20 Glamorous Portraits of a Young and Beautiful Donna Reed in the 1940s

Donna Reed (January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American actress. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her portrayal of Mary Hatch Bailey in Frank Capra’s fantasy holiday film It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). Reed won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Fred Zinnemann’s war drama film From Here to Eternity (1953).

In 1941, after signing with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Reed made her film debut in The Get-Away opposite Robert Sterling; she was then billed as Donna Adams.

Reed had a supporting role in Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) and in Wallace Beery’s The Bugle Sounds (1942). Like many starlets at MGM, she played opposite Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film, in her case the hugely popular The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942). She was second billed in a children’s film, Mokey (1942). Reed starred in Calling Dr. Gillespie (1942) and Apache Trail (1942), then did a thriller with Edward Arnold, Eyes in the Night (1942).

Reed appeared in The Human Comedy (1943) with Mickey Rooney, Dr. Gillespie’s Criminal Case (1943) and The Man from Down Under (1943). She was one of many MGM stars to make cameos in Thousands Cheer (1943). Her “girl-next-door” good looks and warm onstage personality made her a popular pin-up for many GIs during World War II and she personally answered letters from many GIs serving overseas. Reed starred in See Here, Private Hargrove (1944) and Gentle Annie (1945), a Western. She was in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and played a nurse in John Ford’s They Were Expendable (1945), opposite John Wayne. MGM was very enthusiastic about Reed’s prospects at this time.

Reed collaborated with her Denison High school chemistry teacher Edward R. Tompkins (who worked on the Manhattan Project) on the 1947 MGM film The Beginning or the End, which dealt with the history and concerns of the atom bomb. Reed helped provide the story but did not appear in the final film. Reed was top billed in a romantic comedy Faithful in My Fashion (1946) with Tom Drake, which lost money.

MGM lent Reed to RKO for the role of Mary Bailey in Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. The film has since been named as one of the 100 best American films ever made by the American Film Institute and is regularly aired on television during the Christmas season. Reed later said it was “the most difficult film I ever did. No director ever demanded as much of me.”

Back at MGM, she appeared in Green Dolphin Street (1947) with Lana Turner and Van Heflin, a financial hit. Paramount borrowed Reed for two films with Alan Ladd, Beyond Glory (1948), where she replaced Joan Caulfield at the last minute, and Chicago Deadline (1949). In 1949, Reed expressed a desire for better roles.

Below is a selection of 20 glamorous portraits of a young and beautiful Donna Reed in the 1940s: