Shirley Temple
Reagan was elected president, by the Republican Party, in 1981, but before that, he had been Governor of California between 1967 and 1975. Just in the year that he started in politics, 1967, another actress, Shirley Temple, also tried it.
The former Hollywood child prodigy, with countless films shot at a very young age and an Oscar award, retired from cinema at the age of 21 and, later, became interested in politics. She unsuccessfully tried to get into Congress, but later she launched a diplomatic career, representing the US at the United Nations or as her country's ambassador to Ghana or Czechoslovakia.
Cynthia Nixon
Thanks to 'S*x and the City', the name Cynthia Nixon is associated with the city on the US East Coast. But also because, in 2018, the one who was Miranda on the small screen tried to become Governor of New York, although she lost the Democratic Party primaries against Andrew Cuomo. After her brief stint in politics, she returned to acting, appearing in the series 'Ratched', 'The Gilded Age' and 'And just like that...', the latter two set precisely in New York City.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Although if we talk about celebrity governors, of course, the first thing that comes to mind is Arnold Schwarzenegger, who even got the nickname "The Governator" for his role as the Terminator. Unlike many other actors closer to the Democrats, Schwarzenegger was already showing his preference for the Republicans in the 1980s, when he supported George H.W. Bush at a rally. After various political appointments, as president of the Health, Fitness and Sports Council, he finally ran for Governor of California and was elected in 2003 and 2006, ending his term in 2011 and later returning to acting.
Clint Eastwood
Also Republican and also in California, but on a smaller scale, has been Clint Eastwood's political career. In 1986 he was elected mayor of Carmen-by-the-Sea, a small town of less than four thousand inhabitants, and served one term. After him, he has not hidden his Republican inclination over the years, participating in numerous party events to support him.
Ben Savage
Known to everyone as that kid from the sitcom 'Me and the World', Ben Savage, now an adult of 42, also has a degree in Political Science from Stanford University. In August of last year, he ran for city council in his hometown of West Hollywood but was not elected. However, he does not give up: in March of this year, he announced that he would run as the Democratic Party's candidate for California's 30th congressional district. In recent years he has had small roles on television in series such as 'Criminal Minds' and 'Homeland', as well as reprising his role in the sequel to the series that made him famous, 'Girl Meets World'.
Kal Penn
Known for having played Dr. Lawrence Kutner in 'House', in addition to roles in other series such as 'The Big Bang Theory' or 'How I Met Your Mother', Kal Penn left acting for a time when he was signed by the Barack Obama administration in 2009 when he held the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Participation. In fact, this political offer was what caused his character from 'House' to have to disappear from the series.
In our country there are not so many actors who have made the leap into politics (although athletes are more likely to do so, such as Roberto Sotomayor, Marta Domínguez, Ruth Beitia, or the former basketball coach Pepu Hernández), the clearest reference being Toni Cantó, who has been a congressional deputy for two political parties, first UPyD and then Ciudadanos, to later direct for a time the Office of Spanish that Isabel Díaz Ayuso created for him. However, he is not the only one: Juanjo Puigcorbé was a Barcelona City Councilor for Esquerra Republicana between 2015 and 2018.
