Long-time actress Donna Mills is a favorite American household name. So when, at 54 years of age, she announced that she was putting her career indefinitely on hold in order to become a mom, many were shocked.
But what others might think or how they might judge is, of course, absolutely irrelevant when making personal life decisions. Despite being middle-aged, Mills knew something was missing from her life and decided to move forward with becoming a full-time mom to a beautiful little girl she named Chloe.
You can’t always decide the pace of your life or when the most important events might happen. For me, it was when I was 39 and met the man of my dreams. For Mills, it would happen even later: first with newfound love for her sweet daughter, then, when she met and fell in love with the man of her dreams: Larry Gilman.
Rocky Relationships
The talented actress launched her career in 1966 on television with a six-month stint on the CBS daytime soap opera The Secret Storm, as character Rocket.
Her acting career continued to boom with her role as the scheming, manipulative vixen Abby Cunningham on the long-running primetime soap opera Knots Landing, as well as a major recurring guest-starring role in the popular soap opera General Hospital.
But things were not always so successful in her private and romantic life. In her earlier years, Mills was in several relationships, many turbulent and none very successful.
She dated movie producer Allen Adler as well as the actor Vic Vallario. But perhaps the most well known and turbulent relationship of all was her 20 year union with Richard Holland.
The Holland Saga
Rock guitarist Richard Holland was previously married to musician Chaka Khan with whom he shares a son, Damian. The musician turned advert executive and most recently writer-producer has dabbled in a variety of careers.
Dissimilar on many levels, Mills and Holland made a somewhat odd couple. Mills considered herself an active, high-energy and motivated go-getter, unlike Holland who has reportedly been labeled as rather laid back and even lazy.
Indeed, Holland himself has confessed that he was not as motivated as Mills and could tolerate months of doing not very much and feeling rather apathetic, before finding the motivation to dive into something new.
The actress has reportedly admitted that she was “aware” that there was a general public dislike for Holland and that some perceived that he was a gold-digger, simply using her for her money.
Mills was during this time not only a hard-working and highly dedicated actress – she found the time to care for Holland’s son Damian. She made sure, for example, that he had his own room and space at her home whenever he would stay over when his mother was on a career tour or he was spending time with his father and Mills over the holidays.
All in all, the couple has described their 20 year relationship as “turbulent.” It was relatively unstable, inconsistent and they were often off-and-on over the course of their two decades together.
The actress has admitted that Holland was the first man to move in with her as he was the first man she was willing to sacrifice her her time, privacy and space for. In fact, when Holland moved into the star’s $1.5 million home, she even accepted that they redecorate to suit both their tastes
Mills attributes this decision to the fact that she was thriving in her career and felt she would not be able to properly focus on both her career and family life simultaneously. She was also, at the time, not in a hurry to have children of her own but maintained that she was open to the prospect of starting a family later in her life.
Late Motherhood
Things indeed moved in that direction rather late in the Soap Opera Digest award winner’s life. In 1994, at age 54 and at the height of her acting career, Mills finally decided it was time for her to have her own child.
“I was very concentrated on my career, but at a certain point, I realized there was something missing — it was a child,” she said. “So I went after it. I adopted her when she was four days old.”
Mills attributes this decision to the fact that she was thriving in her career and felt she would not be able to properly focus on both her career and family life simultaneously. She was also, at the time, not in a hurry to have children of her own but maintained that she was open to the prospect of starting a family later in her life.
Late Motherhood
Things indeed moved in that direction rather late in the Soap Opera Digest award winner’s life. In 1994, at age 54 and at the height of her acting career, Mills finally decided it was time for her to have her own child.
“I was very concentrated on my career, but at a certain point, I realized there was something missing — it was a child,” she said. “So I went after it. I adopted her when she was four days old.”
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