Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 â€" January
14, 1986) was an American film and television actress and producer.
Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than
40 films. She is well known for her role as Mary Hatch Bailey in Frank
Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. In 1953, she received the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as
Lorene Burke in the war drama From Here to Eternity.Reed is known for
her work in television, notably as Donna Stone, a middle-class
American mother and housewife in the sitcom The Donna Reed Show
(1958â€"1966), in which her character was more assertive 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 1984â€"1985 season of the television
melodrama Dallas; she sued the production company for breach of
contract when she was abruptly fired upon Bel Geddes' decision to
return to the show.Reed was born Donna Belle Mullenger on a farm near
Denison, Iowa, the daughter of Hazel Jane (née Shives; July 16, 1899
â€" July 17, 1975) and William Richard Mullenger (July 4, 1893 â€"
July 15, 1981). The eldest of five children, she was raised as a
Methodist. In 1936, while she was a sophomore at Denison (Iowa) High
School, her chemistry teacher Edward Tompkins 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. Tompkins went on to work on the Manhattan Project.
14, 1986) was an American film and television actress and producer.
Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than
40 films. She is well known for her role as Mary Hatch Bailey in Frank
Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. In 1953, she received the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as
Lorene Burke in the war drama From Here to Eternity.Reed is known for
her work in television, notably as Donna Stone, a middle-class
American mother and housewife in the sitcom The Donna Reed Show
(1958â€"1966), in which her character was more assertive 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 1984â€"1985 season of the television
melodrama Dallas; she sued the production company for breach of
contract when she was abruptly fired upon Bel Geddes' decision to
return to the show.Reed was born Donna Belle Mullenger on a farm near
Denison, Iowa, the daughter of Hazel Jane (née Shives; July 16, 1899
â€" July 17, 1975) and William Richard Mullenger (July 4, 1893 â€"
July 15, 1981). The eldest of five children, she was raised as a
Methodist. In 1936, while she was a sophomore at Denison (Iowa) High
School, her chemistry teacher Edward Tompkins 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. Tompkins went on to work on the Manhattan Project.
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