'Coach's' Fabares Has Liver Transplant

Oct. 27 -- Actress Shelley Fabares, who appeared on ABC’s long-running Coach, is recuperating from liver transplant surgery, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Danny Chung of the Alzheimer’s Association, a group that Fabares works for, said the actress underwent surgery this week and was “recovering well” in a Los Angeles-area hospital.

“She’s doing well, and doctors do expect a full recovery,” he said, adding that he did not know when she would be discharged from the hospital.

Chung said the actress suffered a deterioration of her liver as the result of an autoimmune disorder. He gave no other details about the operation or Fabares’ condition.

Fabares has served as a volunteer and spokeswoman for the Alzheimer’s Association since 1988.

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Donna Reed’s DaughterFabares, 56, is married to actor Mike Farrell, who stars on the hit NBC drama Providence and played B.J. Hunnicut on M.A.S.H.

Fabares is perhaps best known as the spunky TV newswoman married to a thick-skulled Minnesota football coach (played by Craig T. Nelson) on the ABC comedy Coach, which aired from 1989 to 1997.

Fabares’ first big break came in the late 1950s, when she landed the role of teenage daughter Mary Stone on The Donna Reed Show. She also played the female lead in three Elvis Presley movies during the 1960s: Girl Happy, Spinout, and Clambake.

Reuters contributed to this story.