One cannot help but say Donna Mills and Legend in the same breath. Born Donna Jean Mills, she is an American actress who had started her career in TV in a recurring role on a series called The Secret Storm in 1966 and has subsequently worked for the likes of Woody Allen and Clint Eastwood.
Mills was never married. She was in an on-and-off relationship with executive Richard Holland. Since 2001, she has been with Larry Gillman. She has an adoptive daughter named Chloe whom she adopted as a newborn in 1994. Mills also appeared on the October 1987 as well as the November 1989 editions of the popular magazine Playboy. Outside of acting, Mills is also an entrepreneur. She released an instructional video called The Eyes Have It in 1986 and launched a make-up line with the same name.
What was Donna Mills’ early life like?
Mills was born on 11th December 1940 in Chicago, Illinois. A young Donna attended the Garvy Elementary School and Taft High School. She graduated from Taft early after she received a double promotion at Garvy. She also attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Campaign and was a member of the Delta Gamma Sorority while she was still there.
After completing a year’s worth of coursework, Mills left pursue a career in dancing and danced in the summer stock productions. One of her first professional acting roles came in the form of production at the Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago called Come Blow Your Horn. Mills was later cast in a production of My Fair Lady which eventually led her to New York City.
How did Donna Mills’ career evolve over the years?
In 1966, Mills was offered a 6-month recurring stint on CBS’ The Secret Storm where she played a character named Rocket. She made her debut in films with the 1967 release The Incident. She was also a part of Woody Allen’s Broadway comedy Don’t Drink the Water where she portrayed the character of Sultan Bashir’s Wife.
In 1967, she was cast as a regular in Love is a Many Splendored Thing to play an ex-nun. In 1970, she relocated to the West coast and made her primetime TV debut in Lancer. In 1971 she had an opportunity to star with Clint Eastwood and Jessica Walter in a thriller titled Play Misty for Me. From 1971-71, Mills starred in a short-lived sitcom titled The Good Life.
She was on several top-rated shows in the 70s like Hawaii Five-O, The Six Million Dollar Man, the Love Boat, The F.B.I, CHiPS, the UK’S Thriller series, Quincy, M.E., Fantasy Island, and Police Woman. She also starred in a number of made-for-TV movies. In 1972, she signed a contract with Universal Studios.
How did Knots Landing change Donna Mills’ career graph?
In 1980, Mills landed her most career-defining role as the sly Abby Cunningham on a long-running primetime soap opera titled Knots Landing. Prior to starring in the said soap opera, Donna was known to play the damsel in distress characters. However, she did a full 180-degree turn as this manipulative siren that was far from a damsel that needed rescuing. She was initially not chosen for the part since Mills had always played the archetype victim in her previous works therefore it was quite a miracle how this worked out in her favor. The Biography Channel’s Josh Mapes ranked in her the category of ’10 Primetime Stars We Love to Hate’.
Mills’ turn as a villain became a highlight of the show and while it is true that audiences resonate the most with protagonists, Mills became one such villain that gave the show its spark and spunk. She returned as the villainous vamp in its spinoff, having an affair with two married men as her purpose was only to get her hands on the money and not really to chase after love.
In 1989, Mills decided to take a short break from acting and from her character as Abby citing that her character was becoming soft and she missed the spunk the old villain had. Her role as Abby had gotten her 3 Soap Opera Digest Awards in the Outstanding Villainess category in the years 1986, 1988, and finally in 1989.
What was Donna Mills’ work portfolio like after Knots Landing?
After Knots Landing, Mills devoted her energy to television movies, co-producing 4 of them namely The World’s Oldest Living Bridesmaid (released in 1990), Runaway Father (released in 1991), In My Daughter’s Name (released in 1992), and My Name is Kate (released in 1994). Mills had some roles on TV including featuring in a reunion episode of Knots Landing titled Knots Landing Reunion:
Together Again in 2005. In 2014, she returned to primetime in a guest role in ABC’s General Hospital and won a Primetime Emmy in the Outstanding Guest Performer category. She has further featured in films like Joy (released in 2015), Best Mom (released in 2018), Turnover (released in 2019), and A Beauty and Beast Christmas (released in 2019). In 2022, Mills starred in a horror movie titled Nope for which she received an award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
What is Donna Mills’ net worth?
With a career in films that has extended over 3 decades and a make-up line of her own, it is natural that Mills should be rolling in riches and the evidence of it lies in her net worth that is a whopping $ 9 million including her estates.