Donna Mills of “Knots Landing” fame on her career, motherhood, aging and the hope that Woody will call

By Sandi Berg * Photos by chezarayphotography.com

It was 1966, and while the country was in the throes of demonstrations to protest the Vietnam War, Americans were introduced to a strikingly beautiful young actress by the name of Donna Mills as she made her television debut on the CBS daytime drama “The Secret Storm.”

Landing the role was a part of the plan that had been conceived by Mills when, at the age of five, she made the decision to be a professional performer – specifically a dancer. As the years went by, she stuck to her plan, dropping out of college after only a year to pursue her dream. She soon landed her first acting job in her hometown of Chicago, at the Drury Lane Theatre, appearing in Neil Simon’s “Come Blow Your Horn.” Enamored with the laughter of the audience, Mills became hooked on acting and took off for New York to pursue her career.

After her stint on “The Secret Storm,” Mills made her Broadway debut with a small role in “Don’t Drink the Water,” a play written and directed by an up-and-coming writer and comedian by the name of Woody Allen. “It was the original production of 'Don’t Drink the Water' and I was just grateful to have survived the many cuts that occurred with cast members,” Mills said. “I also loved working with Woody. He was a very ‘nose to the grindstone’ type – doing rewrites all the time. I would love to have the opportunity to work with him again.”

By the time “Don’t Drink the Water” closed, her television and stage work had helped her beef up enough of a resume to land a co-starring role in a new high-profile daytime soap, “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing.” While she may have been hired for her beauty, it was quickly evident that Mills was also a savvy businesswoman. The deal she struck called for the network to cast her in guest-starring roles on their various primetime series. That meant regular flights back and forth from New York to Los Angeles – where she ultimately hoped to live.

That hope became a reality after she appeared in a 1970 episode of “Dan August” starring Burt Reynolds. According to Mills, it was fate, along with a little help from Reynolds, that would change her life. “Burt and Clint (Eastwood) were friends,” she said. “They ran into each other at a bar one night and Clint said: ‘I’m looking for a girl for this new movie I’m doing – I can’t find anybody I like. I’ve seen so many women.’ Burt said: ‘I just worked with this girl from New York – maybe you’d like her.’ He showed him the dailies and Clint hired me. I got a call from my agent who told me I got (a part) in this movie with Clint Eastwood. I thought: ‘How did I do that? I’d never met him. I’ve never auditioned.’”

After it was explained that Reynolds had suggested her, Mills had little time to think about anything other than finishing her work on “Love Is a May Splendored Thing” in New York on a Friday and being in California by Monday morning to begin work on the Eastwood film. She accomplished both with aplomb and, by Monday afternoon, had already had her first scenes captured on celluloid in “Play Misty for Me,” the film that not only starred Eastwood, but also marked his directorial debut.

The film, which went on to become a huge success, enabled Mills to relinquish her work on the soaps and make her hoped-for move to Los Angeles. She recalls that it all happened so fast, she had overlooked one small detail – she had nowhere to live. That problem was quickly solved when Jessica Walter, who played her nemesis in “Play Misty For Me,” invited her to be a house guest.

Soon after her arrival in Hollywood, Mills was offered a role in a television series starring opposite Larry Hagman called “The Good Life.” She recalled the show, which ran for two seasons, to be “a joyous time,” adding that she adored working with Hagman.

Throughout the 1970s, Mills made dozens of guest-starring appearances in some of the era’s most-popular television series. Those guesting roles ended in 1980 when she was cast as the Cunning Abby Ewing in a spinoff of “Dallas” called “Knots Landing” – a show that would run for 14 seasons and return in 1997 as a reunion miniseries, “Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-sac.”

According to Mills, the popularity of “Knots Landing” had a lot to do with the way it was embraced, not just by viewers, but by the cast members themselves. “Each actor cared so much about their character,” she recalled. “In the beginning, we used to do a thing that very few shows ever do – during lunch, we would all meet in the producer’s office with the writers and read the next week's script out loud. Then we were given the opportunity to talk to the writers and say: ‘I don’t like that’ or ‘This is great – let’s go more with this.’ We had real input, and everyone worked well together.”

While “Knots Landing” ran for 14 years, diehard fans know that Mills only appeared in the first nine seasons. “One day, the writers said to me: ‘We don’t know what to do with Abby anymore,’” Mills remembers. “I knew that (was) the time for me to go.”

Rather than watch her character flounder, Mills felt it best to make her exit, a decision that was perhaps easier to make because she had deals in place at ABC and CBS and knew she was in a good place to parlay her departure from the popular series into something new and exciting. Ever the businesswoman, Mills went on to produce several television movies including “My Name Is Kate,” which told the tale of a woman’s struggle with alcoholism, and “The World’s Oldest Living Bridesmaid,” which she feels still has relevance today.

Today, 46 years after first appearing on “The Secret Strom,” Mills, who is as strikingly beautiful as she was when Americans got their first glimpse of her, recently invited “Life After 50” to spend a morning with her in her Los Angeles home. Built in 1938 by legendary film set designer Stephen Goosson, winner of an Oscar for his work in Frank Capra’s “Lost Horizon,” the gorgeous 5,000-square-foot home, redesigned and decorated by Mills, is filled with beautiful family photos, antiques and eclectic art. The house and garden sit on over an acre, and Mills has the distinction of having a clay tennis court that has become the envy of some of Hollywood’s biggest names (Conan O’Brien borrows it for his tennis lessons).

Relaxing in her favorite part of the house – the combined kitchen and family room – Mills’ persona is that of a fiercely independent woman (she even had the moxie to beat Princess Grace of Monaco when the two met in a tennis match). She has no qualms about the fact she’s never been married and projects an aura of comfortable confidence that says: “I’ve done it all – on my own terms.” Remaining single was a conscious choice she said. “I just didn’t see any reason to (get married) and I think I would have been divorced by now had I gotten married,” she opined.

The mother of a beautiful 17-year-old adopted daughter, Chloe, Mills said she is pleased she waited until later in life to become a mother. “It’s as though (bringing a child into my life) was meant to happen when it did,” she said. “I’ve done it kind of backwards, but for me, it’s been really wonderful and I was glad I waited because, early on in my career, I was very driven and I wouldn’t have had the patience. When I did it, I was really ready. I didn’t want to hand my daughter over to a nanny. I became a mother to experience motherhood – to instill confidence and self-belief in my daughter – to teach her that she can do it all on her own.”

Although she is no longer working steadily as an actress, Mills, who will turn 72 this year, said retirement is not a concept she understands. When asked if she has adopted any philosophy on aging, she laughed. “I can’t believe I’m as old as I am, because I don’t feel like it. There are certain things that feel a little bit different than when I was 20 – but not a whole lot.”

Self-deprecating when the conversation turned to the beauty and figure she has retained into her eighth decade, Mills said she is a believer that looking good comes from feeling good. “I have never had a weight problem, but have always been conscious of what I eat,” she explained. “I try to stay away from starches and sugar. Back when I was doing ‘Knots,’ I made the decision to eat no pasta, no bread and no sugar. Today, I’m not quite as strict about it all, but I still adhere to that kind of thing, because the minute I put on a few pounds, I don’t feel good.”

Mills religiously works out every day – “not just three times a week,” she stresses, and is of the belief that people’s bodies break down if they don’t work out or do some form of regular exercise. Her favorite activity is tennis, and her aforementioned court was recently called “one of the best private home courts” by the “Hollywood Reporter.” Along with her court, she also has a small gym in her house where she lifts weights, does various stretches and, due to a knee injury, uses an exercise bike “to make sure the thighs are holding the knee up.”

While she did recently appear in a cameo role in ABC’s now-defunct comedy series, “GCB,” Mills said that today, rather than focusing on career, she is now doing “mom-things” like researching colleges. She is also actively involved with environmental groups such as Heal the Bay, Environment America and Green Youth Movement, a group in which her daughter serves as president. Stating that she will soon be an empty-nester as Chloe goes off to school, Mills said it is highly unlikely she’ll ever be bored. She has plans to travel with her boyfriend, do a new addition to her home and, of course, play a lot of tennis.

Asked if she would consider putting the traveling, remodeling and tennis plans on hold if another television series came along, Mills said she wouldn’t rule anything out, but would not be interested in the demands of a leading role. “However,” she said with a gleam in her eye and a playful smile, “if he reads this, there’s always the chance Woody will call.”

Sandi Berg has worked in both film and television and is a regular contributor to “Life After 50” and a frequent contributor to "Written By," the Writers Guild of America's magazine.

Source: http://lifeafter50.com/news/2012/jul/12/meet-ms-mills/

Défilé Go Red For Women -Association Américaine pour le pour cœur.(JVA avait défilé l'année dernière).Donna porte une robe du créateur Mark Zunino.

Donna Mills à Central Park.

Le 7 février au gala Steve Chase

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Donna donne un bain de jus de tomates à son chien,après qu'il ait reçu un jet  de sconse. .(du moins,c'est ce que j'ai compris!).Giving Winny a tomato juice bath after he got skunked!

Magnifique photo prise par le photographe François-Xavier Noah.

Noël  chez Donna:l'actrice pose aux côtés du photographe François -Xavier Noah.

Comme Donna Mills l'a déjà  dit,elle a l'habitude de se maquiller elle-même lors des tournages.La preuve par l'image.

Photos de plusieurs émissions ''The Queen of Drama."

Crystal Hunt, Lindsay Hartley, Donna Mills, Vanessa Marcil, Chrystee Pharris.

Donna 50 cent and Chrystee Pharris

Donna et Joan Collins

Voici quelques photos de la belle Donna Mills.