Jeff From 'The Donna Reed Show’ Was Treated Like ‘Chattel’ in Hollywood - He’s ‘Handsome’ at 77 & Shows His Navy Daughter

• Paul Petersen, a.k.a. Jeff Stone from "The Donna Reed Show," is a silver fox at 77!
• After leaving Hollywood, he opened up about his life, saying the industry treated him "as nothing more than chattel."
• Petersen showed off his beautiful daughter, whom he hadn't seen for years.

Paul Petersen went through the worst as a child star, starring as one of the "Mouseketeers" in "The Mickey Mouse Club" in 1955. His mom pushed him into show business at such a young age, and he obliged.

He appeared in several movies, including "The Monolith Monsters" in 1957 and "Houseboat" in 1958, alongside Sophia Loren and Cary Grant. It wasn't until he was cast in the crowd-favorite sitcom "The Donna Reed Show," however, that he got his big break.

Petersen starred as Reed's son in the show that began in 1958. The show became pivotal in showcasing what an ideal American nuclear family should be.

For years, people watched Petersen's character, "Jeff Stone," grow up in front of their eyes. When he was in his teenage years, he was a handsome dark-haired heartthrob that won the hearts of young viewers around the country.

Petersen ended up having fan clubs in different states. He, alongside his on-screen older sister, Shelley Fabares, was such a crowd favorite that they were given their own recording careers, somehow groomed to become idols despite them not having stellar singing voices.

Now, at 77 years old, the actor continues to win the hearts of his fans. They liken him to a "silver fox," and many are amazed that he seems to have aged like fine wine.

Others also remembered him for his work on "The Donna Reed Show." A fan commented that back in the day, he wished Petersen and Fabares were his older siblings.

Making a Quiet Hollywood Exit

When "The Donna Reed Show" ended in 1966, so did Petersen's teen idol fame. He made attempts to become a serious young adult actor, but none of the projects given made him transition from a child star to a well-respected actor.

The projects he undertook did nothing for him, and he felt lost and abandoned in an industry that once groomed him to become a star. He and his other friends, Ricky Nelson, Tony Daw, Johnny Crawford, and Don Grady, began driving fast cars around Hollywood while consuming loads of alcohol.

It wasn't an ideal childhood, but that was the only childhood they knew. In a span of three years, Petersen went from working for 16 weeks to having no work at all.

His realization that he needed another career came when Mickey Rooney visited him one day. He said that Hollywood would not be hiring Petersen again in the next 25 years, and it was best to find another life.

So, Petersen made a quiet exit and lived a normal life. He attended Yale and started writing. Today, he has 16 books to his name, with some about the lives of child actors after they left the industry – many of whom were left bankrupt by their parents and managers.

Years after leaving the industry, Petersen was disappointed to find out that Hollywood still treated their child actors the same way he and his contemporaries were treated back in the day. Talking about it, he said that then and now, child actors are "nothing more than chattel" to the system.

One day, Petersen heard the news about Rusty Hamer's passing. He was a child star who played Danny Thomas' son in "The Danny Thomas Show." In January 1990, when he was 42, he took his own life.

Hamer, like many other child stars who suddenly had nowhere to go after their careers ended, lived a life of poverty and depression. When he was no longer a profitable child actor, Hollywood had no use for him, and he was never cast in anything again.

His death pulled a heartstring, and Petersen told his wife it was time to do something. He was working on a book called “A Minor Consideration” at the time. He never finished the book, but he turned it into a support and intervention group.

A Minor Consideration is open to anyone who's ever been a child actor. They are a support group, but they're also an advocacy group that rallies for laws and practices for child actors to be followed and upheld.

When child star Erin Moran died at 56, Petersen, through his non-profit, released a statement about the "perversity of human frailty." While he said their group lent support to Moran using the resources given to them, sometimes, there are just some people who don't see the light switch in time.

Petersen has three children, one from a previous relationship and two from his second marriage.

What Is Known About Paul Petersen's Family?

Aside from the work he's done for child actors, Petersen has had quite a busy personal life. He has been married three times, first to Brenda Benet from 1967 to 1970.

He then married Hallie Litman from 1974 to 1988, when he was no longer in Hollywood. The third time was the charm for Petersen, who found himself lucky in love with Rana Jo Platz, to whom he's been married since 1992.

Petersen has three children, one from a previous relationship and two from his second marriage. He proudly shared a photo of one of his children, Shannon, in 2023.

Petersen was in Indianapolis to see a race. The following morning, he got a message from his daughter asking if he was in town. "We'd love to see you," the message wrote.

At the time, Petersen thought his daughter lived in Texas and had last seen her before the COVID-19 pandemic. It was news to him that his daughter had moved to Indiana just a month prior.

The former actor is also a proud grandfather, and he occasionally shares photos of his family on social media. He once posted an adorable picture of his grandson Logan, writing that he was about to visit him.

Although Petersen keeps a low profile on most days, A Minor Consideration remains a well-respected support organization that has had a significant impact on hundreds of child actors, old and new.