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. On television, she portrayed Suzanne Pleshette's mother on the popular Bob Newhart Show during the 1970s. 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. On radio, Ann Rutherford replaced Penny Singleton as Blondie. The Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts was organized after her death in 1986. She retired from films in 1950, but returned to her old studio in 1972 to make They Only Kill Their Masters on the old Andy Hardy set. 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 left MGM to freelance in the early 1940s, starring in such films as Orchestra Wives (1942) (with the Glen Miller Orchestra), Two O'Clock Courage (1945) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947).

She sued the show's production company and received an undisclosed seven-figure settlement. She also starred in a series of mystery/comedies with Red Skelton (Whistling in the Dark (1941), Whistling in Dixie (1942), and Whistling in Brooklyn (1943)). When Bel Geddes was well enough to return to the role, Reed was fired. From 1937 until 1942, she portrayed Polly Benedict in the very successful Andy Hardy series. In her later years she temporarily replaced Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie in the television series Dallas in the 1984-1985 season. She was loaned to Selznick International to appear as Careen O'Hara in Gone With The Wind (1939). She won an Academy Award for playing a prostitute in From Here to Eternity. At MGM, she appeared in such films as A Christmas Carol (1938) and Pride and Prejudice (1940).

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. Afterward, she was placed under contract with MGM. Donna Reed (January 27, 1921 - January 14, 1986) was an American actress. Mascot merged with Republic Pictures, and Miss Rutherford soon established herself as a popular leading lady of Westerns with Gene Autry and John Wayne. She began her film career in starring roles in Waterfront Lady for Mascot Pictures in 1935. At an early age, she performed in various radio shows.

Miss Rutherford was born in Toronto, Canada. In the long-running, Academy Award-winning Andy Hardy film series, she played Polly twelve times, with the last appearance being in Andy Hardy's Double Life in 1942. It was in 1938 that her first notable role came as Andy Hardy's girlfriend, Polly Benedict, in Judge Hardy's Children. She appeared in seventeen films between 1935 and 1938.

Her first film role was in Melody Trail in 1935. She has had a long career starring and co-starring in films. Ann Rutherford (November 2, 1920 - ) is a Canadian/American actress in film, radio, and television.