Donna Reed

Donna Reed was born Donna Belle Mullenger in Denison, Iowa, on January 27, 1921. Donna grew up a farm girl, like many young girls in western Iowa, with the exception that Donna was very beautiful. Upon graduation from high school Donna left for college in Los Angeles, with the hopes of eventually entering movies. At Los Angeles City College, she pursued her dream by participating in several college stage productions. In one of those plays, Donna was spotted by an MGM talent scout and was signed to a contract. Her first film was a minor role in MGM's The Getaway (1941) followed by a small part in Babes on Broadway (1941). Then MGM began giving her progressively better roles: The Bugle Sounds (1942), The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942), The Man from Down Under (1943), See Here, Private Hargrove (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), etc. In 1953, Donna became well know for The Donna Reed Show (1958), a hit that ran for eight years. She proved far more popular in TV than on the screen. She did get the role of Ellie Ewing Farlow in the hit TV series Dallas (1978) during the 1984-85 season. It was to be her final public performance. On January 14, 1986, less than two weeks before her 65th birthday, Donna died of pancreatic cancer in Beverly Hills, California. Grover Asmus, her husband, created the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts in her hometown of Denison. The foundation helps others who desire a career in the arts. Donna never forgot her roots. She was still a farm girl at heart. Date of Death 14 January 1986, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California  (pancreatic cancer)