Donna Reed

The performing arts center was formerly an opera house built in 1914, and later rennovated into the Ritz Movie Theater where Donna Reed first fell in love with movies. She is the cousin of Torry Castellano, a member of the rock group The Donnas. The non-profit organization grants scholarships for performing arts students, runs an annual festival of performing arts workshops, and operates The Donna Reed Center for the Performing Arts. San Giacomo has been married twice; to actor Cameron Dye (1990-1998), with whom she has a son, Mason (born 1996), and to actor Matt Adler (since 2000). The Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts was organized after her death in 1986. She was the lead character in the sitcom Just Shoot Me (1997-2003) and did voice work for the animated series Gargoyles. She died at age 64 in Beverly Hills, California from pancreatic cancer and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. She has appeared in the films Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), Pretty Woman (1990), Quigley Down Under (1990), and Nina Takes a Lover (1994), among others.

She sued the show's production company and received an undisclosed seven-figure settlement. San Giacomo was born in New Jersey and attended the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. When Bel Geddes was well enough to return to the role, Reed was fired. Laura San Giacomo (born November 14, 1962) is an American actress. In her later years she temporarily replaced Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie in the television series Dallas in the 1984-1985 season. IMDB entry (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000624/). She won an Academy Award for playing a prostitute in From Here to Eternity.

Born Donna Belle Mullenger, Reed is probably best remembered for her roles as the wholesome housewife Donna Stone on American television's The Donna Reed Show and as Mary Bailey in Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. Donna Reed (January 27, 1921 - January 14, 1986) was an American actress.