Donna Reed Wiki, Biography, Age, Spouse, Height, Net Worth, Fast Facts

Reed is known for her work in television, notably as Donna Stone, a middle-class American mother and housewife in the sitcom The Donna Reed Show (1958–1966), in which her character was more assertive than most other television mothers of the era. She received numerous Emmy Award nominations for this role and the Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star in 1963. Later in her career, Reed replaced Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow in the 1984–1985 season of the television melodrama Dallas; she successfully sued the production company for breach of contract when she was abruptly fired upon Bel Geddes’ decision to return to the show.

Donna Reed Wiki, Biography

Reed was born Donna Belle Mullenger on a farm near Denison, Iowa, the daughter of Hazel Jane (née Shives) and William Richard Mullenger. The eldest of five children, she was raised as a Methodist. In 1936, while she was a sophomore at Denison (Iowa) High School, her chemistry teacher Edward Tompkins gave her the book How to Win Friends and Influence People. The book is said to have greatly influenced her life. Upon reading it she won the lead in the school play, was voted Campus Queen and was in the top 10 of the 1938 graduating class. Tompkins went on to work on the Manhattan Project.

After graduating from Denison High School, Reed planned to become a teacher but was unable to pay for college. She decided to move to California to attend Los Angeles City College on the advice of her aunt. While attending college, she performed in various stage productions, although she had no plans to become an actress. After receiving several offers to screen test for studios, Reed eventually signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; however, she insisted on finishing her education first. She completed her associate degree, then signed with an agent.

Personal life

From 1943 to 1945, Reed was married to make-up artist William Tuttle. After they divorced in 1945 she married producer Tony Owen. They raised four children together: Penny Jane, Anthony, Timothy, and Mary Anne (the two older children were adopted). After 26 years of marriage, Reed and Owen divorced in 1971.

Three years later, Reed married Grover W. Asmus (1926–2003), a retired United States Army colonel. They remained married until her death in 1986.

Political views

Reed, who was a registered Republican, but showed amity to the Democratic Party, became interested in politics in particular during the Vietnam War when she became concerned that her oldest son, Tony, might be drafted. In 1967, Reed became a peace activist and co-chaired the anti-war advocacy group, Another Mother for Peace. The group’s slogan was “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” In a 1971 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Reed said,

In the beginning, we felt [Tony] should serve his country in a noncombatant role. But he wouldn’t even accept that, feeling the whole thing was immoral. He didn’t trust the government or the military. I’ve learned a lot from Tony.

Reed supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election.

In addition to opposing the Vietnam War, Reed also opposed nuclear power plants. She supported Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy from Minnesota in the 1968 presidential election. He was a strong anti-war advocate.

Reed died of pancreatic cancer in Beverly Hills, California, on January 14, 1986, at the age of 64. She had been diagnosed with the illness three months earlier and told it was at a terminal stage. Her remains are interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

In 1987, Grover Asmus (Reed’s widower), actresses Shelley Fabares and Norma Connolly, and numerous friends, associates, and family members created the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts. Based in Reed’s hometown of Denison, the non-profit organization grants scholarships for performing arts students, runs an annual festival of performing arts workshops, and operates the Donna Reed Center for the Performing Arts

Donna Reed is mentioned in passing in the 1992 made for television drama Woman with a Past, starring Pamela Reed (no relation), whose character, after having been a robber, becomes a real estate agent, before which, with her future husband, she sees a house that she says looks like Donna Reed’s house, presumably, the one Donna’s character inhabited in It’s A Wonderful Life.

Denison hosts an annual Donna Reed Festival. Reed’s childhood home was located on Donna Reed Drive in Denison but was destroyed by a fire in 1983. Reed’s Academy Award is on display at the W. A. McHenry Museum in Denison.

Reed has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1610 Vine Street.

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Net Worth

The Estimated Net worth is $80K – USD $85k.