Paul Petersen first became famous for his role as Jeff Stone on “The Donna Reed Show,” which eventually made his transition to his real passion, singing, much easier. In the later seasons of the show, his sister, Patty Petersen was then chosen to play the role of Trisha who was Jeff Stone’s adopted sister.
Already being genuine brother and sister, the job proved to be so much easier for the two actors to translate their relationship on-screen. The actors were close in real life and they both expressed how much they enjoyed working together as they were also able to spend more time together on set.
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.
Secret Illness
Carl Betz was an American stage, film, and television actor, who was most famously known for his role as Donna Reed’s television husband, Dr. Alex Stone. Alex’s role on the show was often to rescue his wife Donna Stone from awkward situations and to discipline and help take care of their children.
Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with cancer in 1977. This was only more difficult for him because of his very strong work ethic. He did not want to leave his work so he kept his medical condition a secret to be able to continue working as an actor. He passed away less than one year later.
Billboard Hot 100
"The Donna Reed show" did not only open doors to the acting careers of its casts. The show also had some notable unexpected hit songs which led to successful the singing careers of its cast. Probably the most famous of these songs was “Johnny Angel” which was sung by Shelley Fabares.
The song was originally sung and recorded by both Laurie Loman and Georgia Lee, but the two previous versions were not successful. When Shelley Fabares sang it and it was featured in "The Donna Reed Show", it became a huge hit and even made it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.