Jeff Donnell
American actress
Biography
Lists
Also Viewed
The basics
Quick Facts
| Intro | American actress | ||
| A.K.A. | Jean Marie Donnell | ||
| A.K.A. | Jean Marie Donnell | ||
| Places | United States of America | ||
| was | Actor Television actor Film actor | ||
| Work field | Film, TV, Stage & Radio | ||
| Gender |
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| Birth | 10 July 1921, Windham, United States of America | ||
| Death | 11 April 1988Hollywood, United States of America (aged 66 years) | ||
| Star sign | Cancer | ||
| Family |
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The details
Biography
Jean Marie "Jeff" Donnell (July 10, 1921 – April 11, 1988) was an American film and television actress.
Early years
Donnell was born in South Windham, Maine, where her father was superintendent at a boys' reformatory. As a child, she adopted the nickname "Jeff" after the character in her favorite comic strip, Mutt and Jeff. To avoid gender confusion, she was sometimes billed as "(Miss) Jeff Donnell."
Donnell graduated from Towson High School, Towson, Maryland, in 1938 and attended the Leland Powers School of Drama in Boston, Massachusetts. Later, she studied at the Yale School of Drama.
Career
Donnell was signed to a contract by Columbia Pictures while she was active with the Farragut Playhouse in New Hampshire, and she made her film debut in My Sister Eileen (1942). She later had roles in some RKO films.
She was not a major star, but she did have a lengthy film and television career in various supporting roles, including the role of Gidget's mother Dorothy Lawrence in Gidget Goes Hawaiian and Gidget Goes to Rome. She also played Hannah Marshall in the Gidget television series. She portrayed Mrs. Bennett in the TV series Julia, and in 1966 she made five appearances on Dr. Kildare as Evelyn Driscoll.
For three seasons, she portrayed George Gobel's wife, Alice, in The George Gobel Show (1954–1957) on NBC-TV, and she played Ethel on the Matt Helm TV series.
Her other notable appearances in movies and television include:
- My Sister Eileen (1942) - Helen Loomis
- The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942) - Winnie Slade
- A Night to Remember (1942) - Anne Stafford Carstairs
- What's Buzzin', Cousin? (1943) - Billie (uncredited)
- Doughboys in Ireland (1943) - Molly Callahan
- There's Something About a Soldier (1943) - Jean Burton
- Nine Girls (1944) - 'Butch' Hendricks
- Once Upon a Time (1944) - Girl from Brooklyn (uncredited)
- Stars on Parade (1944) - Mary Brooks
- She's a Soldier Too (1944) - Mary Fleming (uncredited)
- Sensations of 1945 (1944) - Young Girl (uncredited)
- Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944) - USO Hostess (uncredited)
- Three Is a Family (1944) - Hazel Whittaker
- Dancing in Manhattan (1944) - Julie Connors
- Carolina Blues (1944) - Charlotte Barton
- Eadie Was a Lady (1945) - Pamela 'Pepper' Parker
- The Power of the Whistler (1945) - Francie
- A Thousand and One Nights (1945) - Harem Girl (uncredited)
- Over 21 (1945) - Jan Lupton
- Song of the Prairie (1945) - Penelope 'Penny' Stevens
- Tars and Spars (1946) - Penny McDougal
- Throw a Saddle on a Star (1946) - Judy Lane
- Night Editor (1946) - Martha Cochrane
- The Phantom Thief (1946) - Anne Parks Duncan
- That Texas Jamboree (1946) - Jean Warren
- The Unknown (1946, One of the "I Love A Mystery" movies) - Nina Arnold
- Cowboy Blues (1946) - Susan Nelson
- Singing on the Trail (1946) - Cindy Brown
- It's Great to Be Young (1946) - Georgia Johnson
- Mr. District Attorney (1947) - Miss Miller
- Roughshod (1949) - Elaine Wyatt
- Stagecoach Kid (1949) - Jessie Arnold
- Outcasts of the Trail (1949) - Vinnie White
- Post Office Investigator (1949) - April Shaughnessy
- Easy Living (1949) - Penny McCarr
- In a Lonely Place (1950) - Sylvia Nicolai
- Hoedown (1950) - Vera Wright
- Big Timber (1950) - Sally
- The Fuller Brush Girl (1950) - Jane Bixby
- Redwood Forest Trail (1950) - Julie Westcott
- Walk Softly, Stranger (1950) - Gwen
- Three Guys Named Mike (1951) - Alice Raymend
- The First Time (1952) - Donna Gilbert
- Thief of Damascus (1952) - Sheherazade
- Skirts Ahoy! (1952) - Lt. Giff
- Because You're Mine (1952) - Patty Ware
- The Blue Gardenia (1953) - Sally Ellis
- So This Is Love (1953) - Henrietta Van Dyke
- Flight Nurse (1953) - Lt. Ann Phillips
- Massacre Canyon (1954) - Cora
- Magnificent Roughnecks (1956) - Julie
- The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957) - Mary Wheller
- Destination 60,000 (1957) - Ruth Buckley
- Sweet Smell of Success (1957) - Sally
- My Man Godfrey (1957) - Molly
- Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) - Dorothy Lawrence
- Force of Impulse (1961) - Louise Reese
- Perry Mason (1962-1964, TV Series) - Rose Carol
- The Iron Maiden (1963; released in the U.S. as Swinging Maiden) - Miriam Fisher
- Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) - Mrs. Lawrence
- The Addams Family (1966, TV Series) - Eleanor Digby
- The Comic (1969) - Nurse
- Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) - Cornelia Fort, a flying instructor
- The Jimmy Stewart Show (1971, TV Series) - Agatha Dwiggins
- Stand Up and Be Counted (1972) - Ruth
- Adam-12 (1973, TV Series) - Mrs James Nelson
- The Amazing Spider-Man (1977, TV Series) - Aunt May Parker
- The Bob Newhart Show (1978, TV Series) - Clara Hackler ("The Little Woman")
- General Hospital (1979–1988, in the TV soap opera) - Stella Fields (final appearnace)
Barnaby Jones (02/04/1973)episode titled "Sunday:Doomsday" -as Janet Gossett
Personal life
Donnell married William Anderson, who was her teacher at the Leland Powers Dramatic School.
Death
Donnell died of a heart attack on April 11, 1988, aged 66. Her sudden absence from General Hospital, on which she had a recurring role as the Quartermaines' housekeeper at the time of her death, was explained away by the writers as her character having won the lottery and quit her job.