In 1996 Good Morning America and Willow Bay helped celebrate The Donna Reed Festival's 50th Anniversary Salute to It's A Wonderful Life. ABC came to Denison,(Donna's Hometown) Iowa to interview Shelley Fabares who was currently starring in the hit ABC series "Coach" and Jimmy Hawkins who played Donna Reed's son Tommy Bailey in the Frank Capra holiday classic.. Jimmy was reunited with Donna Reed when he played Shelley's (Mary Stone) boyfriend George C. Scotty ( '58-'66) on The Donna Reed Show. They reminenced about Donna and the impact her performance had on Shelley's life. Its a heartfelt and enlightening interview that deals with why the film has grown in popularity. In 2006 The American Film Institute named" IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE...The Most Inspirational Movie of All Time".
It turned out to be a great festival week. The Gala evening Hosted by Shelley and Jimmy featured cast and crew members from the 1946 movie... Bob Anderson (Young George Bailey), Karolyn Grimes(ZuZu Bailey) Todd Karns (Harry Bailey) Carol Coombs(Janie Bailey) Argentina Burnetti(Mrs. Martini) Bob Lawless (Special effects man who made the snow) Sheldon Leonard(Nick The Bartender) sent a video recorded congragulations.Other Donna Reed alumni Paul and Patty Petersen joined in on stage along with Kathleen Freeman and Ann McCrea. Lots of stories. The night was also the re-opening of the newly refurbished Donna Reed Theater. No event staged for The Donna Reed Festival before or since ever attracted a bigger audience. The theater was packed.,,the Town was full as were the festival classes.
For more information....Check out The Donna Reed Festival and Foundation at DonnaReed.org.
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