Biography
Jean Marie "Jeff" Donnell (July 10, 1921 — April 11, 1988) was an American film and television actress. She grew up in South Windham, Maine. As a child, she adopted the nickname "Jeff" after the character in her favorite comic strip, Mutt and Jeff. Donnell graduated from Towson High School, Towson, Maryland, in 1938 and attended the Leland Powers School of Drama in Boston, Massachusetts. Later, she studied at the Yale School of Drama. She was signed to a contract by Columbia Pictures in 1942 and made her film debut in My Sister Eileen. She later had roles in some RKO films. She was not a major star, but she did have a lengthy film and television career in various supporting roles, including the role of Gidget's mother, "Dorothy Lawrence", opposite Carl Reiner in the 1961 movie Gidget Goes Hawaiian. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jeff Donnell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Acted in 106
1970s
- 1979
Murder by Natural Causes
Mrs. Mathews
- 1977
- 1976
Gibbsville
TV
McNaughton's Daughter
Mrs. Wilson · 3 episodes
- 1975
- 1974
Paper Moon
Mrs. Carson · 1 episode
- 1973
The Girl with Something Extra
TV
A Gift of Terror
Mrs. Cummings
Here We Go Again
Aunt Patti · 1 episode
- 1972
The ABC Afternoon Playbreak
Mrs. Cummings · 1 episode
Stand Up and Be Counted
Ruth
Me and the Chimp
TV
- 1971
Congratulations, It's a Boy!
Rose
Love Hate Love
Mary Blunden
- 1970
1960s
- 1969
The Comic
Nurse
- 1968
- 1967
- 1966
- 1965
- 1964
Bristle Face
Mrs. Jarkey
- 1963
Gidget Goes to Rome
Mrs. Lawrence
The Iron Maiden
Miriam Fisher
- 1961
Force of Impulse
Louise Reese
Gidget Goes Hawaiian
Dorothy Lawrence
- 1960
Special for Women
The Career Woman · 1 episode
1950s
- 1959
- 1957
The Guns of Fort Petticoat
Mary Wheller
- 1956
Sincerely, Willis Wade
Sylvia
Magnificent Roughnecks
Julie
- 1955
- 1954
Meet the O'Briens
Nancy
Massacre Canyon
Cora
- 1953
Flight Nurse
Lt. Ann Phillips
So This Is Love
Henrietta Van Dyke
- 1952
Because You're Mine
Patty Ware
Skirts Ahoy!
Giff
Thief of Damascus
Sheherazade
The First Time
Donna Gilbert
- 1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Pug, Marlene · 1 episode
- 1950
Redwood Forest Trail
Julie Wescott
The Fuller Brush Girl
Jane Bixby
Big Timber
Sally
Hoedown
Vera Wright
1940s
- 1949
Easy Living
Penny McCarr
Post Office Investigator
April Shaughnessy
Outcasts of the Trail
Vinnie White
Stagecoach Kid
Jessie Arnold
- 1947
- 1946
Singing on the Trail
Cindy Brown
Cowboy Blues
Susan Nelson
That Texas Jamboree
Jean Warren
The Phantom Thief
Anne Parks Duncan
Night Editor
Martha Cochrane
Throw a Saddle on a Star
Judy Lane
Tars and Spars
Peggy McDougal
- 1945
Song of the Prairie
Penelope 'Penny' Stevens
Over 21
Jan Lupton
The Power of the Whistler
Frances 'Francie' Lane
Eadie Was a Lady
Pamela 'Pepper' Parker
- 1944
Carolina Blues
Charlotte Barton
Dancing in Manhattan
Julie Connors
3 Is a Family
Hazel Whittaker
Mr. Winkle Goes to War
Movie
She's a Soldier Too
Mary Fleming (uncredited)
Stars on Parade
Mary Brooks
- 1943
There's Something About a Soldier
Jean Burton
Doughboys in Ireland
Molly Callahan
- 1942
A Night to Remember
Anne Carstairs
The Boogie Man Will Get You
Winnie Slade
My Sister Eileen
Helen Loomis
