Jean Marie "Jeff" Donnell (July 10, 1921 – April 11, 1988) was an American actress.

Early years

Donnell was born in South Windham, Maine, to Harold and Mildred Donnell, when her father was superintendent at a boys' reformatory in that town. As a child, she adopted the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

"Jeff" after the character in her favorite comic strip, ''

Mutt and Jeff ''Mutt and Jeff'' is a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched wikt:tinhorn, tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept o ...

''.Newspaper columnist Erskine Johnson wrote in a July 12, 1943, article, "... an uncle nicknamed her Jeff when she was three years old and the name stuck." To avoid gender confusion, she was sometimes billed as "(Miss) Jeff Donnell." Donnell graduated from Towson High School,

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...

, in 1938 and attended the Leland Powers School of Drama in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Later, she studied at the

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in ...

Career

Donnell was signed to a contract by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

while she was active with the Farragut Playhouse in New Hampshire, and she made her film debut in '' My Sister Eileen'' (1942). She became a fixture at Columbia, working steadily in comedies, mysteries, westerns, and musicals for five years, and then off and on at the studio from 1950 to 1972. During the 1940s she was typically the house tomboy, a plain-speaking sidekick for the glamorous ingenue, and developed a flair for comedy. Columbia did give Donnell the glamour treatment later (in the 1946

Boston Blackie Boston Blackie is a fictional character created by author Jack Boyle (1881–1928). Blackie was originally depicted as a jewel thief and safecracker in Boyle's stories, and became a private detective in adaptations for films, radio and televisi ...

mystery '' The Phantom Thief'', in which she played a troubled heiress), but she never shook the sidekick image. When her Columbia contract ran out, she freelanced at other studios, mostly in low-budget action pictures. She returned to Columbia in 1950. She had met

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

on the set of the 1948

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

production '' Easy Living''; Ball remembered Donnell and recruited her to play her sidekick in '' The Fuller Brush Girl'' (1950). Donnell continued to play character roles in motion pictures and television; for three seasons, she portrayed George Gobel's wife, Alice, in ''The George Gobel Show'' (1954–1957) on NBC-TV. Many of her assignments were for Columbia (notably as Gidget's mother Dorothy Lawrence in '' Gidget Goes Hawaiian'' and '' Gidget Goes to Rome'') and Columbia's TV subsidiary

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. ''Screen Gems'' has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the de ...

(she played Hannah Marshall in the '' Gidget'' television series, and portrayed Mrs. Bennett in the TV series '' Julia''). In 1966 she made five appearances on '' Dr. Kildare'' as Evelyn Driscoll, and she played Ethel on the ''

Matt Helm Matt Helm is a fictional character created by American author Donald Hamilton (1916–2006). Helm is a U.S. government counter-agent, a man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agents—not a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of ...

'' TV series. Her last Columbia feature was the

women's lib The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminism, feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resu ...

-themed comedy '' Stand Up and Be Counted'' (1972). Her final recurring role was as Stella Fields, the Quartermaines' housekeeper, in the popular

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

'', from 1979 to 1988.

Personal life

Donnell's four marriages all ended in divorce. The first, in 1940 (and ultimately longest), was to William R. Anderson, her teacher at the Leland Powers Dramatic School.Michael, Paul (1969).
Movie Greats: The Players, Directors, Producers
'. Garland Books. p. 56. . Donnell had her only children with him, namely Michael Phineas—affectionately dubbed Mickey Finn—in 1942 and Sarah Jane (aka Sally), whom the couple adopted in the fall of 1947. Anderson and Donnell divorced in 1952.Rainey, Buck (1992).
Sweethearts of the Sage: Biographies and Filmographies of 258 Actresses Appearing in Western Movies
'. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 291. . Next came actor

Aldo Ray Aldo Ray (born Aldo Da Re; September 25, 1926 – March 27, 1991) was an American actor of film and television. He began his career as a contract player for Columbia Pictures before achieving stardom through his roles in '' The Marrying Kind, P ...

, whom Donnell married in 1954 and divorced in 1957."Jeff Donnell Is Bride of Aldo Ray at Orinda"
''The San Francisco Examiner''. October 1, 1954. p. 7. Retrieved July 7, 2024.Johnson, Erskine (December 28, 1957
"Hollywood Today!"
''The News-Virginian''. p. B7. Retrieved July 5, 2024. Her third marriage, to advertising executive John Bricker, began on December 1, 1958 and concluded in an uncontested divorce decree issued on March 19, 1963, with Donnell reporting that Bricker had, among other things, publicly belittled both herself and her adopted daughter."Gobel's Wife on TV Gets Another Husband"
''Fort Worth Star-Telegram''. September 1, 1958. p. 21. Retrieved July 7, 2024."Jeff Donnell Sheds No. 3"
''The San Francisco Examiner''. March 20, 1963. p. 8. Retrieved July 7, 2024. Donnell's fourth and final marriage, to Radcliffe (aka Rod) Bealey, lasted all of three months, comprising roughly the spring of 1970. Commencing in March of that year with a guest list confined to family and close friends,Clinton, Mary Jane (March 16, 1970)
"Talk of the Times"
''The San Mateo Times''. p. 9. Retrieved July 6, 2024. the marriage was officially dissolved in June."California Divorce Index, 1966-1984," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPB9-HTT : 27 November 2014), Jeff Donnell and Radcliff V Bealey, Jun 1970; from "California Divorce Index, 1966-1984," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2007); citing Los Angeles City, California, Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento.

Death

On April 11, 1988, at age 66, Donnell died of a heart attack at her home in Hollywood. As for her then-still-recurring role on ''General Hospital'', a contemporaneous report by syndicated soaps pundit Lynda Hirsch states that Donnell was being replaced by another actress in that season's remaining few episodes, and would then be written out of the show altogether, the onscreen rationale consisting of a note left with her character's employers, explaining that she had to leave to care for an ailing relative.Hirsch, Lynda (May 1, 1988)
"On the Soaps"
''Florida Today TV Week''. p. 44. Retrieved July 7, 2024.

Credits

*'' My Sister Eileen'' (1942) - Helen Loomis *'' The Boogie Man Will Get You'' (1942) - Winnie Slade *'' A Night to Remember'' (1942) - Anne Stafford Carstairs *'' What's Buzzin', Cousin?'' (1943) - Billie (uncredited) *'' Doughboys in Ireland'' (1943) - Molly Callahan *'' There's Something About a Soldier'' (1943) - Jean Burton *'' Nine Girls'' (1944) - 'Butch' Hendricks *''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

'' (1944) - Girl from Brooklyn (uncredited) *'' Stars on Parade'' (1944) - Mary Brooks *'' She's a Soldier Too'' (1944) - Mary Fleming (uncredited) *'' Sensations of 1945'' (1944) - Young Girl (uncredited) *'' Mr. Winkle Goes to War'' (1944) - USO Hostess (uncredited) *'' Three Is a Family'' (1944) - Hazel Whittaker *'' Dancing in Manhattan'' (1944) - Julie Connors *'' Carolina Blues'' (1944) - Charlotte Barton *'' Eadie Was a Lady'' (1945) - Pamela 'Pepper' Parker *'' The Power of the Whistler'' (1945) - Francie *'' A Thousand and One Nights'' (1945) - Harem Girl (uncredited) *'' Over 21'' (1945) - Jan Lupton *'' Song of the Prairie'' (1945) - Penelope 'Penny' Stevens *''

Tars and Spars ''Tars and Spars'' is a 1946 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Alfred Drake, Janet Blair, and Marc Platt. Plot Howard Young is a coast guardsman who has been on shore duty for three years despite ...

'' (1946) - Penny McDougal *'' Throw a Saddle on a Star'' (1946) - Judy Lane *'' Night Editor'' (1946) - Martha Cochrane *'' The Phantom Thief'' (1946) - Anne Parks Duncan *'' That Texas Jamboree'' (1946) - Jean Warren *'' The Unknown'' (1946, One of the "I Love A Mystery" movies) - Nina Arnold *'' Cowboy Blues'' (1946) - Susan Nelson *'' Singing on the Trail'' (1946) - Cindy Brown *'' It's Great to Be Young'' (1946) - Georgia Johnson *'' Mr. District Attorney'' (1947) - Miss Miller *'' Roughshod'' (1949) - Elaine Wyatt *'' Stagecoach Kid'' (1949) - Jessie Arnold *'' Outcasts of the Trail'' (1949) - Vinnie White *''

Post Office Investigator ''Post Office Investigator'' is a 1949 black and white American crime film about the theft of postage stamps, directed by George Blair, and starring Audrey Long, Warren Douglas and Jeff Donnell. ''Allmovie'' called it a "diligent Republic pro ...

'' (1949) - April Shaughnessy *'' Easy Living'' (1949) - Penny McCarr *'' In a Lonely Place'' (1950) - Sylvia Nicolai *'' Hoedown'' (1950) - Vera Wright *'' Big Timber'' (1950) - Sally *'' The Fuller Brush Girl'' (1950) - Jane Bixby *'' Redwood Forest Trail'' (1950) - Julie Westcott *'' Walk Softly, Stranger'' (1950) - Gwen *''

Three Guys Named Mike ''Three Guys Named Mike'' is a 1951 American romantic comedy film directed by Charles Walters and starring Jane Wyman, Van Johnson, Howard Keel, and Barry Sullivan.

'' (1951) - Alice Raymend *'' The First Time'' (1952) - Donna Gilbert *''

Thief of Damascus '' Thief of Damascus '' is a 1952 American Technicolor adventure film directed by Will Jason and starring Paul Henreid, John Sutton (actor), John Sutton and Jeff Donnell. The film features a generous use of stock footage from such films as ''Joa ...

'' (1952) - Sheherazade *''

Skirts Ahoy! ''Skirts Ahoy!'' is a 1952 musical film directed by Sidney Lanfield, and starring Esther Williams, Vivian Blaine and Joan Evans. Shot in Technicolor, the film follows several women who join the WAVES with sequences filmed on location at the Grea ...

'' (1952) - Lt. Giff *''

Because You're Mine ''Because You're Mine'' is a 1952 American musical comedy film starring Mario Lanza. Directed by Alexander Hall, the film also stars Doretta Morrow, James Whitmore, and Bobby Van. Plot Opera singer superstar Renaldo Rossano (Mario Lanza) is ...

'' (1952) - Patty Ware *''

The Blue Gardenia ''The Blue Gardenia'' is a 1953 American film noir starring Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, and Ann Sothern. Directed by Fritz Lang from a screenplay by Charles Hoffman, it is based on the novella ''The Gardenia'' by Vera Caspary. An indepe ...

'' (1953) - Sally Ellis *'' So This Is Love'' (1953) - Henrietta Van Dyke *''

Flight Nurse A flight nurse is a registered nurse specializing in the field of providing comprehensive pre-hospital, emergency critical care, and hospital care to a vast scope of patients. The care of these patients is generally provided during aeromedical ...

'' (1953) - Lt. Ann Phillips *'' Massacre Canyon'' (1954) - Cora *'' Magnificent Roughnecks'' (1956) - Julie *'' Mr. Adams and Eve'' (1957, Episode: "You Can't Go Home Again") - Adele *'' The Guns of Fort Petticoat'' (1957) - Mary Wheller *'' Destination 60,000'' (1957) - Ruth Buckley *''

Sweet Smell of Success ''Sweet Smell of Success'' is a 1957 American film noir Satire (film and television), satirical drama (film and television), drama film directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, and Martin Milner, ...

'' (1957) - Sally *'' My Man Godfrey'' (1957) - Molly *'' Gidget Goes Hawaiian'' (1961) - Dorothy Lawrence *'' Force of Impulse'' (1961) - Louise Reese *'' Perry Mason'' (1962-1964, TV Series) - Rose Carol *''

The Iron Maiden ''The Iron Maiden'' is a 1963 British comedy film. The film was directed by Gerald Thomas, and stars Michael Craig (actor), Michael Craig, Anne Helm, Jeff Donnell and Alan Hale Jr. There are minor roles for ''Carry On (series), Carry On'' stal ...

'' (1963; released in the U.S. as ''Swinging Maiden'') - Miriam Fisher *'' Gidget Goes to Rome'' (1963) - Mrs. Lawrence *''

The Addams Family The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...

'' (1966, TV Series) - Eleanor Digby *''

The Comic ''The Comic'' is a 1969 American Pathécolor comedy-drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Carl Reiner. It stars Dick Van Dyke as Billy Bright (which was the original title of the film), Michele Lee as Bright's love interest, and R ...

'' (1969) - Nurse *''

Tora! Tora! Tora! ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' () is a 1970 epic war film that dramatizes the events leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, from both American and Japanese positions. The film was produced by Elmo Williams and directed by Richard F ...

'' (1970) - Cornelia Fort, a flying instructor *'' The Jimmy Stewart Show'' (1971, TV Series) - Agatha Dwiggins *'' Stand Up and Be Counted'' (1972) - Ruth *''

Adam-12 ''Adam-12'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb and produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pe ...

'' (1973, TV Series) - Mrs James Nelson *''

Barnaby Jones ''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective fiction, detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law. They run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, Califor ...

'' (1973, Episode: "Sunday: Doomsday") - Janet Gossett *''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American superhero American comic book, comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its title character and main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of t ...

'' (1977, TV Series) -

May Parker Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...

*''

The Bob Newhart Show ''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American television sitcom produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a psychol ...

'' (1978, TV Series) - Clara Hackler ("The Little Woman") *''

'' (1979–1988, in the TV

) - Stella Fields (final appearance)

Notes

References

External links

* *
Photos of Jeff Donnell 1940s various films
by Ned Scott {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnell, Jeff 1921 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Maine American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses People from Windham, Maine RKO Pictures contract players Towson High School alumni David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni