Published January 15, 1986 Cancer Kills Donna Reed AP-Donna Reed who starred as a model wife and mother on her own television series but won an academy award portraying a prostitute, died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer. She was 64. "Miss Reed died at her Beverly Hills home at 9:17 a.m. Her husband, Grover Asmus, was at her side ," said Pat Gibson , a press agent for Miss Reed's publicist and friend Harry Flynn. Miss Reed won a supporting oscar in 1953 for her role as a prostitute in From Here to Eternity, the tale of army life on the eve of Pearl Harbor. But she is probably best remembered as Mrs. Stone , the ideal wife to a pediatrician and mother of two on ABC's The Donna Reed Show, which co-starred Carl Betz, Paul Peterson, Shelley Fabares and in later years, Patty Peterson. The show ran for eight seasons beginning in 1958. " She was the classiest lady I ever worked with and she will be sorely missed," said Jerry Lewis , who starred with her in The Caddy in 1953. During the 1984-1985 season , the hazel-eyed Miss Reed appeared as Miss Ellie on the prime-time soap opera hit Dallas, but that role ended with a lawsuit when she was cut to make room for the return of Barbara Bel Geddes as the character. Miss Reed accepted a $1 million settlement in the suit in August. " She was just a lovely person . It ( her death) hurts a lot," said Leonard Katzman, producer of Dallas from its beginning in 1978 until 1985. He is now a creative consultant for the series. Losing the role after a season was difficult for her, Katzman said. " She was hurt and rightfully so but decisions are sometimes made in the name of ratings, and I think that was one of them." Miss Reed was hospitalized several months ago for ulcers . While she was being treated at Cedars Sinai Medical Center for bleeding ulcers in December , the malignancy in her pancreas was discovered. Miss Reed's other film appearances included Frank Capra's classic It's a Wonderful Life, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Green Dolphin Street, The Last Time I Saw Paris, and The Benny Goodman Story. Her funeral will be at Westwood Cemetary, " But we don't have a date or time," Ms Gibson said. Born in Denison, Iowa , Miss Reed came out of Los Angeles City College to start acting at MGM when she was 20, also working as a dishwasher, librarian and secretary. She graduated from The Thin Man, Dr. Gillespie and Andy Hardy series to become a star with They Were Expendable in 1945. She was seen infrequently on television after The Donna Reed Show went off the air. " I just wouldn't do the junk I was offered," she said before she returned to acting. " I didn't like the way films were treating women . Most of the roles were very passive-women in jeopardy, poor stupid souls who couldn't help themselves." In the late 60's and early 70's, Miss Reed became active in the Beverly Hills- based anti-war group called Another Mother for Peace. " I love my country, but I feel it got off the track," she said in 1971. " This is my way of helping it find its way back." In 1978 she starred in the four-hour NBC movie, The Best Place to Be, then returned in 1979 for a two-hour episode of Love Boat, filmed in Hong Kong