Donna Mills facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Donna Mills
Mills at the 2018 Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival
Born	Donna Jean Miller (1940-12-11) December 11, 1940 (age 84) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Education	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1966–present
Partner(s)	Richard Holland (20 years) Larry Gilman (2001–present)
Children	1

Donna Mills (born Donna Jean Miller; December 11, 1940) is an American actress. She is well-known for her many roles in television shows and movies. Donna started her TV career in 1966 and has been acting ever since.

She became famous for playing Abby Cunningham in the TV show Knots Landing. This show was a very popular "primetime soap opera," which means it was a drama series shown in the evening. She won awards for playing a "villainess" in this role. Later, she also appeared in the daytime soap opera General Hospital. Donna Mills has also acted in many films, including Play Misty for Me, Joy, and Nope.

Early life and beginnings

Donna Jean Miller was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her mother was a homemaker, and her father worked with computers. She has an older brother named Donald. Donna grew up in Norwood Park, Chicago.

She went to Garvy Elementary School and Taft High School. One of her classmates, Jim Jacobs, later helped create the famous musical Grease. He even based the character of Sandy on Donna!

Donna went to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She studied there for one year. Then, she decided to follow her dream of becoming a dancer. She gained experience acting in summer plays. Her first professional acting job was in a play called Come Blow Your Horn. Later, she joined a touring show of My Fair Lady, which brought her to New York City. Before she got her first TV job, Donna worked as a secretary for Popular Mechanics magazine.

Acting career

Mills in Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1967)

Starting out in the 1960s and 1970s

Donna Mills began her acting journey on TV in 1966. She played a singer named Rocket on the show The Secret Storm. Soon after, she acted on Broadway in a play by Woody Allen called Don't Drink the Water.

Her first movie role was in The Incident in 1967. This film was a crime thriller. From 1967 to 1970, Donna had a regular role as Laura Donnelly on the TV show Love is a Many Splendored Thing. After that, she moved to the West Coast to act in more TV shows.

Mills in Police Story (1975)

In 1971, Donna starred with Clint Eastwood in the movie Play Misty for Me. This movie was a big success. She also appeared in a short-lived comedy show called The Good Life. Throughout the 1970s, Donna was a guest star on many popular TV shows. These included Gunsmoke, The Six Million Dollar Man, Hawaii Five-O, and Fantasy Island.

She also played leading roles in many movies made for television. These included Haunts of the Very Rich (1972) and Curse of the Black Widow (1977).

Becoming famous on Knots Landing in the 1980s

In 1980, Donna Mills got her most famous role. She played Abby Cunningham on the TV show Knots Landing. Abby was a clever and sometimes tricky character. Donna enjoyed playing Abby because she was active and made things exciting on the show.

Abby Cunningham became a character that viewers loved to dislike. She often caused trouble and was always trying to get what she wanted. She was known for being a "villainess" on the show.

Donna stayed on Knots Landing for nine years, until 1989. She decided to leave because she wanted a break from acting. She also felt that Abby's character was becoming "too soft." For her role as Abby, Donna won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villainess three times. She won in 1986, 1988, and 1989.

While on Knots Landing, Donna also acted in other projects. She starred in the TV movie He's Not Your Son (1984). She also appeared in the musical film Alice in Wonderland (1985).

From the 1990s to today

Mills at the premiere of Air America in 1990

After Knots Landing, Donna Mills focused on making TV movies. She even started her own company, Donna Mills Productions. This company helped produce movies like The World's Oldest Living Bridesmaid (1990) and Runaway Father (1991).

She returned to Knots Landing for its very last episode in 1993. She also came back for a special reunion show in 1997. In the 1990s, she had a small role on the show Melrose Place. She also guest-starred in other TV comedies.

After taking some time off, Donna continued to appear in TV movies and guest roles. In 2012, she was a guest star on the comedy series GCB. She also appeared as a judge on the reality show RuPaul's Drag U.

In 2014, Donna returned to daytime soap operas. She joined the cast of General Hospital in a special guest role. She played a character named Madeline Reeves. For this role, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Guest Performer in a Drama Series. She returned to General Hospital again in 2018.

Mills with daughter Chloe in 2009

In 2015, Donna starred in the reality series Queens of Drama. This show followed former stars as they tried to create a new TV drama.

Donna Mills also acted in the movie Joy (2015). In 2022, she appeared in the horror film Nope, directed by Jordan Peele. She also received an award from the Palm Springs International Film Festival. In 2023, she starred in the TV series V.C. Andrews' Dawn and the film Origin. Later in 2023, she acted in the Christmas comedy film Ladies of the '80s: A Divas Christmas with other famous actresses from the 1980s.

Personal life

Donna Mills has never been married. She was in a long relationship with Richard Holland for about 20 years. Since 2001, she has been in a relationship with Larry Gilman. They have chosen not to get married.

In September 1994, Donna adopted a newborn daughter named Chloe.

Filmography

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1966	The Secret Storm	Rocket	Series regular
1967	The Incident	Alice Keenan
1967–1970	Love Is a Many Splendored Thing	Laura Donnelly Elliott	Series regular
1970	Love, American Style	Ellie	1 episode
	Lancer	Lucy	1 episode
1971	Play Misty for Me	Tobie Williams
	The F.B.I.	Maryanne	Season 6, Episode 23: "The Hitchhiker"
1971–1972	The Good Life	Jane Miller	Series regular, 15 episodes
1972	The F.B.I.	Bernie	Season 7, Episode 17: "The Break up"
	Haunts of the Very Rich	Laurie
	Rolling Man	Bebe Lotter
	Night of Terror	Linda Daniel
1973	Gunsmoke	Cora Sanderson	Episodes: "A Game of Death... An Act of Love: Part 1" and "A Game of Death... An Act of Love: Part 2"
	The Bait	Tracy Fleming
	Thriller	Chrissie Morton	Season 1, Episode 3: "Someone at the Top of the Stairs"
1974	Live Again, Die Again	Caroline Carmichael
	Thriller	Helen Cook	Season 2, Episode 4: "One Deadly Owner"
	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Bea Averton	Episode: "A Fevered Angel"
	McMillan & Wife	Laura Rainey	Episode: "Buried Alive"
1975	The Six Million Dollar Man	Liza Leitman	Episode: "The Cross-Country Kidnap"
	Who Is the Black Dahlia?	Susan Winters
	Murph the Surf	Ginny Eaton
	Hawaii Five-O	Marcia Bissell	Episode: "Murder: Eyes Only'"
	Beyond the Bermuda Triangle	Claudia
	Thriller	Patty Heron	Season 4, Episode 4: "The Killer With Two Faces"
	Cannon		Episode: "The Victim - S5E5"
1976	Police Woman	Tamee Swanson	Episode: "Mother Love"
	Quincy, M.E.	Roberta Rhodes	Episode: "A Star Is Dead"
	Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby	Ellen
	Smash-Up on Interstate 5	Laureen
1977	Bunco	Frankie	TV pilot
	Fire!	Harriett Malone
	Curse of the Black Widow	Leigh Lockwood
	The Hunted Lady	Susan Reilly
	Woman on the Run	Laura Frazier	CBS Pilot.
	The Oregon Trail	Lizzie	Episode: "The Scarlet Ribbon"
1978	Superdome	Lainie Wiley
	Doctors' Private Lives	Dr. Beth Demery
	The Love Boat	Jeannie Carter	3 episodes
1979	Hanging by a Thread	Ellen Craig
	Fantasy Island	Cindy Carter	Episode: "The Chain Gang/The Boss'"
	Young Maverick	Lila Gates	Episodes: "Dead Man's Hand: Part 1" and "Dead Man's Hand: Part 2"
1980	Waikiki	Cassie Howard
1980–1989, 1993	Knots Landing	Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing Sumner	Series regular, 236 episodes
1982	Bare Essence	Barbara Fisher
	Madame's Place	Herself	Episode: "Candidates for Hollywood"
1984	He's Not Your Son	Kathy Saunders
1985	Alice in Wonderland	The Rose
1986	Intimate Encounters	Julie Atkins
1988	Outback Bound	Samantha 'Sam' Hollings
1989	The Lady Forgets	Rebecca Simms/Julie Black
1990	The World's Oldest Living Bridesmaid	Brenda Morgan	Executive producer
1991	Runaway Father	Pat Bennett	Executive producer
	False Arrest	Joyce Lukezic	Based on a true story
1992	In My Daughter's Name	Laura Elias	Executive producer
	The President's Child	Elizabeth Hemming
1993	Remember	Nicky Wells
1994	My Name Is Kate	Kate	Executive producer
	Dream On	Ashlyn	Episode: "Martin Tupper in 'Magnum Farce'"
1995	Dangerous Intentions	Beth Williamson
	An Element of Truth	Vanessa Graves
	High Society	Jacquelyn Seymour Winters/Lucinda	Episode: "We Ought to Be in Pictures"
1996	The Stepford Husbands	Jodi Davison
1996–1997	Melrose Place	Sherry Doucette	4 episodes
1997	Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac	Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing Sumner	TV miniseries
1998	Moonlight Becomes You	Maggie Holloway
2000	Rude Awakening	Linda	Episode: "Star 80 Proof"
2004	A Very Cool Christmas	Mrs. Claus
2006	Jane Doe: Yes, I Remember It Well	Polly Jameson
2007	Cold Case	Lauren Williams	Episode: "Blackout"
	Love Is a Four Letter Word	Margot Harper
2008	Ladies of the House	Elizabeth
2009	Dirty ... Money	Cameo appearance	Episode: "The Facts"
2008–2010	Nip/Tuck	Lulu Grandiron	Episodes: "Lulu Grandiron" and "Christian Troy II"
2012	GCB	Bitsy Lourd	Episode: "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"
2014–2015, 2018	General Hospital	Madeline Reeves	Special guest star
2014	Deadly Revenge	Evelyn
	When Life Keeps Getting In The Way	Dr. Goldstein
2015	12 Gifts of Christmas	Joyce Rehnquist
	Joy	Priscilla
2016	Sharknado: The 4th Awakens	Supervisor Wink
2017	Hilton Head Island	Victoria Trisk	Series regular, 22 episodes
2018	Best Mom	Nana
2019	Turnover	Pat
	Carol of the Bells	Helen Harris
	Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses	Caroline Sinclair
	A Beauty & The Beast Christmas	Bijou
2022	Nope	Bonnie Clayton
2023	The Rookie: Feds	Layla Laughlin	Episode: "Out for Blood"
	V.C. Andrews' Dawn	Lillian Cutler
	Secrets of the Morning	Lillian Cutler
	Twilight's Child	Lillian Cutler
	Origin	Mrs. Copeland
	Ladies of the '80s: A Divas Christmas	Dana Cunningham
2024	NCIS	Wanda Prescott	Episode "The Trouble With Hal"
TBA	Abused	Dr. Karen Carden	Post-Production
TBA	The Soul Trader	Erica	Post-Production

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Donna Mills para niños