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 19581963 and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom Coach 19891997 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 singercomedienne 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 HudsonCornell Borchers tearjerker Never Say Goodbye 1956 as Hudsons daughter and went on to play kid sister roles in the rock n rollthemed Rock Pretty Baby 1956 and its sequel Summer Love 1957 both starring John Saxon Teenidol status came with her comingofage role as the everwholesome daughter Mary Stone on The Donna Reed Show 1958 a part she played for five seasons before embarking on a more grownup 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 funandfrolic fare as Ride the Wild Surf 1964 Hold On 1966 in which she played the love interest of Peter Noone of Hermans Hermits and sings Make Me Happy as well as three of Elvis Presleys lessacclaimed 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 Brians Song 1971 playing Brian Piccolos wife with James Caan as Brian and Two for the Money 1972 Her performance in Brians 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
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