She helped Ronald Reagan start an acting career. She met Mr. Reagan in
Des Moines, where he was an announcer and sportscaster and she sang on
the radio station WHO. When Mr. Reagan was assigned to cover the
Chicago Cubs' spring training on Catalina Island in 1937, he stopped in
Hollywood to visit Miss Hodges and asked her advice about getting into
acting. She arranged an interview for him with her agent's boss, who
negotiated a Warner Brothers contract for him.