Charmian Carr, played Rosmarie in the film, she died some years ago at age 73
Paul Petersen remembers TV Mom, Donna Reed
Paul Petersen
remembers TV Mom, Donna Reed
Nick Thomas
While most of us will
be remembering our own mothers on May 8 this year, entertainers who worked as
child actors in television sitcoms may also have special memories of their ‘TV
mom.’ For Paul Petersen, that was Oscar winner Donna Reed, matriarch from “The
Donna Reed Show.”
In 2018 for the
anniversary of the show’s first broadcast, Petersen (and coauthor Deborah
Herman) released “The Donna Reed Show: A Pictorial Memoir.
In 2018 for the
anniversary of the show’s first broadcast, Petersen (and coauthor Deborah
Herman) released “The Donna Reed Show: A Pictorial Memoir” (see
www.micropublishingmedia.com).
“It’s kind of an
archival look back at an iconic television show,” said Petersen who, like Reed,
appeared in all 275 episodes during the series run from 1958 to 1966. “I wanted the book to not only examine the
people who made the show, but to put television in the historical context of
the period. During the 8 years, we went through a lot including illnesses,
accidents, and national incidents from that era.”
One of the most
memorable was the 1963 Kennedy assassination.
“We were rehearsing
and a guy from the radio station across the street called with a real quiver in
his voice asking for Donna,” said Petersen who remembers answering the phone.
“Donna then told us the president had been shot and it shut down the studio. We
just packed up and went home for a very painful weekend.”
Most of Petersen’s
memories of the show are far more pleasant, however, like the first day filming
on the set.
“Donna was from a
little town in Iowa called Denison, in the county right next to where my mother
was born around the same year,” he explained. “When I got the job, the most
excited person in my family was my grandfather who insisted on taking me to
work to film the pilot. He marched right up to Donna and said, ‘Donna Belle
Mullenger (her birth name) I knew your dad!’”
Reed was gracious,
and remained personable and well-liked throughout the series, according to
Petersen. “We all got together for lunch and were very close – uniquely close
compared to other television families.”
A potentially
tragic incident occurred when Petersen crashed his Pontiac Grand Prix during
the series. But Donna came to his rescue.
“The accident was
my fault and for punishment I had to ride a bicycle 8 miles to work every day.
But Donna and Tony (her husband) felt sorry for me and gave me a brand-new
Volkswagen Bug. I loved that car!”
During the show’s
run, Petersen obviously called Reed ‘mom’ while filming, but it was always
‘Miss Reed’ away from the set.
“It wasn't until
four years after the show ended when I was in my mid-20s and we were at
Chasen’s restaurant that I remember her learning across the table and saying,
‘Paul, I think it's time you started calling me Donna!’”
Having a close
‘second mom,’ especially a famous one, could have created friction between
Petersen’s real mother and the actress. Petersen even remembers his mother once
asking “how could I ever compete with Donna Reed?”
“But she understood I had an ongoing professional relationship with Donna that sometimes required spending more time with her than my actual mother,” he said, referring to Reed as his “de facto mother and guardian on the set, and a pretty safe person to leave your kids with.
“She was an Iowa bred farm girl, the oldest of
five children, who had lived through the depression and came out to California
to be a Hollywood star and succeeded,” he added. “She was a wonderful role
model.”
Wanda Young of Motown's The Marvelettes, dead at 78
She was best known for the hit
'Please Mr. Postman' alongside Georgeanna Tillman, Gladys Horton, Katherine
Anderson and Juanita Cowart
By Tyler McCarthy | Fox News
Wanda Young, best known as a
member of Motown's popular and chart-topping The Marvelettes, has died at age
78.
Meta Ventress, Young's daughter,
told the New York Times that her mother died on Dec. 15 in Garden City, Mich.
She told the outlet that the
cause of death had to do with complications due to chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease.
The artist and her fellow
Marvelettes were teenagers when they recorded their enduring hit "Please
Mr. Postman" for Motown Records boss Berry Gordy Jr. in 1961, marking the
label's first definitive No. 1 pop hit.
The all-female group was signed
by Motown to its Tamla label earlier that year and included Georgeanna Tillman,
Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson and Juanita Cowart, according to the Motown
Museum.
The teens were students at
Inkster High School outside Detroit, and along with Georgia Dobbins, a
graduate, were members of a singing group called The Casinyets. Young replaced
Dobbins when Gordy signed the group.
ongs like "Twistin’
Postman," "Playboy" and "Too Many Fish In The Sea"
followed "Please Mr. Postman." The group would later record such hits
as "Don’t Mess With Bill," "The Hunter Gets Captured By The
Game" and "My Baby Must Be A Magician."
Young sang the lead on
"Don't Mess With Bill."
"I told her constantly, ‘All
these people love you,’" Ventress told the Times. "And she’d say,
‘Wow.’"
"She didn’t wake up every
day thinking of the Marvelettes, but she never lost that glamour,"
Ventress added.
The Motown Museum posted on its
Facebook page that Young "helped The Marvelettes become one of the many
success stories at Motown Records."
After The Marvelettes disbanded
in the early 1970s, Young recorded under another label.
Young and Horton sang on the 1990
album "The Marvelettes: Now!" according to the Times.
In addition to Ventress, Young is
survived by children Robert Rogers III and Bobbae Rogers; seven grandchildren;
a great-grandson; four sisters and four brothers.
The Associated Press contributed
to this report.
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