Shelley Fabares began her career tap dancing and modeling from the age three years old. She appeared on such TV shows as Captain Midnight (1954) and Annie Oakley (1954) and at the age 12, she made her professional film debut in the Rock Hudson/Cornell Borchers tearjerker Never Say Goodbye (1956) as Hudson's daughter, and went on to play kid sister roles in the rock 'n' roll-themed Rock, Pretty Baby! (1956) and its sequel Summer Love (1957) both starring John Saxon. Early TV appearances included the Producers' Showcase adaptation of Our Town starring Frank Sinatra and Paul Newman. She was Young Cathy in a Matinee Theatre adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
Teen-idol status came with her coming-of-age role as the ever-wholesome daughter "Mary Stone" on The Donna Reed Show (1958).
She had a #1 Billboard hit with the song "Johnny Angel." After which, she co-starred with Elvis Presley in the movies Girl Happy (1965), Spinout (1966) and Clambake (1967).
Shelley is Golden Globe nominated for her role as the altruistic wife of a dying footballer "Brian Piccolo" in Brian's Song (1971), where she starred opposite James Caan and Billy Dee Williams. She co-starred in the series The Brian Keith Show (1972), The Practice (1976), Highcliffe Manor (1979), the late-night soap spoof Forever Fernwood (1977) and marvelously played the villian opposite Bonnie Franklin in the hit sitcom One Day at a Time (1975).
On television, she will forever be associated with her character Christine Armstrong, Craig T. Nelson's resourceful mate on hit series Coach (1989), where she earned two Emmy nominations.
Shelley is married to actor Mike Farrell of M*A*S*H (1972). Together, they supplied the voices for Ma and Pa Kent on the Superman: The Animated Series (1996).
Shelley and Mike joined us on the podcast to talk about their love story, working with Elvis Presley and Donna Reed, starring on the hit show Coach, her hit song Johnny Angel and so much more.