I admit to feeling a bit saddened when I heard of the death of actress Shelley Fabares, 82, last week. No, she was not one of those actresses of my youth on whom I had a crush, but she was always likable. I remember her most from her days on "The Donna Reed Show", and I know that she went on to have a second act, of sorts, in television when she played Craig T, Nelson's wife in the long running "Coach". I also remember her co-starring with Elvis Presley in three of his movies, including one of my favorites, "Girl Happy". I mean, how can you ever forget THIS SCENE when Elvis croons to her about the "Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce"?
I remember that there was always a matter as to how you pronounced her last name. Was it "Fah-bare-eze" or "Fa-bray" like the actress Nanette Fabray, who was not her mother, as was once rumored, but her aunt. In actuality, she herself pronounced it "Fab-uh-ray". Three syllables.
She had an active acting career with over 160 credits in IMDB. She appeared on just about every show you could think of throughout the seventies and eighties including four episodes of "Love Boat", five episodes of "Fantasy Island", and three episodes of "Love, American Style". She also played Joy Piccolo, the wife of Brian Piccolo/James Caan in the 1971 tear-jerker "Brian's Song". And, of course, there was her hit record "Johnny Angel", which she sang on the Donna Reed show, that went to Number One on Billboard's Hot 100 back in 1964. She was married to recording executive Lou Adler from 1964 to 1980 and to actor Mike Farrell (BJ from M*A*S*H) from 1984 until her death.
I also got a great kick out of seeing recent pictures of her in her later years rocking this hairstyle:
Seeing a woman in her eighties wearing her hair like this is awesome, and this, as much as anything else, makes her deserving of an Absent Friends post.
RIP Shelley Fabares.
Publicity photo at age 16
With Donna Reed
With Elvis Presley in "Girl Happy"
"Mary Stone" and "BJ Honeycutt"
A 42 Year marriage
