Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (/fæˈbreɪ/; born January 19, 1944) is a retired 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.
Movie | Superman: Brainiac Attacks | Martha Kent (voice) | 2006-06-20 |
Series | Justice League | Martha Kent (voice) | 2001-11-17 |
Movie | Playing to Win: A Moment of Truth Movie | Nancy Erickson | 1998-02-11 |
Movie | A Nightmare Come True | Lily Zarn | 1997-02-12 |
Movie | Superman: The Last Son of Krypton | Martha Kent (voice) | 1996-09-10 |
Series | Superman: The Animated Series | Martha Kent (voice) | 1996-09-06 |
Series | A Whole New Ballgame | Christine Armstrong | 1995-01-09 |
Movie | Your Studio and You | Shelley Fabares | 1995-02-01 |
Movie | The Great Mom Swap | Millie Ridgeway | 1995-09-23 |
Movie | A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story | Self (uncredited) | 1995-10-22 |
Movie | Deadly Relations | Shirley Fagot | 1993-05-22 |
Movie | Love or Money | Lu Ann Reed | 1990-01-05 |
Series | Coach | Christine Armstrong | 1989-02-28 |
Movie | Run Till You Fall | Kathy Reuben | 1988-09-09 |
Movie | Hot Pursuit | Buffy Cronenberg | 1987-05-08 |
Movie | The Canterville Ghost | Lucy | 1985-01-01 |
Movie | Suburban Beat | Mimi | 1985-08-17 |
Series | Murder, She Wrote | Liza Caspar | 1984-09-30 |
Movie | Memorial Day | Ellie Walker | 1983-11-23 |
Series | Matt Houston | Unknown | 1982-09-26 |
Series | Newhart | Unknown | 1982-10-02 |
Movie | Gridlock | Louise Gregory | 1980-10-02 |
Movie | Pleasure Cove | Helen Perlmutter | 1979-01-03 |
Movie | Donovan's Kid | Grace Donovan | 1979-01-07 |
Movie | Friendships, Secrets and Lies | Mary Alice | 1979-12-03 |
Series | Highcliffe Manor | Helen Straight Blacke | 1979-04-12 |
Series | Hello, Larry | Marion Alder | 1979-01-26 |
Series | Mork & Mindy | Cathy McConnell | 1978-09-14 |
Series | Vega$ | Unknown | 1978-09-20 |
Series | The Love Boat | Mary Frances Bellflower | 1977-09-24 |
Series | Lucan | Unknown | 1977-09-12 |
Series | The Incredible Hulk | Holly Cooper | 1977-11-04 |
Series | Forever Fernwood | 1977-10-03 | |
Series | The Practice | Jenny Bedford | 1976-01-30 |
Series | Spencer's Pilots | Unknown | 1976-09-17 |
Movie | Sky Heist | Lisa | 1975-05-26 |
Series | One Day at a Time | Francine Webster | 1975-12-16 |
Series | Matt Helm | Chris / Tina | 1975-09-20 |
Series | The Rockford Files | Jolene Hyland | 1974-09-13 |
Series | Police Story | Unknown | 1973-03-20 |
Series | The Rookies | Unknown | 1972-09-11 |
Movie | Two for the Money | Bethany Hagan | 1972-02-26 |
Series | The Brian Keith Show | Dr. Anne Jamison | 1972-09-15 |
Movie | Brian's Song | Joy Piccolo | 1971-11-30 |
Series | McCloud | Unknown | 1970-02-17 |
Series | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Norma Fritchie | 1969-09-23 |
Movie | Operation Heartbeat | 'Mike' Carter | 1969-04-17 |
Series | Medical Center | Unknown | 1969-09-24 |
Series | Love, American Style | Sheila | 1969-09-29 |
Movie | A Time to Sing | Amy Carter | 1968-08-15 |
Series | Lancer | Unknown | 1968-09-24 |
Series | The Ghost & Mrs. Muir | Unknown | 1968-09-21 |
Series | Ironside | Unknown | 1967-03-28 |
Movie | Clambake | Dianne Carter | 1967-12-04 |
Series | Mannix | Unknown | 1967-09-16 |
Movie | Hold On! | Louisa Page | 1966-06-22 |
Movie | Spinout | Cynthia Foxhugh | 1966-10-06 |
Movie | Girl Happy | Valerie | 1965-04-14 |
Movie | Ride the Wild Surf | Brie Matthews | 1964-08-05 |
Series | Daniel Boone | Charity Brown | 1964-09-24 |
Series | Shindig! | Self - Singer | 1964-09-16 |
Series | Arrest and Trial | Donna Blaney | 1963-09-15 |
Series | Mr. Novak | Dani Cooper | 1963-09-24 |
Series | The Twilight Zone | Ellen Tillman | 1959-10-02 |
Movie | Summer Love | Twinkie Daley | 1958-03-10 |
Movie | Marjorie Morningstar | Seth's Friend (uncredited) | 1958-04-24 |
Series | The Donna Reed Show | Mary Stone | 1958-09-24 |
Series | Annette | Moselle Corey | 1957-02-08 |
Movie | Jeanne Eagels | Teenage Girl (uncredited) | 1957-08-02 |
Movie | Never Say Goodbye | Suzy Parker | 1956-03-10 |
Movie | The Bad Seed | Margie (uncredited) | 1956-09-12 |
Movie | Rock, Pretty Baby | Teresa "Twinky" Daley | 1956-12-01 |
Movie | The Girl Rush | Young Kim | 1955-09-16 |
Series | Matinee Theater | Unknown | 1955-10-31 |
Movie | Our Town | Rebecca Gibbs | 1955-09-19 |
Series | The Wonderful World of Disney | Grace Donovan | 1954-10-27 |
Series | Letter to Loretta | Marie Schumann | 1953-09-20 |
Series | The Bob Hope Show | Self | 1950-04-09 |