
Acting
Shelley Fabares
Born 1944-01-19 · Santa Monica, California, USA
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (January 19, 1944 – August 22, 2026) was an 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 Presley in Girl Happy, Spinout, and Clambake. As the niece of singer/comedienne Nanette Fabray, she was indoctrinated early into the show biz life. Tap dancing from age three, she also modeled during her elementary school years and began appearing on such TV shows as Captain Midnight (1954) and Annie Oakley (1954) (the latter a recurring role). At age 12, she made her professional film debut in the Rock Hudson/Cornell Borchers tearjerker Never Say Goodbye (1956) as Hudson's daughter, and went on to play kid sister roles in the rock 'n' roll-themed Rock, Pretty Baby! (1956) and its sequel Summer Love (1957) both starring John Saxon. Teen-idol status came with her coming-of-age role as the ever-wholesome daughter "Mary Stone" on The Donna Reed Show (1958), a part she played for five seasons before embarking on a more grown-up film career. The character of "Mary Stone" was gently phased out of the show as her character "left for college". During its' run, she and TV "brother" Paul Petersen grew so popular that they sprinted to adjoining pop singing celebrity, although both admitted that their vocal talents were limited. In 1962, her recording of "Johnny Angel" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She left The Donna Reed Show in 1963 (she would return periodically until its end in 1966) to pursue other acting opportunities. 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). She released a third album, Teenage Triangle in 1963. She landed top femme parts in such fun-and-frolic fare as Ride the Wild Surf (1964), Hold On! (1966) in which she played the love interest of Peter Noone (of Herman's Hermits) and sings Make Me Happy, as well as three of Elvis Presley's less-acclaimed films of the later 1960s: Girl Happy (1965), Spinout (1966) and Clambake (1967). She then played the love interest of a young Hank Williams Jr. in A Time to Sing (1968). She had support roles in television films like Brian's Song (1971) (playing Brian Piccolo's wife with James Caan as Brian), and Two for the Money (1972). Her performance in Brian's Song earned her a Golden Globe nomination. For her work, she was nominated twice for a Primetime Emmy Award 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. From 2004 to 2011 she produced the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Acting credits
6.8When two girls think the other has it better, they swap places to see who's right!
The Great Mom Swap
1995
7.1Air Force Colonel Kenneth Penmark and his wife, Christine, adore their daughter Rhoda, despite her secret tendency for selfishness. Christine keeps her knowledge of her daughter's darker side to herself, but when a schoolmate of Rhoda's dies mysteriously, her self-deception unravels.
The Bad Seed
1956
5.6Band singer/race driver Mike McCoy must choose between marrying a beautiful girl and driving her father's car in a prestigious race.
Spinout
1966
5.7High school student Dan Bartlett misses the plane he was supposed to be on with his rich girlfriend and her family on the way to a Caribbean vacation during a school break. He flies there alone, and runs into a series of characters and misadventures as he tries to catch up.
Hot Pursuit
1987
6.4In present-day U.S., Dr. Michael Parker, a prominent surgeon, unexpectedly runs into his German-born wife whom he thought was dead. Victor, an artist and his "dead" wife's now boyfriend, berates Dr. Parker for "killing" her. The bulk of the story flashes back to Austria during World War II as we learn how Dr. Parker met and married his wife, and the one mistake that may have cost him his family.
Never Say Goodbye
1956
6.5Chicago mobster Big Frank hires rock & roll singer Rusty Wells and his band to keep an eye on his daughter during Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale.
Girl Happy
1965
5.8The heir to an oil fortune trades places with a water-ski instructor at a Florida hotel to see if girls will like him for himself, rather than his father's money.
Clambake
1967
6.3While working as a counselor at a summer camp, college-student Marjorie Morgenstern falls for 32-year-old Noel Airman, a would-be dramatist working at a nearby summer theater. Like Marjorie, he is an upper-middle-class New York Jew, but has fallen away from his roots, and Marjorie's parents object among other things to his lack of a suitable profession. Noel himself warns Marjorie repeatedly that she's much too naive and conventional for him, but they nonetheless fall in love.
Marjorie Morningstar
1958
6.1Embittered by Superman's heroic successes and soaring popularity, Lex Luthor forms a dangerous alliance with the powerful computer/villain Brainiac. Using advanced weaponry and a special strain of Kryptonite harvested from the far reaches of outer space, Luthor specifically redesigns Brainiac to defeat the Man of Steel.
Superman: Brainiac Attacks
2006
7.1Clark Kent, the last survivor of the dead planet Krypton, uses his amazing powers to defend people of his adopted world, Earth, and become Superman.
Superman: The Last Son of Krypton
1996
7.3Based on the real-life relationship between teammates Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers and the bond established when Piccolo discovers that he is dying.
Brian's Song
1971
6.9A parody of 1950s corporate/industrial films, commissioned by Universal Pictures executives after the studio's purchase by Seagrams, and featuring cameos by many stars and directors.
Your Studio and You
1995
6.2Biographical film based loosely on the life of 1920s stage star Jeanne Eagels.
Jeanne Eagels
1957
4.3Eerie dreams that haunt a young nurse heighten the mystery surrounding her mother's sudden disappearance.
A Nightmare Come True
1997
5.2A group of friends go to Hawaii during the height of surfing season, to compete with other surf bums and find girlfriends along the way.
Ride the Wild Surf
1964
NRA retrospective on the life of the legendary entertainer Elvis Presley, featuring the most significant moments of his career.
Elvis: A Life in Music
2026
5.0A lucrative real estate deal, or romance with the boss' daughter--that's the dilemma facing a yuppie in this comedy.
Love or Money
1990
5.3A husband and wife come up with a plan to steal $10 million in gold, using the hijacking of a police helicopter as a diversion.
Sky Hei$t
1975
5.3This highly-rated television film covers the life of American movie/TV/pop music idol Annette Funicello. The movie starts with the move of her family from New York to California, where in 1955 shy Annette becomes one of the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club. The movie covers her child stardom, her teen idol years, her singing career with big hits like "Tall Paul", her romance with Paul Anka, her classic beach party films with Frankie Avalon, and her first marriage. It also shows her large comeback in the late 1980s and her second marriage, and the day when she found out she had multiple sclerosis.
A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story
1995
8.0Lawsuits fly when a widow believes a gifted surgeon allowed her husband to die so his heart could be transplanted into the doctor's ailing mentor and friend. Operation Heartbeat was the pilot movie for the TV series Medical Center.
Operation Heartbeat
1969
6.2Leonard Fagot has four daughters and loves them so much, that he usurps his control over them. He lets them know how he feels about the men they date. And if he disapproves of them, he probably will have them killed to get them out of his daughters' life.
Deadly Relations
1993
NRChange comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century. People grow up, get married, live, and die. Milk and the newspaper get delivered every morning, and nobody locks their front doors. This musicalization of Thornton Wilder's classic play stars Frank Sinatra, who introduces the song, "Love and Marriage," which would go on to be immortalized as the theme song to the sitcom "Married with Children."
Our Town
1955
5.7A series of freak accidents on the Los Angeles freeway traps a cast-load of familiar TV faces in an astounding traffic tie-up, with the entire system caught in a gridlock that John Beck, as a traffic expert, endeavors to unsnarl.
Gridlock
1980
7.5Two cops, who have quit the police department to become private detectives and bounty hunters, hunt for a killer who has eluded capture for years.
Two for the Money
1972