Naturally, “The Donna Reed Show” opened up other big doors for the actress. And because of her amazing talent, she has also played other characters that have been widely praised and regarded as iconic. She starred as Mary, in “It’s a Wonderful Life”, a film that has cemented its legacy as one of the most classic Christmas movies of all time.
She played the character that was Jimmy Stewart’s love interest. Those two major roles played by her made Donna Reed one of the most beloved Hollywood stars of all time. As if that wasn’t enough, Donna Reed also won an Academy Award for her role in “From Here to Eternity.”
Conservative Turned Liberal
Donna Reed never shied away from expressing her political views and ideologies. She was a conservative and was a registered Republican for most of her life. Being the trendsetter that she was, her fans watched as her political views shifted and she consequently reevaluated their own political views and beliefs.
During the late 1960s, the war in Vietnam took place and Donna was a strong opponent of conflict. Because her personal views on war deviated from her original political party, she had gradually become more liberal. She campaigned against the war while serving as the co-chair of an anti-war organization called Another Mother for Peace.
Mad Men Featuring Donna Reed
"The Donna Reed Show" was not only one of the most popular family television programs of that era, it's still referenced in many other shows today! You can see the cast watch the show in "Gilmore Girls", and it has also been prominently featured on the AMC hit series “Mad Men”, an American period-drama hit television series.
"Mad Men" is also set in the 1960s and one of the ways that the writers and producers gave the show that 1960s feel, was by having their characters constantly be shown watching "The Donna Reed Show". What an authentic addition, as there was likely not a home in America that didn't tune in to the show at that time.
Not Too Cool for School
What's more interesting about this incredible woman is that during her childhood she never dreamed of becoming an actress. Actually, her childhood dream was to become a teacher but she was unable to pay for college. Donna had always stressed the importance of education and she was known as being a straight-A student herself.
So she moved to California and attended Los Angeles City College and to support herself she performed in various stage productions. Soon enough, she began to receive many offers from various studios for auditions and screen tests thanks to her talent and beauty. But because her education was so important to her, she made it a point to finish school first, before signing with MGM and starting her acting career.
Donna Mullenger
Donna Reed’s real last name was actually Mullenger, which sounds very German. Her family had already been living in America for a few generations but, her manager advised her to change her screen name because at the start of her acting career, World War II was ongoing and as a result, there was a very widespread anti-German sentiment.
Donna Reed obliged and performed for the first time under the name of Donna Adams. This name did not last, however, and was later changed to Donna Reed. This name stayed as her professional stage name ever since and became the name that she was most popularly remembered by.