Background
Born Jean Marie Donnell, she grew up in South Windham, Maine.
Born Jean Marie Donnell, she grew up in South Windham, Maine.
Donnell graduated from Towson High School, Towson, Maryland, in 1938 and attended the Leland Powers School of Drama in Boston, Massachusetts. Later, she studied at the Yale School of Drama.
As a child, she adopted the nickname "Jeff" after the character in her favorite comic strip, Mutt and Jeff. To avoid gender confusion, she was sometimes billed as "(Mission) Jeff Donnell."
She was signed to a contract by Columbia Pictures in 1942 and made her film debut in My Sister Eileen. She later had roles in some Radio-Keith-Orpheum films.
She was not a major star, but she did have a lengthy film and television career in various supporting roles, including the role of Gidget"s mother, "Dorothy Lawrence", opposite Carl Reiner in the 1961 movie Gidget Goes Hawaiian.
In 1966 she made five appearances on Doctor Kildare as Evelyn Driscoll. Her other notable appearances in movies and television include:
"Winnie Slade" in The Boogie Manitoba Will Get You (1942)
Doughboys in Ireland (1943)
"Butch" in Nine Girls (1944)
"Nina" in "The Unknown" (1946) One of the "I Love A Mystery" movies.
"Jessie Arnold" in Stagecoach Kid (1949)
"Penny Mc Carr" in Easy Living (1949)
"Sylvia Nicolai" in In a Lonely Place (1950)
Thief of Damascus (Leading Lady) Movie (1952)
"Sally Ellis" in The Blue Gardenia (1953)
"Alice Gobel" in the George Gobel television show (1954–1958)
Magnificent Roughnecks (1956) as Julie
"Sally" in Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)
"Miriam Fisher" in The Iron Maiden (1962. Released in the United States as Swinging Maiden)
"Eleanor Digby" in The Addams Family (1966.
Episode #57)
"Cornelia," (Cornelia Fort), a flying instructor in Tora! Tora! Tora! "Mrs James Nelson" in Adam-12 (1973)
"Aunt May Parker" in The Amazing Spider-Manitoba (1977)
"Stella Fields" in the television soap opera General Hospital (1980–1988)
Donnell died of a heart attack on April 11, 1988, aged 66.