Movie Musings: Disney and More

Donna Reed: A Wonderful Life

When we think of leading ladies from the Golden Age of Hollywood, Katherine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, and Grace Kelly, easily came to mind. But another name that fits the profile is Donnabelle Mullenger, but you know her as Donna Reed. Donna Reed was an undoubtedly beautiful woman who starred in all kinds of Classic Hollywood movies from It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) to From Here to Eternity (1953) and then transitioned into television in The Donna Reed Show (1958-1966). She had a career in show business that lasted nearly 50 years. While known as the epitome of a loving wife and mother, she accomplished much more.

Born on a farm in Denison, Iowa on January 27th, 1921, Donnabelle Mullenger was the oldest of William and Hazel Mullenger’s five children. Growing up in the Iowa countryside, she learned the values of kindness, honesty, and respect from her parents and immediately took to looking after her younger siblings. She was so close with her family that at one point, she earned the nickname “Little Mother.” When the Great Depression struck the Midwest, she could only watch as many of her family’s neighbors tragically lost their houses and farms. It was very emotional for her and her family, despite the fact that they were fortunate enough to keep theirs. The Mullengers optimistically sang songs together and on occasion, journeyed into the Denison town square to go to the movie house on the square for a double feature. It was there that young Donnabelle developed a love for the movies, though she didn’t officially discover her own acting talents until time at Denison High School.  

Going to High School was a nerve-wrecking experience for her because her classmates were primarily city girls and she wasn’t confident that she would actually be able to make any social connections with them. She had a teacher, however, who encouraged her to read a book called How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and as a result, she began to make friends and became part of the debate team and the theatre department. She even improved her own level of intellect, graduating at the top ten of her class. After graduation, she became the first person in her family to “continue,” when her Aunt Mildred, who happened to live in Los Angeles, invited her to live with her and enroll at Los Angeles City College to pursue a career in acting.

After only one semester at Los Angeles City College, she entered and won a “Miss South Gate, CA.” Her win got her the chance to represent South Gate in the 1940 Tournament of Roses, and a photo on the front of the Los Angeles Times. This led to movie studio offers screen tests for her, and when she tested for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), studio chief Louie B. Mayer declared her “MGM’s next starlet.” After graduating college, she signed with MGM at $75 a week, but was told that she would need to shorten her name in order to fit a marquis. Temporarily, she shortened her name to Donna Adams, but ultimately adopted the name Donna Reed. Her first credited film appearance was in The Getaway (1941) opposite Robert Sterling and Charles Winninger.

During her time as the “new kid” on the MGM backlot, she met makeup artist William Tuttle and they married. Sadly, however, their marriage dissolved after just two years, as, Donna became more and more eager to boost her career. She desperately wanted to play Sibyl Vane in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) but she instead was cast as Gladys Hallward, while Angela Lansbury was cast as Vane. And although she also had roles in films that did exceptionally well at the box office like The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942) and The Human Comedy (1943), it was all still unsatisfying to her. Ultimately, she divorced William Tuttle, but not long after that, met Tony Owen, who at this point was a Hollywood agent and an aspiring film producer. They were married on June 15th, 1945. Reed was also determined to be a mother, but after many unsuccessful attempts to become pregnant, she and Owen adopted two children, a daughter, Penny Jane and a son, Tony Jr.

Following the growth of her family, she was cast by Frank Capra in what would be his first post-WW2 film and what would also be arguably her best film role ever. The role, of course, was Mary Hatch Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). Not long after making this movie, Donna Reed said that the film was “the most difficult film I ever did. No director ever demanded as much of me,” having to learn to portray a character that aged from 18 to 40 years throughout the course of the film’s plot. In later years, however, she said that “Wonderful Life,” was her favorite film of her whole career. Although the film is a beloved classic today, it was only moderately well-received when it first came out in December of 1946, and recorded a loss of $525,000 for its distribution company, RKO Radio Pictures. Disappointed by the film’s reception, Donna Reed became even more determined to find the role that would make her a true star. 

When her contract with MGM ended, she signed another contract with Columbia Studios in 1950. (The year prior to that, she amazingly had her first biological child, her son, Timothy, in 1949.) Her first two films at Columbia were Saturday’s Hero (1951) and Scandal Street (1952). The following year she starred in From Here to Eternity (1953) as Alma the Dance Hall prostitute. Fred Zinnemann, the film’s director, did not want her in the movie, but the Columbia studio chief insisted that Zinnemann consider her. After three screen tests, Zinnemann relented and cast her alongside Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, and Frank Sinatra. The film had 13 Academy Award Nominations and won eight, including Best Picture, Best Director for Fred Zinnemann, Best Supporting Actor for Frank Sinatra and Best Supporting Actress for Donna Reed. (Lancaster, Clift, and Kerr, were also all nominated in the leading categories for their performances.) Despite her Oscar win, Reed continued to be cast in roles that were unsatisfying to her. Columbia continued to view her as the wholesome beauty that could always play the love interest, roughly similar to how MGM viewed her, but Reed wanted to be seen as more than that.

In the mid-1950’s, she formed “Todon Productions,” with her husband Tony, and together they produced the film Beyond Mombasa (1956), but that film flopped. Desperately in need of a hit, they decided to try television, which at this point had just been coming into the spotlight. The Donna Reed Show (1958-1966) aired its pilot episode on the ABC Network on September 24th, 1958. Not an immediate hit, but it grew to be a hit thanks to sponsorship by Campbell’s Soup. Donna Reed also became involved in production aspects of the show: casting decisions, story ideas, and other things, in many ways like Lucille Ball did after I Love Lucy (1951-1957). She was an uncredited producer of the show, because it just wasn’t the norm for a woman to be credited as the producer of a show at the time. The show ran for a total of eight seasons and 275 episodes.

After it ended, Donna took a break from the entertainment industry and in 1967 joined the group Another Mother for Peace, an organization opposed to the United States involvement in Vietnam and who wanted the country to have a Secretary of Peace. She co-chaired the group and in addition to opposing the Vietnam War, they also opposed Nuclear Power Plants. Reed’s involvement in politics sadly put a strain on her relationship with her husband Tony, and they divorced after 26 years of marriage in 1971. Ironically, not long after her second divorce, she met Colonel Grover Asmus, the Senior Aide to General Omar Bradley. They began dating, and Col. Asmus almost immediately proposed marriage to Reed. She declined, but Col. Asmus continued to propose marriage as they dated for the next three years. One day, they were eating together at a restaurant, and he gave his daily proposal. Reed replied “Well you’ve finally worn me out, all right.” And they were married on August 30th, 1974. 

Ten years After her third walk down the aisle, Reed was cast as Miss Ellie Ewing in Dallas (1978-1991), when Barbara Bel Geddes left the show in 1984. After one season on the show, however, she was fired upon Bel Geddes’ return. As a result, she sued the production company of the show and won a total of $1.25 million dollars. Her brief stint on “Dallas,” was her last acting job due to diagnosis of advanced pancreatic cancer. She was intent on battling the cancer, but sadly lost the battle, and passed away at the age of 64 on January 14th, 1986. Not long after, her widower and children, along with some of her friends created the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts, based in her hometown of Denison, Iowa. The organization provides students interested in the performing arts with scholarships, hosts an annual festival for performing arts workshops, and runs the Donna Reed Center for the Performing Arts. 

It’s been 65 years since Donna Reed won her Oscar for “From Here to Eternity,” though we might remember her better either as Donna Stone on “The Donna Reed Show,” or as George Bailey’s beautiful love interest-turned-wife in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Even though her life was short, she always did the best she could to maintain an optimistic and cheerful attitude—despite the pressures of living and working in Hollywood. She was a relentless optimist that never gave up on anything, and had a versatile acting career, a decent family life, and a “Wonderful Life.”