There were several pretty faces from the 1980s at an event in Beverly Hills on Tuesday evening.
Some of the top women of television from 40 years ago gathered at the Maybourne Hotel for the It’s A Wonderful Lifetime Honor Blue Star Families Military Spouses, who will receive The Gift Of A Lifetime.
One was on Dallas as she worked alongside Larry Hagman and Victoria Principal. She became a household name and still looks amazing.
Then there were two blonde bombshells from the soaper Knot’s Landing which starred with Michele Lee and William Devane.
Also seen was the stunner from Falcon Crest, who later played a mom on Friends.
Yet another blonde bombshell was spied; she was on WKRP In Cincinnati and was married to hunk-of-the-day Burt Reynolds.
Who are these ladies?
Who are these beauties who were big A listers in the 1980s? Here they are seen on Tuesday in Beverly Hills
They are Linda Gray, Morgan Fairchild, Donna Mills, Loni Anderson and Nicollette Sheridan.
Gray, 83, was a fashion model who shot to fame playing Sue Ellen Ewing, the long-suffering wife of Larry Hagman’s character JR Ewing on Dallas.
Dallas was a cultural phenomenon that aired from 1978 until 1991.
Also starring on the show were Ken Kercheval and Patrick Duffy.
Morgan Fairchild, 73, who was one of the hot tickets on Falcon Crest, was at the event as well.
She played the mother to Matthew Perry’s Chandler on Friends and recently delivered a tribute after his shock death at age 54.
Next was Donna Mills, 82, of Knot’s Landing who was also in the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty For Me in 1971.
Also at the event was another Knot’s Landing star: Nicollette Sheridan, 60. She would later appear on the soaper Desperate Housewives.
And rounding out the photo was Loni Anderson, 78, who was on WKRP In Cincinnati.
She was married to Burt Reynolds from 1988 to 1994, and was in several films such as Stroker Ace (with Burt) and Partners In Crime with Lynda Carter who played Wonder Woman.
They are Linda Gray, Morgan Fairchild, Donna Mills, Loni Anderson and Nicollette Sheridan
Gray, 83, was a fashion model who shot to fame playing Sue Ellen Ewing, the long-suffering wife of Larry Hagman’s character on Dallas. Dallas aired from 1978 until 1991. Also starring on the show were Ken Kercheval and Patrick Duffy
Morgan Fairchild, who was one of the hot tickets on Falcon Crest, was at the event as well. She played the mother to Matthew Perry’s Chandler on Friends and recently delivered a tribute after his shock death at age 54
Next was Donna Mills, 82, of Knot’s Landing who was also in the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty For Me in 1971
Loni Anderson, 78, was on WKRP In Cincinatti. She romanced Burt Reynolds and was in several films such as Stroker Ace (with Burt) and Partners In Crime with Lynda Carter who played Wonder Woman
Also at the event was another Knot’s Landing star: Nicollette Sheridan, 60. She would later appear on the soaper Desperate Housewives
This comes after there was a mini Knots Landing reunion in mid November at the Variety Power of Women event held at Mother Wolf in Los Angeles.
Mills and Sheridan were seen posing side by side on the red carpet.
Donna was glamorous in a black sparkly outfit with a diamond bib necklace while Nicollette was elegant in a cream colored suit with matching silk blouse.
Donna played Abby Cunningham and Nicollette was vixen Paige Matheson on the popular show that aired from 1979 until 1993.
Knots Landing was a long-running serial about middle class life on the fictional cul-de-sac known as Seaview Circle in Los Angeles, California.
At the Variety event, the 2023 honorees included Fantasia Barrino, Billie Eilish, Carey Mulligan, Lily Gladstone, Emily Blunt, and Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap.
Last year Donna talked to AARP – The Magazine about her longevity.
‘At age 60, 70, later, you have so much more to contribute—don’t just sit down and say, “I’m done,”‘ shared the screen icon.
Mills has had a very successful run in Hollywood.
The blonde beauty co-starred with Clint Eastwood in the classic 1971 film Play Misty For Me then later was one of the highlights of the series Knot’s Landing.
The Emmy winner has also recently appeared in the Jordan Peele thriller Nope, and stars in a Lifetime movie series, V.C. Andrews Dawn Cutler Series, to be released in 2023.
She is careful with her figure, she told the publication.
‘During the soap-opera years I never ate pasta, sugar, bread, ice cream, cookies or any of that kind of stuff,’ said Donna.
‘Now I eat, but I’m still careful,’ she added. ‘I’m not a vegetarian, but I grow, pick and eat a lot of vegetables,’ she noted.
Back together: There was a mini Knots Landing reunion in mid November at the Variety Power of Women event held at Mother Wolf in Los Angeles: Mills and Sheridan
Knots people: Joan Van Ark, Ted Shackelford, Mills, Sheridan, Kevin Dobson, William Devane and Michele Lee
‘I also play tennis three times a week and work out with light weights. Like almost everyone my age I have arthritis, and let me tell you, it hurts sometimes.’
She also discussed taking a break from Hollywood to raise her daughter.
Mills became a first-time mother at the age of 54 when she adopted her baby daughter Chloe in 1994.
‘I was single, I was 54, and I badly wanted to be a mother,’ said the star.
‘It was not a tough decision to adopt. So I stopped working for many years while Chloe [now 28, a model and an executive at Soho House] was in school, and it was exactly the right thing to do.’
Still a 10: Mills has had a very successful run in Hollywood. The beauty co-starred with Clint Eastwood in the classic Play Misty For Me then later was one of the highlights of the series Knot’s Landing. And she still looks great these days
Routine: ‘I’m not a vegetarian, but I grow, pick and eat a lot of vegetables,’ she noted. ‘I also play tennis three times a week and work out with light weights. Like almost everyone my age I have arthritis, and let me tell you, it hurts sometimes.’ Seen in 1975
Still a siren: The actress has talked to AARP – The Magazine about her longevity. ‘At age 60, 70, later, you have so much more to contribute—don’t just sit down and say, “I’m done,”‘ shared the screen icon
A big hit: Mills and Clint Eastwood in Play Misty for Me in 1971. The psychological thriller was directed by Eastwood
Romance came later, she said.
‘I met [actor and producer] Larry Gilman at age 60. I lucked out. Before him, I kind of went for the bad boys. But when I met him, I just knew I was going for the not-bad boy,’ she said.
The star said she keeps in touch with her Knot’s Landing costars too.
‘Joan Van Ark and Michele Lee are still dear friends 40 years after we starred in Knots Landing. We even get together for the fans. And some show up wearing that dramatic eye makeup like my character, Abby!’
She shared that playing the villain on Knot’s Landing cost her friends.
She played scheming vixen Abby Fairgate on the Dallas spinoff Knots Landing from 1980 to 1989.
‘Back in the Knots Landing days, a lot of women were really standoffish to me in real life. I couldn’t figure out why. Then I realized it was my character. They thought I was going to take their husband!’
As far as her future, she wants to work more.
‘I’m in my third act and was recently cast in a new movie as a vicious, sadistic grandmother. And that’s what I really want next, a whole series—like Succession, which I love—where I can be evil to my heart’s content!’ she said.
In May she told People magazine why she decided to embrace motherhood in her 50s.
‘I was very concentrated on my career, but at a certain point, I realized there was something missing — it was a child,’ the soap opera star said.
She continued, ‘So I went after it. I adopted her when she was four days old.’
‘By that time, I was 54 and people said, ‘You’re going to be so old [to] have a little toddler running around.’ I never felt that,’ Donna said.
‘I never felt older than the other mothers who were probably in their 20s.’
Becoming a mom: In an interview with People magazine in May 2022, the actress explained why she decided to embrace motherhood in her 50s
The Daytime Emmy Award winner told the media outlet that she would advise other career-minded people to defer parenthood until later in life.
She told People, ‘If you want to give to your career, I say having a child later in life is better than having a child early.’
Donna, who appeared on television and in guest roles after her departure from Knots Landing, explained that she decided to take an 18-year hiatus from acting full-time to focus on raising Chloe.
‘I took off 18 years. I didn’t work,’ she told People. ‘Well, the first couple of years, I did work.
She continued, ‘I did some movies for television and stuff like that, because I could take her wherever I went.
‘But then when she started school, I wasn’t going to go out of town for two months at a time. And I didn’t become a mother to give her to a nanny.’
The Play Misty For Me actress said she still shares a close bond with her now 27-year-old daughter.
Donna said, ‘We see each other at least once a week and we talk every day or text.’
The actress returned to daytime television in 2014 when she was cast in a recurring guest-starring role on the ABC soap General Hospital.
She went on to win the Outstanding Special Guest Performer in a Drama Series award at the 2015 Daytime Emmy Awards for her performance.
Over the past few years, Donna has continued to act in television, movies and theater.
The performer will next be seen this July starring alongside Keke Palmer, Daniel Kuluuya and Steven Yeun in Jordan Peele’s upcoming sci-fi horror film Nope.
During the interview with People, the Chicago native also shared some of her tips for maintaining her ageless beauty.
Priorities: Donna, who appeared on television and in guest roles after her departure from Knots Landing, explained that she decided to take an 18-year hiatus from acting full-time to focus on raising Chloe. Seen in 2005
Close: The Play Misty For Me actress said she still shares a close bond with her daughter. Seen in 2009
‘I usually work out every day,’ the octogenarian said. ‘Having been a dancer, I have my ballet bar in a little gym upstairs, and I just got a Peloton for my birthday.’
She added, ‘I do weight training and a lot of stretching.’
As to her diet, Donna explained, ‘I’ve always been a healthy eater. I don’t eat sugar. I don’t eat pasta. I don’t do starches.’
She continued, ‘I eat mostly proteins and vegetables. I love vegetables, which I grow — kale and arugula, tomatoes. My greatest pleasure in life is eating it right off the vine. I’m not a good cook. The only thing that I make that’s good is cheesecake.’
Donna told People, ‘For skin care, the main thing is stay out of the frickin’ sun! It makes such a difference. And somebody asked me, ‘Why don’t you get [cosmetic enhancements]?’ No, because I’m not going to look like a duck. I’d rather have lines than a duck bill.”