Ronald Reagan's Top 10 Movie Roles
Knute Rockne, All American, 1940
Reagan's most famous role, as Notre Dame halfback George Gipp, consumes less than 15 minutes of screen time, but it reveals the young actor's camera magic. When Gipp tries out for the team, he eludes everyone's tackles and runs for a touchdown. "I guess the boys are just tired," he tells Coach Rockne (Pat O'Brien) in a tone of casual, almost flirtatious insolence. Gipp dies of pneumonia, but not before whispering a deathbed plea, which, as polished by screenwriter Robert Buckner, became Reagan's most heralded monologue: "Rock, some day when the team is up against it, when the breaks are beatin' the boys, ask 'em to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper." The words became indelible in movie lore, and Reagan received a nickname that would stick with him for life.