Donna Reed
Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger on January 27, 1921 in Denison , Iowa , † January 14, 1986 in Beverly Hills , California ) was an American actress . She played the leading female role in the classic film Isn't Life Beautiful? (1946) and received an Oscar in 1953 for her supporting role in Forever Damned .
Life
The daughter of a farmer originally wanted to be a teacher, but then found pleasure in acting during college and worked in various school productions. Reed came to Hollywood in 1939 and was initially signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . Her first engagements were in minor supporting roles such as in The Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) or The Portrait of Dorian Gray (1945) .
After the Second World War , director Frank Capra gave her her first leading role in Isn't Life Beautiful? (1946) offered. The tragic comedy, in which she played alongside James Stewart , was a flop in the year it premiered, but it still gave Reed a career boost. In the next few years Reed got significant leading and supporting roles, but was mostly set to the role of the friendly girl Next Door . In 1953 she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the hostess Lorene in the war drama Doomed for All Eternity .
Only a few years later, Reed got his own series, the Donna Reed Show , known in Germany as Mother is the Very Best . The series about an American family with two children was a ratings hit for eight years and made it the cinematic ideal of the American housewife. The series was produced by her second husband Tony Owen . Reed was nominated for an Emmy every year from 1959 to 1962 . Due to the popularity that the series also had in Germany, it received a bronze in 1964 and a silver Bravo Otto in 1965 by the youth magazine Bravo .
After the series ended, Reed withdrew from the film business. From 1984 to 1985 she briefly took on the role of Miss Ellie in the television series Dallas , when the actual actress Barbara Bel Geddes suffered from health problems. When Bel Geddes had recovered, the disappointed Reed was dismissed without further ado, but after paying compensation of over a million dollars. Dallas was her last job as an actress.
Private life
Donna Reed starred in numerous family films in which she contributed as the perfect wife and housewife to an idealized image of women at the time. But she herself was a modern and politically committed woman who protested against the Vietnam War and founded an organization against nuclear energy . She was a politically registered member of the Republicans , but occasionally supported Democratic Party candidates .
Reed was married three times; their second marriage had three children.
On January 14, 1986, Reed died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 64 . After her death, the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts was established in Reed's hometown of Denison. This nonprofit provides scholarships for acting students, hosts an annual week of acting classes, and operates the Donna Reed Center for the Performing Arts .
Filmography (selection)
- 1941: Alone Among Gangsters ( The Get-Away ) - Director: Edward Buzzell
- 1941: The Shadow of the Thin Man ( Shadow of the Thin Man ) - Director: WS Van Dyke
- 1941: Babes on Broadway - Director: Busby Berkeley
- 1942: Calling Dr. Gillespie - Director: Harold S. Bucquet
- 1942: The track in the dark ( Eyes in the Night ) - Director: Fred Zinnemann
- 1943: Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case - Director: Willis Goldbeck
- 1943: And Life Goes On ( The Human Comedy ) - Directed by Clarence Brown
- 1945: Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray ( The Picture of Dorian Gray ) - Director: Albert Lewin
- 1945: Schnellboote vor Bataan ( They Were Expendable ) - Director: John Ford
- 1946: isn't life beautiful? ( It's a Wonderful Life ) - Director: Frank Capra
- 1947: Taifun ( Green Dolphin Street ) - Director: Victor Saville
- 1949: Chicago Deadline - Directed by Lewis Allen
- 1951: A Hero for Two Hours ( Saturday's Heroe ) - Director: David Miller
- 1952: Gold Heist in Texas ( Hangman's Knot ) - Director: Roy Huggins
- 1952: Scandal Sheet - Director: Phil Karlson
- 1953: Trouble Along the Way - Director: Michael Curtiz
- 1953: Der Klappsch ( The Caddy ) - Director: Norman Taurog
- 1953: King of the Pirates ( Raiders of the Seven Seas ) - Director: Sidney Salkow
- 1953: With the gun in his hand ( Gun Fury ) - Director: Raoul Walsh
- 1953: Damn in All Eternity ( From Here to Eternity ) - Director: Fred Zinnemann
- 1954: Back in Paris ( The Last Time I Saw Paris ) - Director: Richard Brooks
- 1954: Three Hours to Kill - Director: Alfred Werker
- 1954: They Rode West ( They Rode West ) - Director: Phil Karlson
- 1955: The Far Horizons - directed by Rudolph Maté
- 1955: The Benny Goodman Story ( The Benny Goodman Story ) - Director: Valentine Davies
- 1955: kidnapping ( Ransom ) - Director: Alex Segal
- 1956: The Secret of the Five Graves ( Backlash ) - Director: John Sturges
- 1956: Beyond Mombasa ( Beyond Mombasa ) - Director: George Marshall
- 1958: Midnight Visit ( The Whole Truth ) - Directed by John Guillermin
- 1959: On Your Own ( Ride Lonesome ) - Directed by Budd Boetticher
- 1958–1966: Mother is the very best ( The Donna Reed Show ; TV series, 265 episodes)
- 1983: Highschool Killer ( Deadly Lessons ) - Director: William Wiard
- 1984–1985: Dallas (TV series, 24 episodes)
Web links
- Donna Reed in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Uwe Schmitt : Hollywood star: How US soldiers adored Donna Reed. In: welt.de . May 29, 2009 .
- Donna Reed Foundation for Performing Arts
- Pictures by Donna Reed In: Virtual History
- Donna Reed in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
-
↑ David Massey: Dallas Dream Season - plot synopsis. In: ultimatedallas.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012 ; accessed on January 27, 2021 (English). The Television Generation Mourns Its Favorite Surrogate Mother, Tough but Tender Donna Reed. In: People.com . January 27, 1986, accessed January 27, 2021 .
- ↑ Donna Reed Biography (1921-1986). In: Film Reference. Retrieved January 27, 2021 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Reed, Donna |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mullenger, Donna Belle |
SHORT DESCRIPTION | US-american actress |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 27, 1921 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Denison, Iowa |
DATE OF DEATH | January 14, 1986 |
Place of death | Beverly Hills |