Why ‘Dallas’ Became Donna Reed’s Final Acting Role

Donna Reed, who was born January 27, 1921, achieved many things in her long career, but to so many of us, she is remembered as simply the ideal mom, a role she played to perfection in It’s a Wonderful Life and The Donna Reed Show. Reed also had range — she played a beauty whose love story with Montgomery Clift turns tragic in From Here to Eternity, a role that won her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

However, with more than four decades on screen, Reed built a career that remained strong even amid Hollywood’s many changes, and went on long after her signature series went off the air. In fact, Reed, who died in 1986, was performing almost up until the end; her final on-screen role was Miss Ellie Ewing Farlow on Dallas, a part she played during the show’s 1984 to 1985 season. Miss Ellie was also a mom—but not quite one of the sugar-sweet matriarchs that Reed was famous for portraying.