Actress Shelley Fabares, known for 'The Donna Reed Show' and 'Coach', dies at 82
Shelley Fabares, the actress who starred in 'The Donna Reed Show' and later on 'Coach', died in Los Angeles on Aug. 22 at age 82, according to her family.
Actress Shelley Fabares died in Los Angeles on Aug. 22 at the age of 82, her family said in a statement. No cause of death was disclosed.
Born Michele Ann Marie Fabares on Jan. 19, 1944, she began modeling at age three and appeared on television at ten. In 1958 she joined the cast of The Donna Reed Show as Mary Stone, a role that led to a recording contract and a No. 1 Billboard hit with the single "Johnny Angel" in 1962.
Fabares later appeared in films with Elvis Presley, including Girl Happy (1965), Spinout (1966) and Clambake (1967). She continued working in television through the 1970s and 1980s, with guest spots on series such as Mork & Mindy, The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote.
In 1989 she was cast as Christine Armstrong Fox on the ABC sitcom Coach, a role that earned her two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and became a defining part of her career. She remained active in the industry into the 2000s, voicing Martha Kent in Superman: The Animated Series and serving on the SAG Awards Committee.
Former co-star Craig T. Nelson, who worked with Fabares on Coach, issued a statement calling her “a great and grand lady” and “an extraordinary woman.”
Fabares was also noted for her involvement in Alzheimer’s research fundraising, work she pursued in honor of her mother.