Donna Mills

Donna Mills (born Donna Jean Miller on December 11, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actress whose career spans more than five decades, beginning with a daytime role on The Secret Storm in 1966 and quickly expanding to Broadway, film, and prime‑time television. After graduating briefly from the University of Illinois Urbana‑Champag​e and abandoning her studies to pursue dancing, she landed her first professional part in Come Blow Your Horn at Chicago’s Drury Lane, followed by a touring production of My Fair Lady that brought her to New York. Her early screen work included a supporting turn in the neo‑noir The Incident (1967) and a three‑year stint as Laura Donnelly on the soap Love Is a Many Splended Thing (1967‑1970), after which she moved west and appeared in a Western episode of Lancer. The 1971 thriller Play Misty for Me opposite Clint Eastwood gave her national exposure, and throughout the 1970s she became a prolific guest star on series such as Gunsmoke, The Six Million Dollar Man, Hawaii Five‑O, and Fantasy Island, while also leading numerous televised movies like The Bait and Beyond the Bermuda Triangle. In 1980 Mills was cast as the scheming Abby Cunningham on the prime‑time soap Knots Landing, a role that defined her public image and earned her three Soap Opera Digest Awards for Outstanding Villainess (1986, 1988, 1989). She remained on the series until 1989, returning for its finale and later reunions. The 1990s saw her transition to production with Donna Mills Productions, creating titles such as The World’s Oldest Living Bridesmaid (1990) and An Element of Truth (1995). After a brief period of semi‑retirement, she re‑entered daytime television as Madeline Reeves on General Hospital (2014‑2018), winning a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Special Guest Performer. Recent work includes roles in Jordan Peele’s Nope (2022), the Lifetime limited series V.C. Andrews’ Dawn (2023), and the Ava DuVernay biopic Origin (2023). Despite never marrying, Mills has maintained long‑term partnerships, most notably with advertising executive Richard Holland (1979‑1999) and, since 2001, with Larry Gilman. In 1994 she adopted her daughter Chloe, and she continues to act, produce, and engage in charitable activities, cementing her status as a versatile and enduring figure in American entertainment.