Donna Reed

Donna Reed, who won an Oscar as a prostitute in "From Here to Eternity" but found her widest success as the ideal wife and mother on television's "The Donna Reed Show," died at her Beverly Hills home today from complications of pancreatic cancer. She was 64. Her husband, retired Army Col. Grover Asmus, was at her side when she died, family spokesman Harry Flynn said. Miss Reed had been hospitalized several months ago for ulcers. She went into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Dec.

Swoosie Kurtz, who plays Melissa McCarthy's outrageous mother, Joyce, on the hit CBS sitcom "Mike & Molly," got her first lesson in the fickleness of show business more than 50 years ago in a production of Thornton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth" at Hollywood High School. "We were backstage after the performance getting ready to meet our families when I was told there was a man who wants to see you, Eddie Foy III," said Kurtz, relaxing on a red sofa that matches her hair in her dressing room at Warner Bros.

I had not seen Donna Reed in person for about 45 years when I read that she had passed away. I was deeply touched by the news. I cannot believe that this sweet person is gone. I met Donna (then Mullenger) in Jerry Blunt's beginning acting class in Los Angeles City College's famed Drama Department. I was a stage-struck youth with limited ability, while she was a beautiful young lady with a natural talent. We were assigned to do an acting scene together as our final exam. We chose from Elmer Rice's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Street Scene."

Buster Keaton The great silent comic guest-starred in two episodes, 1958's "A Very Merry Christmas" and 1965's "Now You See It, Now You Don't. " Don Drysdale The Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Fame pitcher appeared as himself in two 1964 episodes, "Play Ball" and "My Son the Catcher. " Lassie The beloved movie dog and director George Sidney stopped by in the 1961 "The Stones Go to Hollywood" installment.

Donna Reed was more than just a TV mom to actress Shelley Fabares. Fabares played Reed's teenage daughter, Mary Stone, on the well-loved 1958-66 ABC family sitcom "The Donna Reed Show," which revolved around Donna Stone (Reed), the wife of handsome pediatrician Dr. Alex Stone (Carl Betz), and mother to Mary and energetic younger son Jeff (Paul Petersen) "She definitely became my second mother," said Fabares, 67, who left the series in 1963. "She was a role model and remains so to this day. I still periodically hear her voice in my head when I am making a decision about doing something, I hear her urging me on to make the stronger decision of the two. I just adored her. " Petersen echoes her sentiments.

A public memorial service for actress Donna Reed, who died Tuesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer, is scheduled at 2 this afternoon at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church. Singer John Raitt will perform at the service, family spokesman Harry Flynn said, adding that a private ceremony will be held afterward at Westwood Memorial Park.

The front window of real estate agent Bill Mullenger's office building is a little emptier with the relocation a prime piece of property--the Oscar belonging to his late sister, Donna Reed. In June, the gold statuette won by the actress in 1954 for "From Here to Eternity" was officially installed in Denison's historical museum, a few doors up the street. Reed, who died in January, was born and reared in Denison, a town of 7,000, just past Ute on Iowa 141, 55 miles southeast of Sioux City.

Donna Reed, the Iowa farm girl who came west for a nice, steady secretarial job and found stardom instead, died early Tuesday at her Beverly Hills home of pancreatic cancer. She was 64. Miss Reed, a major television figure in the late 1950s and early '60s as the mother of teen-agers on "The Donna Reed Show," had been admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center last month with bleeding ulcers, but exploratory surgery found the cancer, a family spokeswoman said.

A "mad as hell" Donna Reed lost a bid today to regain her role as Miss Ellie on "Dallas" when a judge refused to halt production of the hit television series. The latest chapter in what is shaping up as a real-life soap opera came when Superior Court Judge John L. Cole denied Reed's request to issue a preliminary injunction. Such an order could have halted production on scenes involving the Miss Ellie character indefinitely, possibly up to a year.

Sniff, sniff. Get out your handkerchiefs and whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. "The Donna Reed Show" is leaving Nick at Nite. Donna, Alex, Mary and Jeff ... until we meet again. But this week The Donna Reed Show is going out with a bang, not a whimper. The baby boomer's favorite cable channel is bidding farewell to the last remaining sitcom from Nick's original lineup when it was launched in 1985.

Donna Reed was more than just a TV mom to actress Shelley Fabares. Fabares played Reed's teenage daughter, Mary Stone, on the well-loved 1958-66 ABC family sitcom "The Donna Reed Show," which revolved around Donna Stone (Reed), the wife of handsome pediatrician Dr. Alex Stone (Carl Betz), and mother to Mary and energetic younger son Jeff (Paul Petersen) "She definitely became my second mother," said Fabares, 67, who left the series in 1963. "She was a role model and remains so to this day. I still periodically hear her voice in my head when I am making a decision about doing something, I hear her urging me on to make the stronger decision of the two. I just adored her. " Petersen echoes her sentiments.

Though the majority of combat films made during World War II were propaganda dramas and action-adventures, a few service comedies managed to sneak into the mix. One of the most popular comedies, 1944's "See Here, Private Hargrove" just arrived on Warner Archive for Memorial Day. Based on journalist Marion Hargrove's bestselling memoir of his days in boot camp, the film made a star out of Robert Walker, who received acclaim as the baby-faced Hargrove....

It's not easy being a pass-through state, with no dells or dunes, no arch or Ozarks. That's why small towns with big water towers across Iowa celebrate the long dead or the long in the tooth, in hopes that someone from elsewhere will come to join the celebration. In the pleasant town of Winterset, locals organized a bash last weekend marking the 100th birthday of the famous American celluloid tough guy, John Wayne, who was born here on May 26, 1907, and left at age 3.

Thank you for the excellent article on John Leguizamo ("Just Try to Shut Him Up," by Patrick Pacheco, May 31). Loved his short-lived TV show ("House of Buggin' ") and love him. Most people in America did not grow up in a "Donna Reed/Father Knows Best" household. To be able to laugh and learn from any negative experience instead of becoming bitter and hateful is what makes Leguizamo a young man with a lot to offer all people, not just Latinos. Insulting? Come on, mi gente. Let's loosen up a little and enjoy this incredible talent.

Shelley Fabares is a rarity in Hollywood: a popular child star who has continued working as an adult actress, currently as co-star of ABC's "Coach." Though most viewers know the young Fabares as the wholesome Mary on the classic sitcom "The Donna Reed Show," she actually began acting at the ripe old age of 3 in such TV series as "Captain Midnight" and "Annie Oakley."

This is the CD equivalent of a Christmas stocking stuffer--a novelty collection whose entire appeal rests in its campy theme. Includes various pop hits, from Johnny Mathis' "Chances Are" to Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet," that recall the innocence of '50s and '60s TV sitcoms. Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (e x cellent).

Maaa! Mothers' heads turn reflexively when they hear that universal cry. Renee Taylor's spins. Taylor, the veteran actress and comedian, plays not one, not two, but three mothers on three different sitcoms this fall. In addition to being Mom to her real-life 24-year-old son Gabriel, Taylor also answers to Mom when comedian Richard Lewis calls out on Fox's new comedy "Daddy Dearest."

ABC has announced that the season finale of Twin Peaks will air at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23, preempting Equal Justice. ABC is moving the season-ending episode of the new serial thriller from its usual Thursday slot back to Wednesday in order to include its potentially large audience in the May ratings sweeps, which conclude May 23. . . .

Sniff, sniff. Get out your handkerchiefs and whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. "The Donna Reed Show" is leaving Nick at Nite. Donna, Alex, Mary and Jeff ... until we meet again. But this week The Donna Reed Show is going out with a bang, not a whimper. The baby boomer's favorite cable channel is bidding farewell to the last remaining sitcom from Nick's original lineup when it was launched in 1985.

Last winter, Paul Petersen was awakened by a frantic call. "It was this kid calling from the Roxy," recalls Petersen, 48, an author and onetime child actor who played Jeff on "The Donna Reed Show" from 1958 through 1966. "He said he saw River Phoenix in one of the nightclub's bathroom stalls shooting heroin." Petersen, who for four years has been organizing support groups for former child stars and the pressure they face in an often indifferent Hollywood, sprang into action.