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Shelley Fabares

American actress and singer (born 1944)

Shelley Fabares
Fabares in 1991
Born	Michele Ann Marie Fabares (1944-01-19) January 19, 1944 (age 80) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Other names	Shelly Fabares
Occupations	Actress singer
Years active	1947–2006
Spouses	Lou Adler ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1980)​ Mike Farrell ​ ​ (m. 1984)​
Relatives	Nanette Fabray (aunt)

Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (/fæˈbəˈreɪ/; born January 19, 1944) is a retired American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom The Donna Reed Show (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom Coach (1989–1997), the latter of which earned her two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations. Her film roles include playing the leading lady to Elvis PresleyinGirl Happy, Spinout and Clambake.

In 1962, her recording of "Johnny Angel" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Fabares was born in Santa Monica, California on January 19, 1944.^[1] She is the niece of actress Nanette Fabray (née Fabares).^[2] She graduated from North Hollywood High School in 1961.^[3]

Career[edit]

Early TV appearances[edit]

Fabares's acting debut was at the age of 3. At the age of 10, she made her first appearance on television in an episode of Letter to Loretta, "The Clara Schuman Story" (1954).^[4][5]

Early TV appearances included the Producers' Showcase adaptation of Our Town starring Frank Sinatra and Paul Newman.^[6] She was Young Cathy in a Matinee Theatre adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

Fabares had small parts in The Girl Rush (1955), Never Say Goodbye (1956), The Bad Seed (1956), Rock, Pretty Baby! (1956), Jeanne Eagels (1957), Marjorie Morningstar (1958), and Summer Love (1958).

On TV she was in Captain Midnight, Annie Oakley, Fury, and Colgate Theatre.^[7]

She portrayed Moselle Corey on Annette (1958) starring Annette Funicello.^[8]

She guest starred on Mr. Novak, The Eleventh Hour, Arrest and Trial, and The Twilight Zone ("Black Leather Jackets").^[9][10]

The Donna Reed Show[edit]

In 1958, Fabares landed the role of Mary Stone in the long-running family sitcom The Donna Reed Show. This ran until 1966. Fabares quickly established herself as a favorite with teen audiences.^[11][10]

"Donna Reed was simply an extraordinary woman, a woman of great strength, kindness, integrity and compassion," said Fabares later of her television mother.^[12]

Singer[edit]

Fabares' national popularity led to a recording contract and two "Top 40" hits, including "Johnny Angel", which went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1962, and peaked at number 41 in the UK.^[2][13] It sold over one million copies and was certified gold.^[14] She released an album, Shelley!. "I was stunned about that, to put it mildly," she later said. "After all, I never could sing."^[15]

This was followed by a second album, The Things We Did Last Summer, which included two hit songs "Johnny Loves Me" (no. 21) and "The Things We Did Last Summer" (no. 46).

In Canada she had 3 songs the Top 40 with Johnny Angel at #1 for 3 weeks, Johnny Loves Me at #24, and Ronnie, Call Me at #16 for 2 weeks.^[16][17][18]

Fabares left The Donna Reed Show in 1963 (she would return periodically until its end in 1966) to pursue other acting opportunities. She released a third album, Teenage Triangle in 1963.

Film career[edit]

Fabares was one of the female leads in the surf film Ride the Wild Surf (1964).^[10] She was Elvis Presley's leading lady in Girl Happy (1965) for MGM^[10] and played the love interest of Peter NooneofHerman's Hermits and sings Make Me Happy in Hold On! at the same studio.

MGM made a pilot for a TV series based on Meet Me in St. Louis with Fabares in the lead but no network was receptive to it.

She was reunited with Elvis for Spinout (1966) at MGM and Clambake (1967), at United Artists.^[10]

Sam Katzman cast her as the love interest of a young Hank Williams Jr.inA Time to Sing (1968).^[10]

TV guest spots[edit]

Film roles dried up in the late 1960s and Fabares went back to guest starring on shows like The Ghost & Mrs. Muir,^[19] Daniel Boone, Medical Center, Lancer, Bracken's World, and The Interns.^[20]

Fabares said she went through a period where she struggled to find work. "I went to bed on Tuesday having worked since I was 3. I got up Wednesday morning and didn't work for four years, went to bed Wednesday night after four years, got up and interviewed for a Mannix episode and started working again. I think this business is very cyclical. You go through busy times and you go through dead times."^[21]

After Mannix, she was in Longstreet, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law, Love, American Style, Rockford Files, McCloud and Cade's County.

"I wasn't a big risk-taker," she said later. "I should have been more aggressive. I was nervous and scared to try something really different."^[15]

Fabares had support roles in television film like Brian's Song (1971) (playing the wife of Brian Piccolo, played by James Caan), and Two for the Money (1972). Her performance in Brian's Song earned her a Golden Globe nomination.^[22]

The Brian Keith Show, The Practice[edit]

Fabares had a regular role on The Brian Keith Show (1972–1974), known as The Little People during its first season, which lasted for 47 episodes.^[23]

When the show ended she resumed guest shots: Police Story, Ironside, The Rockford Files, The Rookies, Matt Helm, Medical Story, Marcus Welby, M.D., Barnaby Jones, and Spencer's Pilots.

She had a role in the television film Sky Heist (1975) and from 1976 to 1977 had a regular part on The Practice with Danny Thomas.

Forever Fernwood, One Day at a Time and Highcliffe Manor[edit]

She then had a regular role on Forever Fernwood.

In 1978, Fabares played Francine Webster on the CBS sitcom One Day at a Time, a role she reprised for the last three years of the show. "I was Francine, a rather villainous character," she said later. "She was wonderful. She saw the world only through her eyes, and it never occurred to her that other people didn't."^[24]

She was also in episodes of Lucan, Vega$, The Incredible Hulk, Hello, Larry, and Fantasy Island.

Fabares was in the television film Pleasure Cove (1979), Donovan's Kid (1979), Friendships, Secrets and Lies (1979) and The Great American Traffic Jam (1980).

She had the starring role in the TV series Highcliffe Manor (1979) but it only lasted six episodes.

1980s[edit]

In the 1980s Fabares could be seen on Mork & Mindy, Matt Houston, The Love Boat, Newhart, and Murder, She Wrote.

She did a television film Memorial Day (1983) with Mike Farrell (who would later become her husband), as well as the films Suburban Beat (1985), The Canterville Ghost (1985), Hot Pursuit (1987), and Run Till You Fall (1988).

Coach[edit]

In 1989, she won the role of Christine Armstrong Fox on the ABC sitcom Coach. "Here was an intelligent, funny, well-written series," Fabares said "And the people putting it on wanted me to play a very successful, ambitious woman in it."^[15]

The series originally struggled in the ratings until it shifted to play after Roseanne. It was a hit and played until 1997.

For her work, Fabares was nominated twice for a Primetime Emmy Award,^[25] and, in 1994, she was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award for her role as Mary Stone on The Donna Reed Show.^[26]

During the series' run Fabares appeared on Love or Money (1990), Deadly Relations (1993), The Great Mom Swap (1995), and A Nightmare Come True (1997).

Later career[edit]

After Coach ended in 1997, Fabares voiced the role of Martha KentonSuperman: The Animated Series. She reprised the role twice, once in Justice League and again for the direct-to-video film Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006).

She was in Playing to Win: A Moment of Truth Movie (1998).

From 2004 to 2011 she produced the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Personal life[edit]

She was born to James Alan Fabares,(1909-1977), who was born in Algiers, New Orleans and Elsa R. Eyler, who died from Alzheimer's disease in 1992. She has an older sister Nanette ("Smokey").^[27]

In 1964, Fabares married producer Lou Adler. They separated in 1966 and divorced in 1980.^[28] Since 1984, she has been married to actor Mike Farrell.^[29]

In October 2000, Fabares received a liver transplant after being diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis.^[30][31]

Filmography[edit]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

• Shelley! -- Colpix CP-426 (Mono)/SCP-426 (Stereo) -- #106, 7/62^[32]
• The Things We Did Last Summer—Colpix CP-431/SCP-431 -- #121, 10/62^[32]
• Teenage Triangle—Colpix CP-444/SCP-444 -- #48, 5/63^[32]

Featuring four tracks each by Shelley, James Darren and Paul Petersen

• Bye Bye Birdie—Colpix CP-454/SCP-454—1963

Songs from the movie sung by Shelley, The Marcels, James Darren and Paul Petersen

• More Teenage Triangle—Colpix CP-468/SCP-468—1964

Second compilation featuring Shelley, James Darren and Paul Petersen

Soundtrack songs[edit]

• "Spring Fever" (1965) w/Elvis Presley from Girl Happy (The soundtrack album only features Elvis' vocals)
• "Make Me Happy" (March 1966) from Hold On! MGM Records
• "Next Time I Say Goodbye I'm Leaving" (1968) from soundtrack of A Time to Sing (Music From The Original Soundtrack) MCA Records– MCA-1458

Compilations[edit]

• Rare Items And Big Hits Colpix (1989)
• The Best of Shelley Fabares Rhino R2 71651—1994
• Shelley Fabares Johnny Angel Collectables #9931 July 2005
• Shelley Fabares Meets Paul Petersen Collectables Records July 2009
• Growing Up-The 1962 Recordings Jasmine 2014

Singles[edit]

Awards and nominations[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shelley Fabares.

• Shelley FabaresatIMDb
• Shelley Fabares discography at Discogs