Donna Reed

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Donna Reed (1945)

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

Reed's grave in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery

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)

Web links

Commons : Donna Reed  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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 .
  2. ↑ 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