Donna Reed
Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American actress. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her portrayal of Mary Hatch Bailey in Frank Capra's fantasy holiday film It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Reed won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Fred Zinnemann's war drama film From Here to Eternity (1953).
Donna Reed
January 14, 1986 (aged 64)
Actress
1941–1986
4
Reed is also known for her work in television, notably as Donna Stone, a middle-class American mother and housewife in the sitcom The Donna Reed Show (1958–1966) whose character was more assertive and complex than most other television mothers of the era. She received numerous Emmy Award nominations for this role and the Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star in 1963. Later in her career, Reed replaced Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow in the 1984–1985 season of the television melodrama Dallas; she successfully sued the production company for breach of contract when she was abruptly fired upon Bel Geddes' decision to return to the show.
Early life[edit]
Reed was born Donna Belle Mullenger on January 27, 1921,[1] on a farm near Denison, Iowa, the daughter of Hazel Jane (née Shives) and William Richard Mullenger. The eldest of five children, she was raised as a Methodist.[2] She had two brothers, William Lee (1927–1993), and Keith Mullenger, and two sisters, Lavone “Heidi” Flynn (1924–2019) and Karen Moreland.[3][4] In 1936, while she was a sophomore at Denison (Iowa) High School, her chemistry teacher gave her the book How to Win Friends and Influence People. The book is said to have greatly influenced her life. Upon reading it she won the lead in the school play, was voted Campus Queen and was in the top 10 of the 1938 graduating class.
After graduating from Denison High School, Reed planned to become a teacher but was unable to pay for college. She decided to move to California to attend Los Angeles City College on the advice of her aunt. While attending college, she performed in various stage productions, although she had no plans to become an actress. After receiving several offers to screen test for studios, Reed eventually signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; however, she insisted on finishing her education first.[5][6] She completed her associate degree, then signed with an agent.[7]
Career[edit]
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[edit]
In 1941, after signing with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Reed made her film debut in The Get-Away opposite Robert Sterling; she was then billed as Donna Adams.
MGM soon changed her name to Donna Reed, as there was anti-German feeling during World War II.[8] "A studio publicist hung the name on me, and I never did like it", Reed once said. "I hear 'Donna Reed' and I think of a tall, chic, austere blonde that isn't me. 'Donna Reed' – it has a cold, forbidding sound."[9]
Reed had a supporting role in Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) and in Wallace Beery's The Bugle Sounds (1942). Like many starlets at MGM, she played opposite Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film, in her case the hugely popular The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942). She was second billed in a children's film, Mokey (1942). Reed starred in Calling Dr. Gillespie (1942) and Apache Trail (1942), then did a thriller with Edward Arnold, Eyes in the Night (1942), directed by Fred Zinnemann.
Reed appeared in The Human Comedy (1943) with Mickey Rooney, Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case (1943) and The Man from Down Under (1943). She was one of many MGM stars to make cameos in Thousands Cheer (1943). Her "girl-next-door" good looks and warm onstage personality made her a popular pin-up for many GIs during World War II and she personally answered letters from many GIs serving overseas.[10] Reed starred in See Here, Private Hargrove (1944) and Gentle Annie (1945), a Western. She was in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and played a nurse in John Ford's They Were Expendable (1945), opposite John Wayne. MGM was very enthusiastic about Reed's prospects at this time.[11]