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Death of actress Shelley Fabares is a profound loss
- Rita Rose
- 6 minutes ago
- 4 min read
There have been several celebrity deaths lately, but none have affected me like the loss of actress Shelley Fabares on August 22, 2026.
Like so many of us who grew up in the ’60s, Shelley Fabares (pronounced Fa-bah-RAY) was part of our childhood and teen years as Mary Stone on “The Donna Reed Show.” (Her aunt, actress Nanette Fabray, Americanized the spelling and pronunciation.)
Her acting career included three Elvis movies and many other movie and TV roles, including “Coach,” “The Little People” and her best role ever, as football player Brian Piccolo’s wife, Joy, in the TV movie “Brian’s Song.” She also starred in “One Day at a Time,” a sitcom set in Indianapolis, and had a recording career with a #1 hit, “Johnny Angel.”
Her family said that “Shelley was a source of love, strength, laughter, and comfort. She was a devoted wife, cherished stepmother, daughter, sister, niece, aunt, family member, and loyal friend whose warmth, generosity, humor, and grace made an enduring difference in the lives of everyone who knew her. She had a remarkable ability to make people feel welcomed, valued, and cared for. . . . She brought talent, intelligence, and warmth to every performance. But to those closest to her, her greatest legacy was personal: the love she gave so freely, the friendships she treasured, and the family bonds she held dear.”
I’m not sure who young girls look up to in this day and age, but in the ’60s we had wonderful role models whose lives and personalities inspired us to be good people. One of mine was Shelley, along with her best friend, Annette Funicello. They were called “teen idols” back in the day, and for good reason.
Annette was on my radar first, having been a huge fan of “The Mickey Mouse Club” and starting a fan club for her in 1961, which lasted 28 years. Shelley met Annette
in catechism class, then worked with her in the “Annette” serial on the MMC, when their friendship grew. In 1965, I met Shelley when she was a bridesmaid in Annette’s wedding – it was the first time I met Annette, too.
While working at The Indianapolis Star, I interviewed Shelley a couple of times by phone for her TV work and, later, when she came to Indianapolis to give a talk about Alzheimer’s Disease. Shelley was a passionate, high-profile advocate for Alzheimer's awareness and research, due to being the primary caregiver for her mother, who battled the disease for nine years until her death in 1992.
Shelley and Annette had a long, enduring friendship until Annette passed away in 2013. She was with Annette when she died from complications of MS and pneumonia. Ironically, Shelley passed away from pneumonia, too. Besties sharing to the end.
Shelley and I both spoke at Annette’s Celebration of Life at Walt Disney Studios, and chatted after the event about the profound loss of our friend. In 2020, Shelley provided me with a lot of insight into her friendship with Annette. Hers is the first chapter in my book that came out that year, “Annette Funicello: Tributes from Fans and Friends.”
Now Shelley is gone at age 82, leaving holes in many hearts, including her husband of 42 years, “M*A*S*H” actor Mike Farrell. For more about Mike and Shelley’s marriage, click here: https://people.com/all-about-shelley-fabares-mike-farrell-relationship-12066162
One heartbroken friend of Shelley’s is Bill Gerace, who has run a Facebook page dedicated to her for many years. Shelley was fascinated with Bill’s collection of
memorabilia and they visited each other often. “We spent hours going through my collection. She enjoyed tripping down memory lane,” Bill recalls.
“I met her twice in fan-like situations before finally actually getting to talk with her uninterrupted and tell her how much she had meant to my life,” says Bill. “From that
day in 1978, our friendship blossomed into one of trust, caring and love. I could talk to Shelley about anything and we often sat and had very deep conversations about life, politics etc. She had taught me so much about Alzheimer’s disease that when my mom was stricken with the disease, as her mom was, she was a tremendous help in my ability to deal with the situation.
“Shelley had a beautiful laugh and a smile that could light up a stadium. Age never dimmed those qualities. I always looked at her through the eyes of love. My life was truly enriched by having Shelley in it and my life will never be the same without her.”
Shelley Fabares was a talented, beautiful person inside and out who touched many lives. I feel lucky to have had her as a role model and acquaintance.
(For those who are wondering about her late-in-life funky, colorful hair, there’s a good reason behind it: In the late 1990s, Shelley was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, and needed a liver transplant. She had to wait two years for a donor, and in October 2000 she got the transplant. She was so grateful for having lived through such a scary diagnosis that she decided she would do something to remind her every day how lucky she was to be alive. It is blonde on the lower layer and coppery orange on the top with pink spikes. Pretty hip for an 82-year-old!)
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