph, Missouri. Although her birthdate has been widely reported for many years as
January 4 1914, research by biographers and
genealogists indicates that she was born
January 5 1917.
[Edwards, Anne. Early Reagan: The Rise to Power. William Morrow & Co (November 1990). ISBN 0688060501.][Bubbeo, Daniel. The Women of Warner Brothers: The Lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies. McFarland & Company (October 2001). ISBN 0786411376.][Colacello, Bob. Ronnie and Nancy: Their Path to the White House--1911 to 1980. Warner Books; 1st Warner Books Edition (2004). ISBN 044653272X.] The most likely reason for the 1914 date is that she added to her age when beginning her career as a minor in order to work legally.
[She is listed in the U.S. Census taken in April 1930 as being 18 years old, when she was actually 13. U.S. Census, April 1, 1930, State of California, County of Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles, enumeration district 328, p. 13A, family 503.] She may have changed her
January 5 birthdate to
January 4 to coincide with that of her daughter
Maureen Reagan. After Wyman's death, a release posted on her official website confirmed these details.
