Patti Davis (born October 21, 1952) is an American actress and author. She is the daughter of U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Reagan's second wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan. While her father is heralded as a conservative icon, Davis is known to the American media as an outspoken liberal, along with her brother Ron Reagan.

Biography

Patti says that her mom started slapping her on the face at age 9. At age 14, Patti began her addiction to diet pills. In 1970, she studied at Northwestern, where she reported she was very unhappy and became anorexic. After she transferred to the University of Southern California, she admits to doing LSD, quaaludes and later cocaine. It is reported that she sold marijuana to pay for her therapy. At the age of 24, Patti underwent a tubal ligation because, "I was terrified that if I became a mother I would become like my mother and abuse a child in the ways she abused me." Ten years later, she had it reversed.

After school, she dated Kris Kristofferson and Timothy Hutton. In 1974, she began a four-year-long relationship with Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon. While they were dating and living together, they cowrote the song "I Wish You Peace" which appeared on the Eagles album, One of These Nights.

In 1984, she married Paul Grilley, a yoga instructor. They divorced in 1990.

She was active in the Reagan family's actions against John Hinckley and the controversial CBS miniseries The Reagans. In November 2011, she launched "Beyond Alzheimer's," a support group that meets every Thursday evening at UCLA.