Born in 1954, this dark-haired actress has enjoyed a Hollywood career spanning more than 50 years. She first rose to fame after starring alongside Travolta in a wildly popular ’70s movie that became a cultural phenomenon and sparked major fashion and music trends.
A graduate of Sheepshead Bay High School, she went on to build an impressive television résumé, with roles on daytime dramas including All My Children and One Life to Live. Years later, she shared the screen with Shia LaBeouf on Disney Channel’s Even Stevens and even appeared opposite James Gandolfini in the final season of The Sopranos.
Now 71, the actress was recently spotted in Los Angeles enjoying a low-key lunch at Granville, dressed casually in a denim jacket and jeans.
The star is Donna Pescow.
She is best remembered for her role as Annette in the 1977 blockbuster Saturday Night Fever, where she starred opposite Travolta. For the part, Pescow had to relearn her Brooklyn accent. While Travolta’s performance dominated headlines, her portrayal remains an essential part of the film’s legacy.
Saturday Night Fever didn’t just become a box-office smash — it reignited the disco craze and produced one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time, driven by the Bee Gees. The album has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.
In 2023, Pescow reunited with Travolta for a nostalgic Capital One Christmas commercial, with her playing a cashier and him portraying Santa Claus.
The same year Saturday Night Fever debuted, Pescow joined the ABC soap One Life to Live as Celena Arquette. In 1978, she portrayed one of Judy Garland’s older sisters in the TV biopic Rainbow.
She later headlined her own ABC sitcom, Angie, which ran from 1979 to 1980 and co-starred Robert Hays, Debralee Scott, and Doris Roberts. Additional TV appearances followed, including a stint on The Love Boat alongside Gavin MacLeod.
In 1982, she broke ground by playing Dr. Lynn Carson, the first openly lesbian character on a daytime soap, on All My Children, a role she held until 1983. Throughout the decade, she continued to appear on popular series such as Police Woman, Trapper John, M.D., Hotel, and Fantasy Island.
From 1987 to 1991, she starred as Donna Garland in the syndicated children’s comedy Out of This World. She continued working steadily through the ’90s, with guest roles on Clueless, NYPD Blue, Pauly, Ivory Tower, and in the TV movie Dead Husbands.
Between 1999 and 2001, she played the villainous Gertrude Morgan on General Hospital, and also appeared on Partners and Philly. Entering the world of teen television, she joined Even Stevens, which aired on Disney Channel from 2000 to 2003, and later reprised her role in The Even Stevens Movie.
She went on to appear in Crossing Jordan in 2006 and made a memorable appearance in the 2007 series finale of The Sopranos as Donna Parisi, wife of mobster Patsy Parisi.
Most recently, Pescow appeared in the 2023 series Welcome to Chippendales, marking her latest role in a long and varied career.
