Donna Reed

Lore & Background

Donna Reed was born Donna Belle Mullenger in Denison, Iowa, the eldest of five children. She was raised as a Methodist. In 1936, her chemistry teacher gave her the book How to Win Friends and Influence People, which greatly influenced her life. After graduating high school, she moved to California to attend Los Angeles City College on her aunt's advice. While there, she performed in stage productions and eventually signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after completing her associate degree. She made her film debut in 1941 in The Get-Away, billed as Donna Adams, before MGM changed her name to Donna Reed.

Reed's film career included roles in Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942), The Human Comedy (1943), and They Were Expendable (1945). She was lent to RKO for It's a Wonderful Life (1946), which she later called the most difficult film she ever did. In 1953, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for From Here to Eternity. From 1958 to 1966, she starred in The Donna Reed Show, which she described as a realistic picture of small-town life. Later, she replaced Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow on Dallas for the 1984–1985 season and successfully sued the production company for breach of contract after being fired.

Reader's Guide

Donna Reed's significance lies in her versatility across film and television, spanning more than four decades. Her role as Mary Hatch Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life has become iconic, particularly as the film is regularly aired during the Christmas season and was named one of the 100 best American films by the American Film Institute. Her Academy Award–winning performance in From Here to Eternity demonstrated her dramatic range. On television, The Donna Reed Show presented a middle-class American mother who was more assertive and complex than many television mothers of the era, a point Reed defended against feminist criticism by stating she played a strong woman who could manage her family. The show provided what actor Paul Petersen called 'moral instruction and advice on how to deal with the little dilemmas of life.' Reed's legacy includes her successful lawsuit against the Dallas production company, which highlighted issues of contract enforcement in the entertainment industry.

Did You Know?

• Reed was born Donna Belle Mullenger in Denison, Iowa, and was the eldest of five children.
• Her chemistry teacher gave her the book How to Win Friends and Influence People, which she said greatly influenced her life.
• She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in From Here to Eternity (1953).
• Reed successfully sued the production company of Dallas for breach of contract after being fired.