Shelley Fabares, the actor who spent decades as a television fixture from The Donna Reed Show in her youth to One Day at a Time and Coach, has died aged 82. She passed away on Saturday in Los Angeles, her family said in a statement to The . No cause of death was given.
Her first television credit came at age 10 when she appeared on The Loretta Young Show. Many movies and television shows followed. She acted with Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra and Eva Marie Saint in a Producers Showcase production of Our Town; was in the Rosalind Russell movie The Girl Rush and the Rock Hudson drama Never Say Goodbye.
Other early credits include Annette, Captain Midnight and the “Black Leather Jackets” episode of The Twilight Zone. Her biggest break came when she was cast as Mary Stone on The Donna Reed Show, where she was a regular from 1958 through 1963. During that time she also got a recording contract and had two Top 40 hits including “Johnny Angel.” New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial.
Plan auto-renews until cancelled. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. In the early 1960s, she also co-starred in three movies with Elvis Presley: Girl Happy, Spinout and Clambake.
I am not trying to make her sound like a saint, but she had the most profound influence on me. I carry her with me today.” In the late 1970s, Fabares made an impression as Francine Webster on the CBS sitcom One Day at a Time. She also played James Caan’s wife in Brian’s Song.
One of her biggest roles came when she was cast as Christine Armstrong in Coach, although the show took a minute to find its audience. Fabares married twice, first to producer Lou Adler in 1964. She had been married to M*A*S*H actor Mike Farrell since 1984.
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