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The following biography on Donna is from an Angel movie press kit that was distributed at the time of the movies release in 1984.

Biography of DONNA WILKES

What's a nice girl like Donna Wilkes doing portraying a teenage hooker? Or a teenage alcoholic? Or an unmarried, pregnant teenager?

It is in "Angel," a New World Picture release of a streetwise Production, that Donna plays the part of a 16-year-old honor student by day and a Hollywood Boulevard hooker by night. For some reason, Donna has found herself playing troubled adolescents in many of the films and television shows she has been involved with, a fact she minds not at all.

"Why should I mind?" she states."How many actresses get the chance to play these roles? They're not cutsie parts, but meaty roles that require hard work and present a challenge. That's what this business is all about for me."

Born in Manhattan, Donna is used to challenges. She began acting at age four, when her mother enrolled her in the Meglin Kiddies School in New York City. The little girl who lived next door to Donna's family was attending the school, so initially Donna's enrollment was a simple matter of "keeping up with the Jones'".

It wasn't long, however, until her natural talent began to surface. 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 and only television 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 set off on her own. Shortly after leaving home, she came to Los Angeles and discovered that there were very few employment opportunities for a girl in her mid-teens.

Determined to make it on her own, Donna convinced not one, but two employers that she was 18 years old and married. For the next year she worked as a computer operator for an ambulance service, and as a secretary for a large corporation in Culver City adding up to 16 hours a day, five days a week.

At age 17, Donna's interest in acting was rekindled. Her first role was a small part in the Universal Pictures release "Almost Summer," important in that it earned her a SAG card and later led to her role in Universal's Jaws 2. Other feature films followed, including "Schizoid" with Klaus Kinski, "Premonitions" with Richard Jaekel and Frankie Avalon, and "Hollywood Nights" 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" with McLean Stevenson. Other television credits include roles on "Father Murphy," "House Calls," "T.J. Hooker" and "The Incredible Hulk. "

Donna also has a recurring role in the NBC daytime series "Days of Our Lives," in which she plays "Pamela," a drug addict. She has had featured roles in "The Courage and the Passion" and "Born To Be Sold," both movies of the week, the latter starring Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman).