Donna Reed Biography

Fast Facts

• Served as co-chair on Another Mother for Peace, an advocacy group against the Vietnam War
• Sued the producers of "Dallas" for breach of contract after being abruptly fired following Barbara Bel Geddes' decision to return to the show as Miss Ellie Ewing
• Was elected campus queen during her second year at Los Angeles City College, earning her the attention of Hollywood when she was asked to audition for three film studios
• Quote: "[on acting after "The Donna Reed Show" ended] "I just wouldn't do the junk I was offered․ I didn't like the way films were treating women․ Most of the roles were extremely passive - women in jeopardy, poor stupid souls who couldn't help themselves․""
• Best known for playing Mary Hatch in "It's a Wonderful Life" and Lorene Burke in "From Here to Eternity․"
• Became well-known for her eight-season run on "The Donna Reed Show," the first series to prominently star a woman in a housewife-type role
• Was originally billed as Donna Adams before MGM decided against the name in the early 1940s
• Personally wrote letters to servicemen who were serving overseas during World War II and saved more than 300 of the letters she received