Oscar Winner from Iowa

[Abby Brown] The theater and museum behind me is rolling out the red carpet to celebrate a local girl who became a big time movie star.

(Map marking Crawford County in east central Iowa.)

(Text on the screen — It’s A Wonderful Life (1946))

[George Bailey] Merry Christmas!

[Girl] Look daddy, teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.

[George] That's right.

[Abby] During the holiday season, the heartwarming movie “It's a Wonderful Life,” is a viewing tradition for millions of families all around the world. Donna Reed stars in the movie alongside another famous actor, Jimmy Stewart. It's a true Hollywood classic. But did you know that Donna Reed was born and raised in Denison, Iowa? She was here all the way through high school before heading out to Hollywood.

(Trumpets play a bright, triumphant melody.)

Donna Reed appeared in over 40 movies in the 1940s and 1950s. She created her own television series too and made history doing it.

(A photograph of Donna Reed smiling warmly at the camera. She is a white woman with a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones and a graceful jawline. Her dark hair is styled in soft waves that frame her face. She’s wearing a sophisticated checked blouse.)

[Mary Owen, Donna Reed’s Daughter] Once she won the Oscar in 1953 for “From Here to Eternity,” she was frustrated with her roles and she and my father decided to go into television. They created the Donna Reed Show. It was on eight seasons, and she was very involved behind the scenes, too. So she was really a pioneer in those days. She was often hiring and firing people. Dialogue. Wanted to make sure it was realistic and you know was involved in every aspect.

[Abby] And not very many women were doing that at the time. So what does that say about your mom?

[Mary] She was out there, man. She just really blossomed into all these responsibilities and just grew into it and loved it.

[Abby] Through all of her success. Donna Reed always remembered she was an Iowa farm girl at heart and never forgot her hometown. She passed away many years ago (in) 1986, but her spirit lives on at the Donna Reed Museum and Center for Performing Arts, in Denison, Iowa. Visitors can experience a little bit of what Reed's show business life was like by checking out a huge collection of pictures and posters. On our visit here today, there's a piece of extra special memorabilia, a real Oscar award. Donna Reed won this for her performance in a movie called “From Here to Eternity.” Growing up in Denison, Donna Reed used to come to this exact theater to watch movies. By the time she was 20 years old, she was appearing on the movie screens herself. Seeing the accomplishments of a small town Iowa girl on display here, helps us all remember that with hard work and determination, we can achieve anything we put our minds to and still remember where we came from.

Not every county can lay claim to a movie superstar, but Crawford County is one of the lucky ones thanks to Donna Reed.

Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by The Coons Foundation, Pella and the Gilchrist Foundation.