Biography for
Donna Mills More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

11 December 1940, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Birth Name

Donna Jean Miller

Height

5' 4" (1.63 m)

Mini Biography

Donna Mills was born in 1940 as Donna Jean Miller, and grew up in Chicago. After graduating from Taft High School, she attended the University of Illinois, where she completed one year of studies before dropping out to pursue a career as an actress and dancer. In the late 1950s she gained some stage experience by appearing in several productions at the Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago. She was cast in a touring production of "My Fair Lady," which brought her to New York. There she began her television career on the daytime soap opera "The Secret Storm" (1954), and made her film debut in The Incident (1967). She was also a cast member of the daytime soap "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" (1967) for the first three years of its run during 1967-70. In 1971 she co-starred with Clint Eastwood in the thriller Play Misty for Me (1971), which has remained her last film on the big screen to date. For the rest of the decade, she had guest roles on many top-rated shows and starred in a bevy of made-for-TV flicks. In 1980, she joined the cast of the primetime soap "Knots Landing" (1979); as Abby Cunningham, she made the show her own and was a regular for nine years. She returned in 1993 for the series finale and later appeared in a 1997 reunion special. Since then, she has continued to headline numerous television films and make occasional guest spots on TV shows. The always glamorous and still-stunning actress has never married; at age 55 she adopted a daughter named Chloe, with whom she currently resides in Los Angeles.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Trivia

Adopted daughter Chloe [1995]

In a long-time relationship with Richard Holland.

Devoted member of Eco, an environmental group

Diagnosed with Arthritis. Spokeswoman for B.E.A.T., an arthritis awareness group [2000]

Her idol when she was young was Jane Wyman, the same idol as her future "Knots Landing" (1979) co-star, Joan Van Ark.

Personal Quotes

[Who created her character that became part of prime-time soap history]: Having created her and played her all this time, there's a great deal of me in Abby, and a lot of her has crept into me. I think some of the ambition and some of the guts that she has as a character I've kind of taken on. She helped me in a lot of ways.

I played so many of those. That's the reason I like to play Abby. I got tired of playing the victim. You're constantly reacting to things that are happening to you rather than making things that are happening to you rather than making things happen. It's a more active role. Abby keeps things stirred up, and I like that.

[About "Knots Landing" (1979)]: People don't tune in Knots Landing to see our gowns and jewelry. By and large our acting is overlooked because of the machinations of the plot. I have to be on guard all the time to keep Abby fresh and interesting.

[Of the way Aussie people were very friendly]: I was really amazed that everybody in the town knew me. They have one television station and 'Knots' was on it.

Comedy is what I want to do now.

[on Jane Wyman] Jane was an inspiration to all and had the most amazing spirit-American icon!