i I had a liver transplant and was um at

one particular point um before I had the

transplant I was very close to death and

teen star Shelley Fabberus had it all

her hit song Johnny Angel beat the

Beatles on the charts she starred with

Elvis in three movies then everything

crashed in 1994 she fell through her own

floor breaking every rib on her left

side doctors discovered a hidden illness

destroying her liver the only option was

a transplant for 22 months she waited

not knowing if she’d live or die what

happened next changed everything shelley

Fabarz was born on January 19th 1944 in

Santa Monica California her father came

from New Orleans and her mother would

later be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in

1988 but the biggest influence on Shel’s

life wasn’t her parents it was her aunt

nanette Fabre a Broadway and television

star had already won a Tony and three

Emmys before Shelley even got started

watching her aunt’s success gave Shelley

a front row view of what a life and show

business could look like it didn’t seem

like a dream it seemed possible by age

three Shelley was already modeling her

mother saw her potential and put her in

front of a camera in 1947 shel’s older

sister Nanette who they called Smokey

also did modeling but didn’t stick with

it shel on the other hand had something

special she looked young for her age

that meant she could keep playing

younger roles while other kids were

aging out of the business it gave her

more time to stay in the spotlight at

just 10 years old Shelley made her

television debut it was 1954 and she

appeared in Letter to Loretta that

single episode opened the floodgates

over the next few years she showed up in

Captain Midnight Annie Oakley Fury and

Colgate Theater then came a major

opportunity in Producers Showcase

Shelley got to act alongside Frank

Sinatra and Paul Newman for a kid that

was unheard of she also appeared in a

live version of Weathering Heights

proving she could handle serious

material by 1958 she had a major role in

Disney’s Zanette appearing in 15

episodes shelley wasn’t just another

child actor anymore she was becoming a

known name film roles followed in 1955

she appeared in The Girl Rush it was

uncredited but it got her on a movie set

the next year she played Susie Parker in

Never Say Goodbye she was only 12 but

her name was finally in the credits that

same year she also showed up in The Bad

Seed and Rock Pretty Baby though still

without credit in 1957 she acted in Jean

Eagles as just Teenage Girl again no

credit it kept happening small parts

often without recognition but each one

taught her something in 1958 she landed

roles in Marjgery Morning Star and

Summer Love things were building slowly

but steadily then came the break in 1958

at just 14 Shelley landed the role of

Mary Stone on the Donna Reed Show it

changed everything she went from

part-time roles to full-time stardom the

show ran for 191 episodes and Shelley

was there for most of them suddenly she

was a teen idol she wasn’t just acting

anymore she was becoming a cultural

figure her casting in the show wasn’t

typical by the time she auditioned she

had already sung with Frank Sinatra and

acted on national television that wasn’t

normal for a 14-year-old but Shelley

wasn’t normal she had been working since

she was three her aunt Nanette was

already famous she knew the industry

inside out she was young but she was

ready behind the scenes something deeper

was happening shelley and Donna Reed

developed a close bond it wasn’t just

co-stars it was almost family shelley

later said Donna was like a second

mother donna helped her grow not just as

an actress but as a person one day Donna

said “Why don’t you call me Donna

instead of Miss Reed?” Shelley was

shocked raised in Catholic school she

was used to formality it took her a

while to get used to it but it showed

how close they had become shelley Fabber

never planned to become a singer but in

late 1961 the network had other plans

they decided her character should sing

on the show and Shelley had no choice

but to go along that’s how she ended up

in a recording booth scared and

surrounded by top musicians she stood

next to Darlene Love and the Blossoms

who were real backup singers guitarist

Glenn Campbell drummer Hal Blaine and

basist Carol Kay played behind her

legends even then shelley could barely

believe it she admitted later “I never

could sing.” The producers knew it too

they flooded her vocals with echo to

cover her weaknesses especially in the

repeated line “Johnny Angel.” The song

aired on the show in early 1962 no one

expected much shelley certainly didn’t

but something wild happened just weeks

later on April 7th Johnny Angel hit

number one on the Billboard Hot 100 it

stayed on the chart for 15 weeks it also

topped the Cashbox chart and hit number

one in Canada and New Zealand even in

the UK where another singer had already

covered it Babaris’s version reached

number 41 over a million copies sold it

earned a gold disc all from someone who

never wanted to sing at all critics

called her voice warm soft and coated in

echo some even said her version beat the

professionals because of its sweetness

and innocence it didn’t sound bold or

confident but maybe that’s why it worked

the label rushed out another single in

May

1962 Johnny Loves Me was released it was

written by Barry Man and Cynthia While

and told the story of the same girl

finally winning Johnny’s Heart it didn’t

reach the same heights but still climbed

to number 21 on Billboard and number

seven on the adult contemporary chart in

Canada it reached number 24 shelley

followed up with The Things We Did Last

Summer which reached number 46 all of

these songs went on her second album

with the same title she didn’t perform

live much which was common at the time

for TV stars turned singers most

appearances were lip-sync anyway her

producers kept the sound the same dreamy

soft drenched in echo the songs were

meant for teenagers and they worked her

music didn’t challenge the charts for

long but it stayed in the memory of fans

who heard it at the time then came the

albums shelley was under contract with

Culpix’s Records and had to release

fulllength records her first was called

Shelly and by

1963 she had a third album out called

Teenage Triangle but behind the scenes

she wanted out the schedule was brutal

most shows today film around 22 episodes

per season the Donna Reed Show filmed 39

every year for 5 years straight shelley

was working almost non-stop from age 14

to 19 she even had to take classes on

set to keep up with school it was a

factory-like grind and it left little

room for teenage freedom after five

seasons Shelley made a bold move she

left the official reason was to go to

college but the truth was more

complicated she’d been pushed into a

music career she didn’t want she was

exhausted her departure wasn’t easy she

did return for seven more episodes in

later seasons but the damage had been

done for the next four years she

couldn’t get work hollywood moved on

shelley waited she believed the right

time would come again and eventually it

did when Shelley Farez showed up to film

Girl Happy in

1965 she had only been married for 17

days her new husband was producer Lou

Adler but it was Elvis Presley who

greeted her on set she was nervous at

first but the moment they met that

changed shel said it felt like they’d

known each other forever not in a

romantic way but something clicked elvis

already knew her work he’d seen her on

the Donna Reed Show and he knew her hit

song Johnny Angel which had gone to

number one back in 1962 he made her feel

comfortable from the start their

chemistry was obvious even the crew

noticed him critics would later say her

sweet innocent vibe worked perfectly

next to Elvis in Girl Happy she played

Valerie Frank the daughter of a Chicago

mobster elvis was hired to watch over

her during spring break in Fort

Lauderdale it was a light fun movie but

it was more than that it was the

beginning of something real between them

not love but a friendship that would

last through three movies in three years

the next year they were back together in

Spin Out shot between February 21st and

April 7th

1966 shelley played Cynthia Fox Hugh a

spoiled rich girl whose father owned a

racing company this time Elvis’s

character Mike McCoy had three love

interests Shelley Diane McBain and

Deborah Wall-E that could have made

things awkward but it didn’t in fact

Carl Betts who had played Shel’s father

on the Donna Reed Show was cast as her

father again in Spin Out that familiar

face helped ease the tension on set the

movie was a hit with fans part of that

was the chemistry between Elvis and the

women all three brought something unique

and none of them faded next to him elvis

was paid

$750,000 for the film plus 40% of the

profits that kind of money showed just

how powerful his name still was members

of his Memphis Mafia would later say

that Shelley was the only co-star who

could match Anne Margaret’s energy that

wasn’t a small compliment anne Margaret

had been Elvis’s favorite by 1967 when

Clambake started filming things had

changed elvis had gained weight up from

170 lb to 200 he was upset with the

direction of his career the scripts were

getting worse the roles more predictable

a studio executive ordered him to slim

down that’s when he started using diet

pills which would haunt him for years on

that set Shelley wasn’t just a co-star

she was a listener a confidant they

talked privately for hours in trailers

and dressing rooms one day he told her

something he hadn’t told almost anyone

that he was going to marry Priscilla

Bolio when he left the room and told the

others “I told her,” they were stunned

many of them hadn’t even known but he

trusted Shelley clambake became a

turning point elvis’s frustration with

the movies was boiling over he had been

compared to James Dean once but instead

of serious roles he was stuck doing

forgettable scripts by then Shelley

wasn’t just an actress beside him she

was someone who understood the real man

someone who saw the cracks behind the

smile even though they worked so closely

together their relationship stayed

strictly platonic that wasn’t always the

case with Elvis and his co-stars colonel

Tom Parker Elvis’s manager often

encouraged fake romances to help sell

tickets it had worked with Anne Margaret

in Viva Las Vegas and helped boost her

fame but Shelley and Elvis didn’t play

that game she later said their

friendship was real and honest he didn’t

have to perform with her there was no

pressure to flirt no headlines to chase

and maybe that’s why he trusted her so

much years later Shel looked back on

that time with both warmth and sadness

she saw what fame had done to him i just

ache for what happened with him she said

she knew he had made some bad choices

but she also understood why he had gone

from being a 19-year-old boy in Tupelo

Mississippi to the biggest star in the

world almost overnight she remembered

one moment in the MGM cafeteria elvis

peaked through the door and the entire

room ran toward him “what was it like?”

she asked “to be that boy and have that

happen a hundred times more?” He never

stood a chance the pressure the

isolation the expectations it all

chipped away at him shelley Faberes had

been working in show business since she

was just three years old but in the late

1960s everything came to a sudden stop

she once said “I went to bed on Tuesday

having worked since I was three i got up

Wednesday morning and didn’t work for 4

years.” That wasn’t just a dry spell it

was a full-blown career crisis the

cheerful image that had once made her

famous no longer fit with the changing

times audiences wanted something deeper

and more serious vietnam politics and

rebellion were shaping pop culture

shel’s sweet and innocent screen

presence didn’t stand a chance she later

admitted she didn’t take risks she was

scared to reinvent herself afraid to do

something bold i should have been more

aggressive she said that fear probably

cost her some big opportunities but

eventually she started working again

slowly her comeback began with a guest

role on the show Manx it wasn’t a big

part but it was a step forward after

that she kept appearing in shows like

The Ghost and Mrs mure Daniel Boone and

Medical Center each one helped rebuild

what she had almost lost in 1968 right

in the middle of all this struggle she

starred in a movie called A Time to Sing

with Hank Williams Jr the film was

supposed to boost both their careers but

it didn’t work out shelley played Amy

Carter and Hank played Grady Dodd a

young farmer drawn into music against

his uncle’s wishes the plot didn’t make

much sense and critics tore it apart it

got a weak 5.4 four out of 10 on IMDb

one reviewer called it idiot plotting

where every character made decisions

that just didn’t add up even though it

was produced by Sam Catsman who had a

history of success with teen movies this

one flopped it failed to impress both

the audience and the critics during

these years Shelley took any role she

could get she jumped from one guest spot

to another she was seen in Lancer

Bracken’s World and The Interns after

her role in Manx she appeared in Long

Street Mloud Owen Marshall Cades County

and Love American Style but no matter

how many roles she played Hollywood

still saw her as Mary Stone the teenager

from the Donna Reed Show that image

followed her like a shadow one standout

role came in

1974 on the Rockford Files she played

Jolene Highland the wife of an embezzler

who had stolen over $4 million her

character hired Jim Rockford to track

down

$750,000 in rare stamps her husband had

bought it was a grown-up part with

twists betrayal and criminal schemes for

once Shelley wasn’t just the nice girl

she was sharp driven and layered it

showed she could handle more mature

roles but Hollywood still kept her boxed

in by the early 1980s Shel’s career was

still moving but life behind the scenes

was changing even more she didn’t file

for bankruptcy but there were hints of

financial stress in 1983 she took a role

in a TV movie called Memorial Day that’s

where she met Mike Frell the actor known

from

MASH they fell in love and married in

1984 not long after they bought a modest

house in Sherman Oaks frell later called

it their honeymoon house it wasn’t fancy

but it was theirs shelley Fab never

expected her life to change at a simple

CBS convention in 1982 she had been

through a tough divorce from Lou Adler

mike Frell also newly divorced from Judy

Frell was just another familiar face at

the event they had met once before back

in 1970 but it meant nothing then this

time something clicked a casual coffee

turned into something deeper when Mike

invited her to see his photography work

one year later over a quiet meal at a

health food restaurant in Topanga Canyon

Mike proposed shelley said yes they got

married on August 21st 1984 in a small

ceremony at her aunt’s house that aunt

was actress Nanette Fabre the years that

followed were not easy both had children

from previous marriages both were

healing from old wounds but they made it

work quietly and steadily in 1989

Shelley landed the role that would

redefine her career christine Armstrong

on coach it was a surprise win nearly

200 women had auditioned many were

younger abc executives didn’t think she

fit the part but producer Barry Kemp

pushed hard he believed Shelley was the

perfect mix of sharp funny and strong he

was right at first coach didn’t draw

much attention it ranked just 62nd

shelley joked that only six people were

watching but then ABC moved it to air

after Roseanne ratings shot up suddenly

millions were tuning in on screen

Shelley and Craig T nelson looked like

the perfect match but behind the scenes

it wasn’t always smooth craig’s acting

was unpredictable shelley preferred

order one day during episode 11 after

too many retakes they had a long talk in

her dressing room it lasted 2 hours they

cleared the air from that moment their

dynamic shifted their on-screen

chemistry became real their characters

married in the show’s 100th episode

aired in May

1993 success followed shelley earned two

Emmy nominations in 1993 and

1994 they were the only ones of her

adult career for someone who had started

acting at age three who had once starred

in the Donna Reed Show the recognition

came late but felt right the Young

Artist Foundation even honored her with

a lifetime achievement award her

proudest work was no longer behind her

but just as things were at their best

everything changed in 1994 that year

Shelley fell through a hole in her home

floor during renovations the fall

shattered every rib on her left side she

was 50 the pain was unbearable recovery

took months still she kept working on

coach at the time everyone thought it

was just a horrible accident but

something worse was coming after the

fall her doctors ran routine tests her

liver enzyme levels were dangerously

high no one knew why more tests followed

more confusion it took years before

doctors finally diagnosed her with

autoimmune hepatitis her immune system

was attacking her liver medications

helped for a while but the damage

continued she felt exhausted all the

time sometimes she slept 20 hours a day

her husband Mike was worried shelley

stayed strong in public but inside she

was falling apart then in early 1999 the

hidden crisis exploded at home without

warning Shel suffered a massive

esophageal bleed blood vessels in her

throat burst open she was rushed to

Cedar Sinai doctors told her the worst

her liver was failing medication could

no longer help only a transplant could

save her in April 1999 she was placed on

the transplant list for the next 22

months her life was a waiting game every

day was uncertain every time her pager

went off she hoped but many times it was

a mistake each false alarm crushed her

she grew weaker still she waited the

call came just after midnight on October

23rd 2000 after 22 long stressful months

on the transplant list Shelley Fabber

finally heard the words she had been

waiting for we have your liver it was Dr

john Verling on the phone for Shelley

and her husband actor Mike Ferrell the

moment didn’t feel real they had been

through several false alarms before

times when the transplant pager went off

only for it to be a wrong number each

time had been terrifying shelley once

said “We honestly thought we might die

of stress before we ever got the

transplant by the time the real call

came Shel was in bad shape she could

barely stay awake i wasn’t in pain,” she

said later “but I was just so tired i’d

wake up thirsty try to get up for water

then think no I’m more tired than I am

thirsty,” and go back to sleep at that

point she and Mike knew how serious it

had become more than half the people

waiting for liver transplants never get

one in time her medical problems had

started years earlier and not in the way

anyone expected in 1994 Shelley fell

through the floor of her home while it

was under construction she broke all the

ribs on her left side during routine

testing after the accident doctors

noticed something strange her liver

numbers were off the charts they

couldn’t explain why for years medicine

kept her stable though her numbers were

still too high then in early 1999 she

suffered a terrifying esophageal bleed

she was rushed to Cedar Sinai Medical

Center that was the turning point

doctors told her the bleed came from

liver failure medication wasn’t enough

anymore and another bleed could be fatal

she needed a transplant to survive the

operation finally took place in October

2000 it saved her life though the exact

details of the surgery aren’t public the

cause of her liver failure was later

found to be an autoimmune disorder her

recovery wasn’t easy the body doesn’t

bounce back quickly from such a major

surgery she had to rebuild strength deal

with constant fatigue and carry the

weight of everything she had been

through what helped her get through it

was Mike shelley called him her lifeline

he was there for every doctor’s

appointment she said “He was with me

every step of the way some marriages

fall apart under pressure like this

theirs didn’t it only got stronger.”

Shelley later said “We became closer i

don’t know how I could have made it

through without him.” Shelley never

forgot that the transplant was only

possible because another family lost

someone they loved she once said she was

always aware that she was living on

borrowed time the weight had been brutal

22 months filled with fear uncertainty

and hope though she didn’t talk publicly

about her donor she spoke often about

her deep gratitude organ transplants

come with complicated emotions you’re

alive but someone else isn’t that

reality never left her the mental toll

was heavy too while Shelley didn’t

publicly talk about PTSD studies show

that 46% of liver transplant patients

experience severe stress after surgery

up to 45.8% 8% suffer depression many

feel anxiety that lingers long after the

physical scars heal shelley admitted the

experience changed her completely even

though life has returned to some degree

of normaly she said “I’m a different

person what I care about and how I see

life it’s all changed.” By 2003 3 years

after her transplant she had gained some

distance but the memories and emotions

were still there i’m grateful for my

life grateful for my doctors grateful

for what I’ve learned she said but most

of all I’m grateful for my husband still

despite all the growth and strength she

found Shelley was honest about the cost

i wouldn’t wish this experience on

anyone shelley Fabis didn’t start out as

an activist she was a famous actress

known for her work in TV and film but

everything changed when Alzheimer’s hit

her family her mother Elsa was diagnosed

in the early 1980s shelley didn’t know

it at first but her mother had already

spent years quietly donating to

Alzheimer’s research she had even told

Shel’s sister that if she ever got the

disease she’d rather take her own life

but by the time doctors diagnosed her it

was too late she didn’t remember what

she’d once said elsa battled Alzheimer’s

for nine long years in 1992 she passed

away the loss hit Shelley hard but

instead of turning away she turned her

pain into purpose since

1988 before her mother even died she had

already started volunteering for the

Alzheimer’s Association she stayed

committed she became one of their

national spokespeople this wasn’t just

about awareness shelley wanted change

and she didn’t stop at speeches or

charity events she went straight to

Washington between 1998 and 2004 she

testified before Congress four times she

spoke about the pain the need for help

and the importance of funding research

she didn’t hold back her words made an

impact during a Senate hearing in 2001

Senator Tom Harkin pointed to her

earlier testimony as a turning point the

numbers prove it the NIH’s budget for

Alzheimer’s research jumped from $38

million in 1996 to $520 million in 2001

shelley kept fighting she used her fame

not for fame’s sake but to push for

something bigger she once said “I love

being an actress but with the work I’m

doing for Alzheimer’s I feel this is

what I’m supposed to be doing on this

planet.” And she meant it what started

as a family tragedy became her life’s

mission