Donna Mills


Donna Jean Miller, better known as Donna Mills, is an American actress and producer. She began her television career in 1966 with a recurring role on The Secret Storm, and in the same year appeared on Broadway in the Woody Allen comedy Don't Drink the Water. She made her film debut the following year in The Incident. She then starred for three years in the soap opera Love is a Many Splendored Thing, before starring as Tobie Williams, the girlfriend of Clint Eastwood's character in the 1971 cult film Play Misty for Me.
Mills landed the role of Abby Cunningham on the primetime soap opera Knots Landing in 1980 and was a regular on the show until 1989. For this role, she won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villainess three times, in 1986, 1988, and 1989. She has since starred in several TV movies, including False Arrest, In My Daughter's Name, Dangerous Intentions, The Stepford Husbands, and Ladies of the House. In 2014, she joined the cast of long-running daytime soap opera General Hospital, for which she won a 2015 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Guest Performer in a Drama Series.

Early life

Mills was born Donna Jean Miller in Chicago, the daughter of Bernice, a dance teacher, and Frank, a market researcher. She attended Garvy Elementary School and Taft High School. After being double-promoted at Garvey, she graduated from Taft at an early age.
From there, Mills attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she was a member of Delta Gamma sorority. She completed one year of course work, then left to pursue a dancing career, gaining some early stage experience when she danced in summer stock productions. Her first professional acting role was in a production of Come Blow Your Horn at the Drury Lane Theater in Chicago. She later was cast in a touring production of My Fair Lady, which brought her to New York City.

Career

Early career

Mills began her acting career on television with a six-month stint on the CBS daytime soap opera The Secret Storm in 1966, playing the character of Rocket. Following this, she made her film debut in The Incident, co-starring alongside Martin Sheen, Beau Bridges, Ed McMahon, and Thelma Ritter. She appeared on Broadway in Woody Allen's comedy, Don't Drink the Water, as the Sultan of Bashir's wife.
In the fall of 1967, she gained a regular role as ex-nun Laura Donnelly on the soap Love is a Many Splendored Thing. She was a cast member for three years, until she left the series in 1970 and moved to California. In 1971, Mills co-starred in the popular thriller Play Misty for Me, with Clint Eastwood and Jessica Walter.
During 1971-72, she starred in the short-lived sitcom The Good Life with Larry Hagman, who later guest-starred on Knots Landing as J. R. Ewing from the show's sister series Dallas. Prior to signing a contract for Universal Studios in 1972, she spent much of the 1970s appearing as a guest on top-rated television shows such as The Six Million Dollar Man, Hawaii Five-O, The Love Boat, CHiPs, The F.B.I., Quincy, M.E., the UK's Thriller series, Police Woman, and Fantasy Island, as well as many made-for-TV movies.

''Knots Landing''

In 1980, Mills landed her most prominent role — that of scheming, manipulative vixen Abby Cunningham on the long-running primetime soap opera Knots Landing. Mills portrayed Abby from 1980–1989. Prior to being cast in Knots Landing, Mills was primarily known for playing the "damsel in distress" archetype in both film and television media. The actress became somewhat famous for playing these roles, often leading to unwanted typecasting. In an interview with Jerry Buck for the Toledo Blade, Mills said: "I got tired of playing the victim. It's a more active role. Abby keeps things stirred up, and I like that." According to Jacobs, Abby was not planned when the show began. He knew that he wanted a female J.R. Ewing-esque character. However, he had a different sense of the character and who would wind up in the role. With Mills's reputation of playing the victim, he initially did not choose her for the part.
Josh Mapes of The Biography Channel listed her in the category "10 Primetime Stars We Love to Hate". He said, "Any great soap opera needs a great villain. While viewers may identify more with the protagonist, the villains in a serial drama always spice things up, cause trouble, and make it more fun to watch. From tongue lashings to catfights, underhanded tricks to boldface lies, the characters we love to hate have each brought a fair share of great moments to primetime soaps. While Larry Hagman played the bad guy on Dallas, Donna Mills played bad girl on its spin-off, Knots Landing. Unapologetically going after what she wanted, Mills's character engaged in affairs with two of the husbands on the Knots Landing cul-de-sac, but like most vixens on primetime soaps, she was only out for money, not love."
In 1989, Mills announced her intention to leave the long-running nighttime soap after nine years as Abby. According to Mills, she wanted to take a break from acting for a while, and from Abby, as well.
In an interview with The Cedartown Standard, Mills explained: "I'm tired of the show. It's been too long. I'm not particularly happy with the way they've been writing Abby lately. She's too soft. I'd like Abby to get back to her old self." For this role, she won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villainess on three occasions, in 1986, 1988, and 1989.

1990-present

After Knots Landing, Mills concentrated on television movies, four of which she co-produced: The World's Oldest Living Bridesmaid, Runaway Father, In My Daughter's Name, and My Name Is Kate. She returned to Knots Landing for its final episode in 1993, and again for the reunion miniseries ' in 1997. In between, she had a brief recurring guest role as the mother of Jane Mancini on Melrose Place.
Mills continued to appear on television in movies and guest roles. In 2005, she reunited with the Knots Landing cast for the nonfiction special,
', in which the stars reminisced about the show. In more recent years, Mills has appeared in various television movies such as Love Is A Four Letter Word in 2007 and Ladies of the House in 2008, as well as guest appearances in series such as Cold Case and Nip/Tuck. In 2012, she made a guest appearance on GCB as Bitsy Lourd and appeared as a guest judge on the reality series RuPaul's Drag U.
In 2014, Mills made her return to daytime soap operas, for the first time since 1970. She was cast in a major recurring guest-starring role in the ABC soap opera General Hospital. She debuted in mid-March and stayed to May. Later in that year, she returned for another multiple-episode arc. At the 42nd Daytime Emmy Awards, Mills won Outstanding Special Guest Performer in a Drama Series for her performance in General Hospital, in a three-way tie with Fred Willard and Ray Wise. In August 2018, Mills returned for another multiple-episode arc.
On October 7, 2014, it was announced that Mills will star in the POP reality series Queens of Drama about a group of former stars who now produce a new primetime serial drama to star in. The ladies will be required to work together in front of and behind the cameras as they develop, pitch, and produce their steamy series with the hopes of landing a pilot deal by the end of the season.
Mills had a role in David O. Russell's film Joy, which was released in December 2015. Also in 2015, she starred in the holiday comedy-drama, 12 Gifts of Christmas.
In 2017, Mills was cast in the role of Daisy Werthan in the Colony Theatre's production of Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Driving Miss Daisy. Also that year, she played a leading role in the Pure Flix drama series Hilton Head Island. In 2019, she starred alongside Dyan Cannon and Crystal Hunt in the Pure Flix comedy series Mood Swings.

Personal life

Mills has never married. She has one daughter, Chloe, whom she adopted in late 1994 when Chloe was four days old.
Outside of acting, Mills released The Eyes Have It in 1986, an instructional video for achieving several different make-up looks. She went on to release her own line of cosmetics of the same name. She appeared in cover-featured pictorials for the October 1987 and November 1989 editions of Playboy.

TV and filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes-
1966The Secret StormRocket-
1967The IncidentAlice Keenan
1967-1970Love Is a Many Splendored ThingLaura Donnelly ElliottSeries regular-
1970Love, American StyleEllie1 episode-
1970LancerLucy1 episode-
1971Play Misty for MeTobie Williams-
1971-1972The Good LifeJane MillerSeries regular, 15 episodes-
1972Haunts of the Very RichLaurie-
1972Rolling ManBebe Lotter-
1972Night of TerrorLinda Daniel-
1973GunsmokeCora SandersonEpisodes: "A Game of Death... An Act of Love: Part 1" and "A Game of Death... An Act of Love: Part 2"-
1973The BaitTracy Fleming--
1973ThrillerChrissie MortonSeason 1, Episode 3: "Someone at the Top of the Stairs"-
1974Live Again, Die AgainCaroline Carmichael-
1974ThrillerHelen CookSeason 2, Episode 4: "One Deadly Owner"-
1974Marcus Welby, M.D.Bea AvertonEpisode: "A Fevered Angel"-
1974McMillan & WifeLaura RaineyEpisode: "Buried Alive"-
1975The Six Million Dollar ManLiza LeitmanEpisode: "The Cross-Country Kidnap"-
1975Who Is the Black Dahlia?Susan Winters-
1975Live A Little, Steal A LotGinny Eaton-
1975Hawaii Five-OMarcia BissellEpisode: "Murder: Eyes Only'"-
1975Beyond the Bermuda TriangleClaudia--
1975ThrillerPatty HeronSeason 4, Episode 4: "The Killer With Two Faces"-
1975CannonEpisode: "The Victim - S5E5"-
1976Police WomanTamee SwansonEpisode: "Mother Love"-
1976Quincy, M.E. Roberta RhodesEpisode: "A Star Is Dead"-
1976Look What's Happened to Rosemary's BabyEllen-
1976Smash-Up on Interstate 5Laureen-
1977BuncoFrankieTV pilot-
1977Fire!Harriett Malone-
1977Curse of the Black WidowLeigh Lockwood-
1977The Hunted LadySusan Reilly-
1977Woman on the RunLaura Frazier-
1977The Oregon TrailLizzieEpisode: "The Scarlet Ribbon"-
1978SuperdomeLainie Wiley-
1978Doctors' Private LivesDr. Beth Demery-
1978The Love BoatJeannie Carter3 episodes-
1979Hanging by a ThreadEllen Craig-
1979Fantasy IslandCindy CarterEpisode: "The Chain Gang/The Boss'"-
1979Young MaverickLila GatesEpisodes: "Dead Man's Hand: Part 1" and "Dead Man's Hand: Part 2"-
1980WaikikiCassie Howard-
1982Bare EssenceBarbara Fisher-
1984He's Not Your SonKathy Saunders-
1985Alice in WonderlandThe Rose-
1986Intimate EncountersJulie Atkins-
1988Outback BoundSamantha 'Sam' Hollings-
1980-1989, 1993Knots LandingAbby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing SumnerSeries regular, 236 episodes-
1989The Lady ForgetsRebecca Simms/Julie Black-
1990The World's Oldest Living BridesmaidBrenda MorganExecutive producer-
1991Runaway FatherPat BennettExecutive producer-
1991False ArrestJoyce Lukezic-
1992In My Daughter's NameLaura EliasExecutive producer-
1992The President's ChildElizabeth Hemming-
1993RememberNicky Wells-
1994My Name Is KateKateExecutive producer-
1994Dream OnAshlynEpisode: "Martin Tupper in 'Magnum Farce'"-
1995Dangerous IntentionsBeth Williamson-
1995An Element of TruthVanessa Graves-
1996The Stepford HusbandsJodi Davison-
1996-1997Melrose PlaceSherry Doucette4 episodes-
1997'Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing SumnerTV miniseries-
1998Moonlight Becomes YouMaggie Holloway-
2000Rude AwakeningLindaEpisode: "Star 80 Proof"-
2004A Very Cool ChristmasMrs. Claus-
2006Jane Doe: Yes, I Remember It WellPolly Jameson-
2007Cold CaseLauren WilliamsEpisode: "Blackout"-
2007Love Is a Four Letter WordMargot Harper-
2008Ladies of the HouseElizabeth-
2009Dirty Sexy MoneyCameo appearanceEpisode: "The Facts"-
2008-2010Nip/TuckLulu GrandironEpisodes: "Lulu Grandiron" and "Christian Troy II"-
2012GCBBitsy LourdEpisode: "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"-
2014-2015, 2018General HospitalMadeline ReevesSpecial guest star-
2014Deadly RevengeEvelyn-
2014When Life Keeps Getting In The WayDr. Goldstein-
201512 Gifts of ChristmasJoyce Rehnquist-
2015JoyPriscilla-
2016'Supervisor Wink-
2017Hilton Head IslandVictoria TriskSeries regular, 22 episodes-
2018Best MomNana-
2019TurnoverPat-
2019Carol of the BellsHelen Harris-
2019Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe KissesCaroline Sinclair-
2019A Beauty & The Beast ChristmasGinger's mother-
2020Tale of the Wet DogMrs. Cardwell-

Awards and nominations