TLDR: Donna Mills played television’s most deliciously scheming socialite for nine years, but she personally drew a line producers wanted to cross. Decades later, at 85, she’s still talking candidly about exactly where that line was and why she wouldn’t budge.
Donna Mills played Abby Cunningham on Knots Landing from 1980 to 1989, a character who moved through multiple marriages and business ventures while remaining the show’s most reliably manipulative presence. The role became her defining one, built on a character audiences loved to distrust.
She Told Producers a Planned Storyline Would Never Be Forgiven
In a Season 6 storyline, producers originally planned to have Abby personally orchestrate the kidnapping of Valene Ewing’s newborn twins, telling Valene the babies had died at birth when they’d actually been stolen.
Mills went directly to writer and producer David Crane and refused.
“They wanted me to be the one who stole Valene’s twins,” Mills recalled decades later on the podcast That’s Classic! “I said, ‘David, if you don’t want me on the show anymore, go ahead with the storyline the way it is because the audience will not forgive me for that. I can do a bunch of other stuff. I could steal somebody’s husband,'” she continued, drawing a clear line between the kind of scheming audiences would tolerate from Abby and the kind they wouldn’t.
Producers ultimately agreed, rewriting the storyline so a corrupt doctor, rather than Abby, turned out to be responsible for the theft. “They listened to me, and there were innuendos that I had done it or whatever,” Mills said. “But in the end it came out that it wasn’t me.”
She Gave a Future Movie Star Some Surprisingly Accurate Advice
Mills worked alongside a young Alec Baldwin during his time on the show, and she’s since revealed what she told him after he was let go. “I said, ‘Alec, don’t feel bad. This is the best thing that ever happened to you. You’re going to go, and you’re going to get bigger and better things,'” she recalled telling him, adding that she specifically predicted a future for him in movies.
You can read the complete story of Baldwin’s exit from the show in our piece on Alec Baldwin.
She’s Still Working, and Still Talking About the Show
Mills has stayed a visible, active presence in entertainment well into her 80s, regularly revisiting her Knots Landing years in interviews and podcast appearances.
She paid public tribute to costar Kevin Dobson following his 2020 death, and continues to be one of the most candid living voices from the entire primetime soap era.
You can read more about the rest of the Knots Landing cast in our full guide to the show.
Donna Mills, Frequently Asked Questions
What storyline did Donna Mills refuse to film on Knots Landing?
She refused to have her character, Abby Cunningham, be revealed as the person who kidnapped Valene Ewing’s newborn twins, believing audiences would never forgive the character for it. Producers rewrote the storyline to blame a corrupt doctor instead.
Did Donna Mills work with Alec Baldwin?
Yes, she worked alongside him during his time on the show and gave him encouraging advice after he was let go, correctly predicting he’d find success in movies.
Is Donna Mills still active in entertainment?
Yes, as of this writing she remains a visible public figure, regularly discussing her Knots Landing years in interviews and podcast appearances.
