How Donna Mills Keeping Herself Youthful at 84: ‘Her Own Mandeville Wine Keeps Her in Fine Form’

Donna Mills looks amazing at 84, which a source exclusively tells Closer is due to the former pin-up girl keeping young in body and spirit by staying fit and avoiding carbs like the plague all while enjoying a glass or two of her own homegrown wine. 

“Everyone who sees her wonders what her secret is,” the insider says. “They’re guessing she’s had some Botox and fillers, but whatever she’s done is minimal to the point where she still looks like she belongs in the ‘80s.” 

The Knot’s Landing alum made her debut as a big screen actress in 1967, with the crime thriller The Incident, but she shot to fame in the 1970s, beginning with her starring role opposite Clint Eastwood in the classic 1971 film, Play Misty For Me. The actress mostly returned to the small screen for the rest of the decade, leveraging her critically-praised role in the film for larger and larger parts on shows and in made-for-television movies, until finally landing a cast role on Knot’s Landing in 1979, which she would hold for nearly a decade.

The blonde beauty has always had longevity on the mind, even with her career. She stumped most with her decision to return to television work after landing a few solid big screen roles, but she explained the decision to Soap Opera Digest in 1996, saying, “If I had gotten some big roles, it would probably be all over by now. Movie careers don’t last all that long, generally. But my television career has been terrific, so I can’t say that I’m disappointed at all.”

After a semi-retirement in the 1990s into the early 2010s, the veteran actress began taking more roles and stunning everyone with how youthful and energetic she appeared, even into her 70s and 80s.

The source says that, even though “Donna won’t fess up to nip/tucks,” she has laid out her guidelines for looking glam at an advanced age: “She will say she’s strict about her diet and hasn’t had bread or pasta in years. She’ll eat veggies and lean meat and maybe a little fruit.”

The Chicago native told First for Women, “I love bread, I love dessert, I love ice cream and all those things, but carbs make me put on pounds so I try to avoid them … As a dancer, eating protein was the way I had to eat.”

In addition to staying hydrated, playing tennis and lifting weights, insider says that, “if you ask her, her own Mandeville Wine keeps her in fine form” 

For the octogenarian, “working in her vineyard keeps her fit along with regular fitness classes. That and a healthy attitude keep her eternally young. No one would ever guess she’s 84. Donna’s proven 84 is the new 30.”

But unlike most 30 year olds, the soap star insists that “at age 60, 70, later, you have so much more to contribute,” which means it’s out of the question to “just sit down and say, ‘I’m done.’”