Knot’s Landing vet Donna Mills, 81, reveals she looks just as great now as she did 50 years ago by eating vegetables and lifting weights: ‘I’m careful’
- The 81-year-old blonde beauty co-starred with Clint Eastwood in the classic 1971 film Play Misty For Me
- Later she starred as the villain in the long-running nightime soaper Knot’s Landing
- Now the actress has talked to AARP – The Magazine about her longevity as she still looks great
- ‘At age 60, 70, later, you have so much more to contribute—don’t just sit down and say, “I’m done,”‘ she shared
Donna Mills has had a very successful run in Hollywood.
The 81-year-old 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.
Now 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.
Still a 10: Donna Mills has had a very successful run in Hollywood. The 81-year-old blonde 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
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.
‘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.’
Still a siren: Now 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
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.’
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.
Dream cast: The star (center) 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.’ Seen here: Van Ark, Ted Shackelford, Mills, Nicolette Sheridan, Kevin Dobson, William Devane, Lee
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.
Back then: Donna originated the role of Abby in Knots Landing and played the villainess on the hit show for nine years before leaving in 1989. Seen with Shackelford
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.
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
‘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.
Close: The Play Misty For Me actress said she still shares a close bond with her now 27-year-old daughter. Seen in 2009
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.
‘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.’
Timeless: The Chicago native also shared some of her tips for maintaining her ageless beauty. Seen in 2019
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.”
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