Donna Mills was a top star in the 1980s as she worked in both movies and TV shows.
The 84-year-old Hollywood looker got her start in 1966 with a guest role on The Secret Storm.
That same year she could be seen on Broadway in Woody Allen’s comedy Don’t Drink the Water.
She made her film debut the next year in The Incident then spent three years on the soap opera Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1967–70).
Then came her big movie role: she played Clint Eastwood’s girlfriend in the 1971 thriller Play Misty for Me.
She next was in the heist film Murph the Surf (1975).
After that came her role of a lifetime: as Abby Cunningham on the primetime soap opera Knots Landing with Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark.
Last week she joined friends Alana Stewart, Morgan Fairchild and Jaclyn Smith at the Farrah Fawcett Foundation 2025 Tex-Mex Fiesta at The Rustic in Dallas, Texas.
See her now.
Donna Mills – seen in 1975 – has been able to maintain a stunning figure in her 80s. She was out last week with her pal Jaclyn Smith and still looks great, see her now
The icon had on a pale turquoise dress with beads on the fringe as she added a black belt and long earrings.
Mills appeared much younger than her 84 years.
Last year she told First For Women what some of her tricks are to keep her Hollywood shape as she promoted her show Ladies Of The ’80s with Linda Gray, Loni Anderson, Nicollette Sheridan and Fairchild.
The beauty noted that carbs are out – so that’s a no to cinnamon rolls and bagels. ‘I love bread, I love dessert, I love ice cream and all those things, but carbs make me put on pounds so I try to avoid them,’ began Mills. ‘As a dancer eating protein was the way I had to eat.’
But she has recently found a way to enjoy some sweets: ‘I found a great Keto book and began to make some low and no sugar desserts out of it and they’re delicious.’
She also shared what she fixes herself for dinner. ‘I make spaghetti squash instead of pasta,’ noted Donna. ‘I make my own out of fresh squash but you can buy it already made. I sauté a little garlic and butter then put that over it with a little Parmesan cheese. It’s divine and satisfying.’
The looker co-starred with Clint Eastwood in the classic Play Misty For Me; seen in the film in 1971
Mills and Eastwood in Play Misty for Me. The psychological thriller was directed by Eastwood
Mills also shared what she does when she gets sleepy in the afternoon.
‘At around 4 o’clock in the afternoon I get sleepy all of a sudden I’m yawning I don’t like to drink coffee then because I won’t be able to sleep at night so I get out into the fresh air and take a brisk walk even just 10 minutes,’ said the pinup.
‘It wakes me up and refreshes me.’
And she reaches for the water instead of a soda.
‘Staying hydrated is also important for energy I never used to be aware of this I could go all day without drinking water but I began to realize that isn’t good for me,’ said Mills.
‘Now I drink about two large bottles a day I’d like to put a little lemon in the water for a little flavor or when exercising I add an electrolyte additive.’
She also told AARP – The Magazine how she she stays young looking.
Mills became a pinup thanks to her TV series Knot’s Landing; seen in 1975
Joan Van Ark, Ted Shackelford, Donna Mills, Nicolette Sheridan, Kevin Dobson, William Devane, Michele Lee on Knots Landing which aired from 1979 until 1993
‘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.
And she talked diet too.
‘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.’
Mills became a first-time mother at the age of 54 when she adopted her baby daughter Chloe in 1994.
The former dancer always worked out; seen in 1983
‘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.’
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.
Last week she was seen at the Farrah Fawcett Foundation 2025 Tex-Mex Fiesta at The Rustic in Dallas, Texas
She joined friends – from left – Alana Stewart, Morgan Fairchild and Jaclyn Smith
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.
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.’
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.”
