Donna Mills: ‘My Life Wasn’t Going to be Complete Until I Had a Child’
By Movieguide® Contributor
KNOTS LANDING star Donna Mills quit acting in her 50s to focus her life on motherhood and raising her adopted daughter.
“That yearning was there. The yearning grew bigger as I got older…I knew my life wasn’t going to be complete…As wonderful as my career was, as wonderful as my life was, there was a big hole,” Mills told Tamron Hall about her desire for motherhood.
Movieguide® previously reported on Mills’ career change: “I took off 18 years. I didn’t work,” Mills said. “Well, the first couple of years, I did work. 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.”
At the time, critics attacked then 54-year-old Mills for being too old to raise a toddler. Now 81, Mills realizes that she could fully devote her time and energy into raising her daughter at that point in her life.
“I knew I had a lot to give a child, and I wanted to do it. I was jealous every time I saw a kid run up to its mama,” Mills explains.
“I was so driven in my career, so it’s one of the reasons I waited. I didn’t want to resent the time that I would have to give,” Mills explains her decision to wait to start her family.
She eventually adopted her daughter Chloe, but she stepped away from a highly successful acting career that she might have never returned to. For Mills, though, “I didn’t worry about it because I wanted so much to be a mom.”
After 18 years, Mills returned to her career.
But, “I just I knew my life wasn’t going to be complete until I had a child,” Mills reflected on her close relationship with her daughter. “She’s my daughter. I’m her mother.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Donna Mills and her daughter:
KNOTS LANDING star Donna Mills recently shared how adopting her first child in her 50s changed her life.
“I was very concentrated on my career, but at a certain point, I realized there was something missing — it was a child,” Mills explained. “So I went after it. I adopted her when she was 4 days old.”
She continued: “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. I never felt older than the other mothers who were probably in their 20s.”
The actress spent her earlier years focused on her acting career, but once she adopted her daughter, Mills dropped everything to be a mother.
“I took off 18 years. I didn’t work,” Mills said. “Well, the first couple of years, I did work. 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.”
Mills’ daughter, Chloe, is now 27, and the mother and daughter are very close.
“We see each other at least once a week and we talk every day or text,” the actress shared.
Mills’ story of becoming a mother later in life and her devotion to her daughter shows that it is never too late to become a parent!
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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