Jane Wyman (Sarah Jane (Mayfield) Fulks) (1917-)

Jane Wyman was Ronald's first wife, and the mother of two of his children, Maureen and Michael. Wyman was born in St. Joseph, Missouri on January, 1917. She was raised by Richard and Emma Fulks who were older and both had been married before. They also had children from previous marriages, Richard had a son and Emma had a daughter and a son.

It is speculated that Wyman was the daughter of Gladys Hope Christian and Manning J. Mayfield, married in May of 1916 and divorced in 1921. In order to support her child, she moved to Cleveland, Ohio to take a job, leaving Wyman with the Fulks. Though she came back from time to time to visit, Wyman took the Fulks' name when she entered school.

Emma Fulks was German and raised Wyman with strict discipline. Richard was a frustrated politician and a policeman. They were also in their mid-fifties and somewhat distant. Wyman had dreams of being an actress and convinced the Fulks to let her take dancing lessons. When Richard died in 1928, Emma moved to Los Angeles into her daughters home. Wyman dropped out of high school in 1932 and worked as a waitress. She saved up her money and in 1934 started trying to break into Hollywood. She was signed to a contract with Warner Brothers in 1936 and changed her name to Jane Wyman.

That same year she met Myron Futterman, owner of a successful dress company and a 35-year-old divorcee'. She married him a year later, and was divorced a year after that. Wyman claimed that Futterman did not want children and was obsessively jealous.

Wyman met Reagan during the filming of Brother Rat, and they started dating. They were married in 1940. Wyman was very involved with the Screen Actors Guild, and got Ronald involved also. In fact, when Wyman filed for divorce, after eight years of marriage, political differences were cited and she said that, "Despite my lack of interest in his political activities, he insisted I attend meetings with him and be present during discussions among our friends." What actually happened may be closer to the fact that Reagan's acting career wasn't taking off like she had hoped, and she also was in love with someone else (Lew Ayres). Reagan didn't contest the divorce. In fact, he rarely mentions the marriage in public or in his autobiography. He and Wyman had one child, Maureen and adopted another.


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