Jeff Donnell

Infobox Actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Jeff Donnell


imagesize =
caption =
birthdate = birth date|1921|7|10|mf=y
location = Windham, Maine, U.S.
deathdate = death date and age|1988|4|11|1921|7|10
deathplace = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
birthname = Jean Marie Donnell
yearsactive = 1942 - 1988
spouse = William Anderson (1940-1953)
Aldo Ray (1954-1956)
John Bricker (1958-1963)
Radcliffe Bealey (1974-1975)
children = Michael Phineas (b.1942)
Sarah Jane (b.1948)
parents=Harold and Mildred Donnell
notable role =
academyawards =

Jeff Donnell (July 10, 1921 – April 11, 1988) was an American film and television actress. Born Jean Marie Donnell, she grew up at an all-male reformatory in South Windham, Maine. As a child, she adopted the nickname Jeff after the character in her favorite comic strip, "Mutt and Jeff". [http://characteractors.tribe.net/thread/a6b71ac3-7708-4a3e-a81c-739319340119 Wade Ballard, "The Jeff Donnell Story"] ]

Donnell graduated from Towson High School, Towson, Maryland, in 1938 and attended the Leland Powers Drama School in Boston, Massachusetts. Later, she studied at the Yale School of Drama. She was signed to a contract by Columbia Pictures in 1942 and later had roles in some RKO films.

She was not a major star, but she did have a lengthy film and television career in various supporting roles, including the role of Gidget's mother, "Dorothy Lawrence", opposite Carl Reiner in the 1961 movie "Gidget Goes Hawaiian".

Her other notable appearances in movies and television include:

* "Winnie Slade" in "The Boogie Man Will Get You" (1942)
* "Doughboys in Ireland" (1943)
* "Butch" in "Nine Girls" (1944)
* "Sylvia Nicolai" in "In a Lonely Place" (1950)
* "Alice Gobel" in the George Gobel TV show (1954-1958)
* "Miriam Fisher" in "The Iron Maiden" (1962; released in the U.S. as "Swinging Maiden")
* "Cornelia", an instructor pilot in "Tora, Tora, Tora" (1970)
* "Stella Fields" in the TV soap opera "General Hospital" (1980-1988)

Jean "Jeff" Donnell died of a heart attack on April 11, 1988. Her sudden absence from "General Hospital", on which she had a recurring role as the Quartermaines' housekeeper at the time of her death, was explained by the writers as her having won the lottery and quit her job.

References

External links

*imdb name|0232655

Persondata
NAME= Donnell, Jeff
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Donnell, Jean Marie
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= 1921-7-10
PLACE OF BIRTH= Windham, Maine, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH= 1988-4-11
PLACE OF DEATH= Los Angeles, California, U.S.