Born Donna Belle Mullenger in Denison, IA. Wholesome leading lady of Hollywood films of the 40s and 50s. Raised on a farm, she was chosen beauty queen of her hometown high school and later elected Campus Queen at Los Angeles City College, where she participated in school dramatics. She was signed by MGM in 1941 and for several years played small roles in minor films, at first under the name Donna Adams, before maturing into a leading lady in the mid-40s. Perhaps her most memorable role during that period was as James Stewart's wife, Mary, in Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946). In 1951 she moved over to Columbia, where her second husband, Tony Owen, a former journalist and talent agent, worked as an executive assistant to Harry Cohn. Here as at MGM she continued playing sincere, wholesome types. The one exception to her typecasting was the role of Alma, the prostitute in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953), for which she received an Academy Award as best supporting actress. Despite the Oscar®, her career declined for lack of rewarding roles and she retired from the screen in 1958 to star on TV in her own long-running series "The Donna Reed Show" (1958-1966). She returned to the big screen in 1974, but her appearances were rare. Visit the Internet Movie Database for a full listing of her film and TV credits.  Supporting Actress 1953: FROM HERE TO ETERNITY 1 nomination, 1 Award