Donna Consuelos Wilkes was born in Spanish Harlem in New York City to a Spanish and French mother and Irish father. Her father, Wayman Otis Wilkes, was a doctor and her mother was a nightclub singer who divorced when she was 3 months old.
Donna began acting at age four, when her mother enrolled her in the Meglin Kiddies School in New York City. While at the Meglin School, she starred in several productions including “Peter Pan” and the school’s version of “Singin’ in the Rain,” and did her first commercial for Keds tennis shoes at age six. Acting lessons continued, along with lessons in jazz dance, ballet and gymnastics, until age eleven when she stopped everything associated with entertainment to become a “normal student.”
At age 12, Donna went to live with her aunt and uncle in the Dominican Republic, where she graduated high school at the Collegio Santo Domingo at age 14. By the time she turned 15, Donna left home for Los Angeles and discovered that there were very few employment opportunities for a girl her age. She convinced two employers that she was 18 years old and married and for the next year, she worked up to 16 hours a day, five days a week as a computer operator for an ambulance service and as a secretary for a large corporation in Culver City.
At age 17, Donna tried acting again. Her first role was a small part in the Universal Pictures release Almost Summer (1978) which got her a SAG card and later led to her role in Universal’s Jaws 2 (1978). Other feature films followed, including Schizoid (1980) with Klaus Kinski, Blood Song (1982) with Richard Jaeckel and Frankie Avalon, and Hard Knocks (1979) with Keenan Wynn.
In 1979, Donna was put under contract to Norman Lear’s company, resulting in a co-starring role on the NBC series Hello, Larry (1979) with McLean Stevenson. Other television credits include roles on Father Murphy (1981), House Calls (1979), T.J. Hooker (1982), and The Incredible Hulk (1977).
Donna also had a recurring role in the NBC daytime series Days of Our Lives (1965) from 1982-1983 where she played “Pamela,” a drug addict. She has had featured roles in The Courage and the Passion (1978) and Born to Be Sold (1981) both movies of the week.
