Donna Mills Biography

This section contains Donna Mills Biography
Donna Mills is an American actress born on December 11, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. Since she was a child she has always wanted to become a performer, and because of this, she dropped out of college to dance and act in local amateur and professional productions, including those at the Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago. A touring production of My Fair Lady led Mills to New York and in 1966 she made her debut on Broadway as a harem girl in Woody Allen’s Don’t Drink the Water. In the same year, she landed a recurring role on the 1954 daytime soap The Secret Storm, and then moved on to a supporting part as Alice Keenan, in The Incident. However, it was Mills’ work as ex-nun Laura Donnelly Elliot on the daytime drama Love Is a Many Splendored Thing that gave her attention.

Now an effective actor, Mills went to the West Coast to try to create the breakthrough to primetime. She made a guest performance in Dan August that led to the role of Clint Eastwood’s girlfriend, in Play Misty For Me, which was also Eastwood’s directorial debut. Donna Mills appeared in a number of television films through the 1970s. She also made guest appearances in shows including The Six Million Dollar Man, Thriller, The Love Boat and Young Maverick. In 1980, she reached TV stardom as the venal but sexy Abby Cunningham Ewing on the popular soap Knots Landing. For her efforts, Donna Mills was given three Soap Opera Digest awards for Outstanding Villainess in 1986, 1988 and 1989, as well as a 1986 Soap Opera Digest nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role on a Prime Time Serial. After a nine-year run, Mills departed the show to work on other projects. She made a comeback in 1993 for its finale.

The blonde actress went on to star in numerous TV films and specials. Among her works were He’s Not Your Son The World’s Oldest Living Bridesmaid, Runaway Father, In My Daughter’s Name and My Name Is Kate. Donna Mills then found herself back in the world of primetime soap opera with the role of Sherry Doucette, mother of troubled designer Jane Mancini (Josie Bissett), Melrose Place. Also in 1997, Mills reprised her villainous role of Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing in the TV movie Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac.

In 2006, Donna Mills was cast in the mystery TV film Jane Doe: Yes, I Remember It Well, starring Lea Thompson. She also starred in Love Is a Four-Letter Word, a romance television film directed by Harvey Frost.

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