Jean Marie "Jeff" Donnell (July 10, 1921 – April 11, 1988) was an American film and television 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 is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

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

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

''.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 High School is a high school in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, founded in 1873. The school's current stone structure was built in 1949. Located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson and serving the surrounding communities ...

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unin ...

, in 1938 and attended the Leland Powers School of Drama in Boston, Massachusetts. 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 e ...

Career

Donnell was signed to a contract by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multi ...

while she was active with the Farragut Playhouse in New Hampshire, and she made her film debut in ''

My Sister Eileen ''My Sister Eileen'' is a series of autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney, originally published in ''The New Yorker'', which eventually inspired many other works: her 1938 book ''My Sister Eileen'', a play, a musical, a radio play (an ...

'' (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, a jewel thief and safecracker in Boyle's stories, became a detective in adaptations for films, radio and television—an "enemy to those who make him ...

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, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Gold ...

on the set of the 1948

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

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 ''Gidget Goes Hawaiian'' is a 1961 American romantic comedy musical film starring James Darren, Michael Callan and Deborah Walley. Released by Columbia Pictures, the film is a sequel to the 1959 Sandra Dee beach film vehicle ''Gidget''. Dee w ...

'' and ''

Gidget Goes to Rome ''Gidget Goes to Rome'' is a 1963 Columbia Pictures Eastmancolor feature film starring Cindy Carol as the archetypal high school teen surfer girl originally portrayed by Sandra Dee in the 1959 film ''Gidget''. The film is the third of three Gidg ...

'') and Columbia's TV subsidiary

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

(she played Hannah Marshall in the ''

Gidget Gidget () is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner (based on his teenaged daughter, Kathy) in his 1957 novel, ''Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas''. The novel follows the adventures of a teenaged girl and her surfing fr ...

'' television series, and portrayed Mrs. Bennett in the TV series ''

Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e ...

''). 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-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, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' General Hospital'', from 1979 to 1988. In a Lonely Place - trailer - 06

Her other notable appearances in movies and television include: *''

'' (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 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in ...

'' (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 ''Dancing in Manhattan'' is a 1944 American film directed by Henry Levin. It was originally called ''Tonight We Dance''.FILMLAND BRIEFS Los Angeles Times4 Nov 1944: 5. Plot A garbage truck driver, Eddie Martin (Fred Brady) from Manhattan finds ...

'' (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 ''Over 21'' is a 1945 American comedy film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Irene Dunne, Alexander Knox and Charles Coburn. Plot At the New York Bulletin newspaper, its owner, Robert Drexel Gow ( Charles Coburn), receives a teletype sto ...

'' (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 h ...

'' (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'' (1949) - April Shaughnessy *'' Easy Living'' (1949) - Penny McCarr *''

In a Lonely Place ''In a Lonely Place'' is a 1950 American film noir directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, produced for Bogart's Santana Productions. The script was written by Andrew P. Solt from Edmund H. North's adaptation o ...

'' (1950) - Sylvia Nicolai *''

Hoedown A hoedown is a type of American folk dance or square dance in duple meter, and also the musical form associated with it. Overview The most popular sense of the term is associated with Americans in rural or southeastern parts of the country, par ...

'' (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. The film features a generous use of stock footage from such films as ''Joan of Arc''. The film, produced by Sam Katzman, was ...

'' (1952) - Sheherazade *'' Skirts Ahoy!'' (1952) - Lt. Giff *''

Because You're Mine ''Because You're Mine'' is a 1952 musical comedy film starring Mario Lanza. Directed by Alexander Hall, the film also stars Doretta Morrow, James Whitmore, and Dean Miller. Plot Opera singer superstar Renato Rossano (Mario Lanza) is drafted i ...

'' (1952) - Patty Ware *''

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

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

Flight Nurse A flight nurse is a registered nurse who specialises 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 during aeromedical evacua ...

'' (1953) - Lt. Ann Phillips *''

Massacre Canyon The Massacre Canyon battle took place in Nebraska on August 5, 1873 near the Republican River. It was one of the last hostilities between the Pawnee and the Sioux (or Lakota) and the last battle/massacre between Great Plains Indians in North Ame ...

'' (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 ''Destination 60,000'' (aka ''Jet'') is a 65-minute 1957 drama film, directed by George Waggner and produced by the Allied Artists Pictures . The film stars Preston Foster, Pat Conway and Jeff Donnell. ''Destination 60,000'' depicts the life o ...

'' (1957) - Ruth Buckley *''

Sweet Smell of Success ''Sweet Smell of Success'' is a 1957 American film noir drama film directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, and Martin Milner, and written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman, and Mackendrick from ...

'' (1957) - Sally *''

My Man Godfrey ''My Man Godfrey'' is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava and starring William Powell and Carole Lombard, who had been briefly married years before appearing together in the film. The screenplay for ''My Man Godfr ...

'' (1957) - Molly *''

'' (1961) - Dorothy Lawrence *'' Force of Impulse'' (1961) - Louise Reese *''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

'' (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, Anne Helm, Jeff Donnell and Alan Hale, Jr. There are minor roles for '' Carry On'' stalwarts Jim Dale and Joan Sims, and the ...

'' (1963; released in the U.S. as ''Swinging Maiden'') - Miriam Fisher *''

'' (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 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...

'' (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, an ...

'' (1969) - Nurse *''

Tora! Tora! Tora! ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' ( ja, トラ・トラ・トラ！) is a 1970 epic war film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The film was produced by Elmo Williams and directed by Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masuda and Kinji Fuk ...

'' (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 television police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they patrol the stre ...

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

Barnaby Jones ''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law, who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was or ...

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

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...

'' (1977, TV Series) -

Aunt 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 sitcom television series 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 ...

'' (1978, TV Series) - Clara Hackler ("The Little Woman") *'' General Hospital'' (1979–1988, in the TV

) - Stella Fields (final appearance)

Personal life

Donnell's first marriage was in 1940 to William "Bill" Anderson, who was her teacher at the Leland Powers Dramatic School. She had her only children with him, Michael Phineas (b. 1942) and Sarah Jane (b. 1948), before their divorce in 1953.

Death

Donnell died of a heart attack on April 11, 1988, aged 66. Her sudden absence from ''General Hospital'' was explained away by the writers as her character having won the lottery and quit her job.

Notes

References

External links

* *
Photos of Jeff Donnell 1940s various films
by

Ned Scott Ned Scott (April 16, 1907 – November 24, 1964) was an American photographer who worked in the Hollywood film industry as a still photographer from 1935–1948. As a member of the Camera Club of New York from 1930–34, he was heavily influen ...

{{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 Yale School of Drama alumni