Actress Donna Reed had a career that lasted more than forty years. She played a lead role in the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life and was awarded an Oscar for her performance in the World War II drama From Here to Eternity. But for a certain generation, she is perhaps best known for The Donna Reed Show. It was televised on ABC for eight seasons beginning in 1958.
The program was a sitcom that revolved around Donna Reed, cast as mother and housewife in the Stone family. Reed’s character was the quintessential middle-class American homemaker. Episodes followed the Stones through the ups and downs of family life. They were possibly the most wholesome family on TV at the time.
See scripts from The Donna Reed Show in the Harry S. Ackerman papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.
For more information, visit the American Heritage Center site.