# RIP Shelly Fabares, dies at 82 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [August 24, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-shelly-fabares-dies-at-82/1032525 "2026-08-24T14:40:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-shelly-fabares-dies-at-82/1032525/1 "2026-08-24T14:40:29Z")
I remember Shelly from _Coach_ and the last three seasons of _One Day At a Time_. I had a teen crush on her in high school, and always enjoyed her work on Coach. She appeared in _Superman: The Animated Series_ as Martha Kent in the late 90’s. Shelly was married to Mike Farrell (MASH). RIP > **[Shelley Fabares, 'Johnny Angel' singer and actor in ‘The Donna Reed Show’ and...](https://apnews.com/article/shelley-fabares-obituary-3eff1ba6cde3260f478713466a669fe6)** > > Fabares was born in Santa Monica, California, in 1944, and started acting as a young child. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-shelly-fabares-dies-at-82/1032525/2 "2026-08-24T15:20:23Z")
And she is the niece of **Nanette Fabray** , who played the grandma Romano on **One Day at a Time** with her niece. Probably best remembered for The Band Wagon which brought us the song “That’s Entertainment”. The pair of them were child actresses that both transitioned to acting without any major problems. Shelley started at age 10 or 11. became a bit of a star as the daughter on the Donna Reed Show as Mary Stone. None of the Obits I read mentioned this connection, so I thought I would. She was friends with Annette Funicello since they were young teens and remained friends throughout their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-shelly-fabares-dies-at-82/1032525/3 "2026-08-24T15:48:47Z")
Another teen crush gone. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-shelly-fabares-dies-at-82/1032525/4 "2026-08-24T16:54:32Z")
I remember hoping Shelly would Sing in an episode of _Coach_. I don’t think she ever did in any of her later acting roles. There were 199 episodes of coach. Craig, Jerry, Bill, and Shelly were credited in all of them. That’s a lot of hard work. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-shelly-fabares-dies-at-82/1032525/5 "2026-08-24T17:22:28Z")
I seem to remember her saying at one point that she didn’t really think she was a good singer, and didn’t enjoy singing. She was essentially made to record “Johnny Angel” as part of her job on _The Donna Reed Show_, but found the process very intimidating. None of her follow-up records were ever as successful. As mentioned, she voiced Martha Kent on _Superman: The Animated Series_. Her husband, Mike Farrell, voiced Jonathan Kent, which I always thought was kind of sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-shelly-fabares-dies-at-82/1032525/6 "2026-08-24T21:30:24Z")
I never watched “Coach,” but I did watch an earlier, less successful series “The Brian Keith Show” aka “The Little People” from the early 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-shelly-fabares-dies-at-82/1032525/7 "2026-08-24T21:48:36Z")
She’s looking down at me as I type…from my poster for _Ride the Wild Surf_.