Jeff Donnell


Jean Marie "Jeff" Donnell was an American film and television actress.

Early years

Donnell was born in South Windham, Maine, to Harold and Mildred Donnell, when her father was superintendent at a boys' reformatory in that town. As a child, she adopted the nickname "Jeff" after the character in her favorite comic strip, Mutt and Jeff. To avoid gender confusion, she was sometimes billed as " Jeff Donnell."
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.

Career

Donnell was signed to a contract by Columbia Pictures while she was active with the Farragut Playhouse in New Hampshire, and she 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 in Gidget Goes Hawaiian and Gidget Goes to Rome. She also played Hannah Marshall in the Gidget television series. She portrayed Mrs. Bennett in the TV series Julia, and in 1966 she made five appearances on Dr. Kildare as Evelyn Driscoll.
For three seasons, she portrayed George Gobel's wife, Alice, in The George Gobel Show on NBC-TV, and she played Ethel on the Matt Helm TV series.
in In a Lonely Place
Her other notable appearances in movies and television include:
Donnell's first marriage was in 1940 to William "Bill" Anderson, who was her teacher at the Leland Powers Dramatic School. She had her only children with him, Michael Phineas and Sarah Jane, before their divorce in 1953.

Death

Donnell died of a heart attack on April 11, 1988, aged 66. Her sudden absence from General Hospital, on which she had a recurring role as the Quartermaines' housekeeper at the time of her death, was explained away by the writers as her character having won the lottery and quit her job.