Shelley Fabares’s family has confirmed the cause of her death five days after the actor passed away at the age of 82. Fabares, best known in the US for The Donna Reed Show and Coach, died of pneumonia, her family told People magazine. She died on 22 August in Los Angeles, surrounded by loved ones, the family said in a statement.
The actor had previously been diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, a condition in which the immune system attacks cells in the liver, and had undergone a liver transplant in 2000. Fabares’s family announced her death on 23 August. Her first television credit came at age 10 when she appeared on The Loretta Young Show and rose to fame as Mary Stone on The Donna Reed Show, appearing in nearly 200 episodes of the sitcom.
The role helped launch an unexpectedly successful second career, as Fabares recorded “Johnny Angel”, which was featured on The Donna Reed Show before becoming a hit in its own right. The song hit No 1 on the US Hot 100 in April 1962, remaining at the top for two weeks, and reached No 41 on the UK singles chart. In the 1960s, she appeared opposite Elvis Presley in three films – Girl Happy in 1965, Spinout in 1966, and Clambake in 1967.
She continued working extensively in television, appearing in series including The Twilight Zone, The Incredible Hulk, Fantasy Island, Mork & Mindy, The Love Boat, Newhart, and One Day at a Time. She also played the wife of Brian Piccolo in the acclaimed 1971 television film Brian’s Song. New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial.
Plan auto-renews until cancelled. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. It was her later role in Coach that introduced Fabares to another generation of American TV viewers.
She played Christine Armstrong, a reporter who became the wife of Craig Nelson’s character, Hayden Fox, on the ABC sitcom. The series ran for nine seasons until 1997 and Fabares received two Primetime Emmy nominations for her performance as Christine. Fabares first married producer Lou Adler in 1964 and then M*A*S*H actor Mike Farrell in 1984.
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