Stuart K. Spencer, a Republican strategist who took a washed-up movie actor named Ronald Reagan and helped make him California governor and, later, president — helping invent the modern political consulting business along the way — has died.

One of the nation’s first campaign consultants for hire, he advised leading Republicans, including President Gerald Ford, but Reagan was his prized candidate.

Stuart K. Spencer, a Republican political consultant who engineered Ronald Reagan’s winning campaigns for the California governor’s office and the U.S. presidency, transforming a B-movie actor into one of the most successful politicians of his time,