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Donna Reed

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Donna Reed (January 27, 1921 - January 14, 1986) was an Academy Award-winning American actress.

Early life

Ms. Reed was born Donnabelle Mullenger on a farm near Denison, Crawford County, Iowa. Her parents are William Richard Mullenger (whose paternal grandparents were born in England) and Hazel Jane Shives .

Career

Ms. Reed is probably best remembered for her roles as the wholesome housewife "Donna Stone" on television's The Donna Reed Show and as "Mary Bailey" in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. She won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing a bar maid in 1953's From Here to Eternity.

In her later years she temporarily replaced an ailing Barbara Bel Geddes as "Miss Ellie" in the television series Dallas in the 1984-1985 season. When Bel Geddes was well enough to return to the role, Ms. Reed was fired. She sued the show's production company and received an undisclosed seven-figure settlement, but this settlement came shortly before her death from cancer.

Death

She died at age 64 in Beverly Hills, California from pancreatic cancer, and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

The Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts, based in Reed's hometown of Denison, was organized after Reed's death in 1986. The non-profit organization grants scholarships for performing arts students, runs an annual festival of performing arts workshops, and operates The Donna Reed Center for the Performing Arts. The performing arts center was formerly an opera house built in 1914, and later renovated into the Ritz Movie Theater where Donna Reed, as a young girl in Denison, first fell in love with movies.

Filmography

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External links

 


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