Patti Davis

Patricia Ann Davis, née Reagan, was born on October 21, 1952, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, and Nancy Reagan, his second wife. Davis has siblings including Ron Reagan, her younger brother, and adoptive sibling Michael Reagan. She also has a half-sister, the late Maureen Reagan.

For her education, Davis attended grade school at The John Thomas Dye School in Bel Air. She graduated from the Orme School of Arizona in 1970. She subsequently enrolled at Northwestern University, where she studied creative writing and drama. After two years at the University of Southern California, she adopted the last name Davis, her mother’s maiden name, aiming for an independent career.

During her early years, Davis was active in the anti-nuclear movement prior to her father’s election as president, and she continued her activism throughout Reagan’s presidency. She has publicly expressed criticism of the Republican Party, with which she has not been affiliated.

In her acting career, Davis appeared in several television shows in the early 1980s. She later published her first novel, "Home Front," in 1986, which incorporated elements from her personal life. The book generated controversy and received criticism. Her subsequent novel, "Deadfall," was followed by her autobiography, "The Way I See It," published in 1992, in which she revealed personal family issues and secrets. She has publicly stated regret over the autobiographical critique aspect of that book, although she does not regret the content.

In 1994, Davis posed for Playboy magazine, appearing on the cover and in a full-frontal pictorial, an issue recognized for its controversy. She also posed for "More" magazine in 2011. Playboy released a VHS tape accompanying her 1994 feature.

Following her father’s diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease, Davis authored "The Long Goodbye" in 2004. During this period, she contributed articles to various magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, Newsweek, and Time. She wrote the screenplay "Spring Thaw," which was adapted into the Hallmark Channel film "Sacrifices of the Heart" (2007), starring Melissa Gilbert and Ken Howard.

In her personal life, Davis initially applied to Ohio University and Northwestern University for journalism studies, ultimately enrolling at Northwestern. In the 1970s, she lived with Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon, with whom she co-wrote the song "I Wish You Peace" on the Eagles' album "One of These Nights." Her mother disowned her during this period due to her living situation.

Davis dated Timothy Hutton in the 1980s and later had a two-year relationship with Peter Strauss. She married Paul Grilley, a yoga instructor and founder of Yin Yoga, in 1984; the marriage ended in divorce in 1990. She has not remarried.

Animal rights and health issues are among her personal interests; she is a vegetarian and has voiced opposition to laws banning marijuana use. In 2011, she launched "Beyond Alzheimer's" at UCLA, an organization she continues to manage.

In 2018, Davis publicly wrote about being sexually assaulted nearly 40 years earlier by a studio executive, coinciding with the public discourse surrounding Christine Blasey Ford's own allegations. She also expressed her views on political and social issues, criticizing President Donald Trump’s response to national tragedies and condemning her father’s 1971 comments about black Africans during a phone conversation with Richard Nixon, which were later made public.

In October 2021, Davis publicly stated her opposition to the full release of John Hinckley Jr., the man who attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan in 1981, contrasting her views with those of Michael Reagan, her adoptive brother, who expressed forgiveness towards Hinckley.

Davis has contributed to film and television, with a filmography including both media. Her bibliography features multiple books, including novels, autobiographies, and compilations, such as "Home Front" (1986), "Deadfall" (1989), "A House of Secrets" (1991), "The Way I See It" (1992), "Bondage" (1994), "Angels Don't Die" (1995), "The Long Goodbye" (2004), "Two Cats and the Woman They Own" (2006), "The Lives Our Mothers Leave Us" (2009), and others through 2014.

External references include her official website, IMDb profile, C-SPAN appearances, and works listed at Open Library.