The following transcript is taken from the interview An Intimate Portrait Of Donna Reed.

   In 1984, Donna Reed was offered the opportunity to join the cast of one of television's most popular and successful series', Dallas. Donna was asked to replace Barbara Bel Geddes as the matron, Miss Ellie, of the series. However, working on the set quickly became a frustrating experience for her.

    "When Donna had joined the Dallas group, she felt like she really was an outsider because the others had been together for so long. And she felt that it would take some effort on her part to really break into that circle. And I think she felt that they were rather critical from the very beginning, and it was difficult for her," recalls Donna's lifelong friend Joyce Auderson Fisk.

    Donna's personal difficulties, however, did not seem to affect the show's producers, who renewed her contract for two more years. Gratified that her hard work was appreciated, Donna took advantage of the production hiatus to take a European vacation with her husband, Grover.

    "While we were in Paris, we got a telephone call from her agent, saying 'you've just been dropped.' And this was the first time in her career that she'd ever been dropped from a role without so much as a thank you," Donna Reed's husband, Grover, explains.

    Infuriated by her abrupt dismissal, Donna sued CBS and Lorimar Television for breach and contract, and won a large settlement. Though she was publicly vindicated, the fight was nevertheless emotionally traumatic for her, and the entire experience devastating. "She was extremely upset...she was really deeply hurt by the whole thing with Dallas, and it really hurt her, and she took it with her to the grave. She really did...she could not let go of it, it really upset her...it just broke her heart," recalls Donna Reed's daughter, Mary Owen.