Donna Reed was one of the finest actresses of the 40's and 50's. She will always be remembered as Mary on "It's a Wonderful Life". She won an Oscar for her role as a prostitute in "From Here to Eternity". In the 50's and 60's, she starred in her own sitcom. Just one question... why was she so awful as Miss Ellie on "Dallas".

I don't think she was awful, just miscast. If we had seen Donna as Miss Ellie from day one, we never would have had a problem with her. But Barbara Bel Geddes gave such a distinctive performance as Ellie that she was virtually irreplaceable. Barbara's earthy, practical Miss Ellie was much different from Donna's upper-crust, glamorous Ellie, so it was difficult to accept the change. The powers gave Reed a one-year contract, which they extended to three years during her lone season. So they didn't think she was so bad. But they broke that contract when Bel Geddes said she was willing to come back.

The producers ran into the same problem when they tried to bring in a new Jock to replace the late Jim Davis (another irreplaceable character actor). The original plan was to have Wes Parmalee (Steve Forrest) actually turn out to be Jock during season 9. But viewers hated the idea, so the writers made a last minute change and Parmalee turned out to be an imposter. Smart move.

Originally posted by TV Guy
The producers ran into the same problem when they tried to bring in a new Jock to replace the late Jim Davis (another irreplaceable character actor). The original plan was to have Wes Parmalee (Steve Forrest) actually turn out to be Jock during season 9. But viewers hated the idea, so the writers made a last minute change and Parmalee turned out to be an imposter. Smart move.

Lord, that would have been horrible. I remember him always wearing the scarf around his neck, to hide his scar.

Ahhhh, the wonderful dramas of the 1980s...

No matter how many actors/actresses try to replace other beloved characters they may be as good as the original but as somebody put it, Rose(Dick Van Dyke Show, Hollywood Squares) THE ORIGINAL IS THE ORIGINAL!! ALWAYS HAD!! ALWAYS HAS!! AND ALWAYS WILL!!

I didn't like Donna Reed as Miss Ellie. She played the role to glamorous and BBG played it more down to earth. I never mined Wes Parmalee because I never thought he was really taking Jocks place. In my mind he was a different character. Nobody could replace Jim Davis.

She was not awful to me at all. She played the role very well. She seemed like a woman with power and authority. Donna did a great job. Myself, much like others are used to seeing Barbara Bel Geddes play the role. Barbara defined Miss Ellie. To have someone play the role and do it different breaks up the defined consistency that one feels for a character.

The mistake was that she tried to change the role of Miss Ellie to put her stamp on it- she wanted to make her like the rich wives of powerful men that she had observed, she wanted to make her vain and pretty- but she did not take the time to think out that doing that was not Miss Ellie's character- "being earthy and casual" was not just a acting choice of Bel Geddes- it came from the character itself- or it was written that way- Ellie was not just a "rich wife"- she was a Southworth- she was someone who loved the land and the cow auctions and the horses and she wasn't a weak wife who got picked by her husband, it was she who picked Jock- not the other way around- playing her as a vain housewife just didn't ring true.

I agree i did not mind Donna Reed playing Miss Ellie it took sometime getting used to in the beginning but she did a good job i think, it was just hard in the beginning seeing someone play Miss Ellie when we were all comfortable with Bel Geddes. I think if she had stayed with the show threw the 1985-1986 season she would have only ended up being replaced by Bel Geddes when she passed away.

I felt sorry for Donna when she took this job. (To me it was a horrible miscast).

Barbara Bel Gedde just made her character seem so humble.

Donna didn't do that. She put her own stamp on Miss Ellie and it just backfired. Donna Reed is a wonderful actress in her own right. She was just miscast. :(

I felt sorry for Donna when she took this job. (To me it was a horrible miscast).

Barbara Bel Gedde just made her character seem so humble.

Donna didn't do that. She put her own stamp on Miss Ellie and it just backfired. Donna Reed is a wonderful actress in her own right. She was just miscast. :(


I agree. I always liked Donna Reed. Its A Wonderful Life is one of my favorite movies and I also liked the Donna Reed show but BBG was Miss Ellie and I really don't think anybody could have replaced her. They did learn their lesson because after she left the 2nd time they never recast her.

I've been watching the Donna Reed Show on DVD and am now curious to see her work on Dallas. Sadly, even if Barbara Bel Geddes hadn't come back when she had, they would've had to write out Miss Ellie anyway since Donna Reed passed on in early 1986. :(

I've been watching the Donna Reed Show on DVD and am now curious to see her work on Dallas. Sadly, even if Barbara Bel Geddes hadn't come back when she had, they would've had to write out Miss Ellie anyway since Donna Reed passed on in early 1986. :(
Somebody posted this video of Jim Davis on the Donna Reed Show over on the Dallas Forum. I didn't even know that he guest starred on that show.

http://www.soapchat.burtonhosting.com/showthread.php?t=190128

Somebody posted this video of Jim Davis on the Donna Reed Show over on the Dallas Forum. I didn't even know that he guest starred on that show.

http://www.soapchat.burtonhosting.com/showthread.php?t=190128
Thanks! Ironic, isn't it? I took this book out of the library months ago called Soap Opera Babylon and it went into more detail about the Dallas scandals (including the two Miss Ellies). Next time I'm there I'll have to find it and transcribe it here.

I thought Donna Reed did a good job as Miss Ellie on the show. Unfortunatly for her Barbara Bel Geddes wanted her part back. Monika you may be right that if Bel Geddes had not returned to Dallas, they might have killed off Miss Ellie after Donna Reed's death.

I thought Donna Reed did a great job as well. I realize she was not the face of Barbara Bel Geddes but she was really good in the role.

Here are some pics of Donna as Miss Ellie:

Thanks for shareing The Pictures

Thanks for shareing The Pictures
My pleasure!