Message: "Re: My column on Reagan and Regan"

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Re: My column on Reagan and Regan

by Retrospectre

9/2/2024, 4:10 AM

in reply to a message by clevelandkentevans

I don't know if Reagan's popularity as an actor would have changed the name in the Exorcist from Reegan to Raygan. Many people in the entertainment industry at the time pronounced the actor's name as Reegan and he had to do a bit of rebranding to get everyone to say Raygan when* he ran for President (apparently this was Nancy's idea). There was a period where opponents would purposely pronounce his name Reegan but he did win the vote so that died out.

*Not sure when the pronunciation change happened but he married Nancy in 1952, lots of time to shift it before The Exorcist!

This message was edited 9/2/2024, 4:18 AM

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- clevelandkentevans +1

9/3/2024, 9:33 AM

When "The Exorcist" came out, Reagan had already been governor of California for four years, so everyone in California, including Hollywood, should have learned to pronounce his name as "Ray-gun" by then. :)

This message was edited 9/3/2024, 9:46 AM

- Retrospectre

10/29/2024, 1:56 AM

I was reading about whether Ronald Reagan was famous as an actor in 1955 when he was referenced in the movie Back to the Future, and someone explained his fame took a significant uptick when he started hosting General Electric Theater. His name was pronounced Raygun then! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3bDuCiFN2M .

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