REED TO GET FULL PAY, FREEDOM TO WORK

Actress Donna Reed will receive her full salary over the next two seasons and has complete freedom to do other shows under an out-of-court settlement of her lawsuit against the company that replaced her as Miss Ellie in “Dallas,” her attorney says.

Michael Donaldson said that Reed will receive her regular salary of $17,250 a week for the 1985-86 season and $19,838 a week for the 1986-87 season, for a total of more than $1 million. She will also have complete freedom to take on any other roles.

“We are ecstatic,” Donaldson said. “Those were her goals--full salary and complete freedom--and she is very pleased with the results.”

The agreement was reached this week in negotiations between Donaldson and Robert Dudnick, attorney for Lorimar Productions, producer of the hit CBS prime-time soap opera.

Reed filed a $7.5-million breach of contract suit against Lorimar after the company replaced her with Barbara Bel Geddes, who had originated the role, for the coming television season.

Bel Geddes had played the matriarch of the oil-rich Ewing family since 1978 but was forced to give it up in 1984 when she underwent heart surgery.

Reed, 64, then signed a three-year contract to replace her as Miss Ellie. But she appeared only last season, after which Lorimar decided to reinstate Bel Geddes.

Reed had sought an injunction to stop production of “Dallas,” but Superior Court Judge John L. Cole denied the request.

Reed won an Academy Award as best supporting actress for her role in “From Here to Eternity” in 1953. She is probably best known for “The Donna Reed Show,” which ran on ABC from 1958 to 1966.