Alley Mills, who is best known for her role on The Wonder Years, just shared a heartbreaking story about her husband Orson Bean‘s death.
Mills, 75, played the beloved role of Norma Arnold in The Wonder Years, the coming-of-age comedy series starring Fred Savage and Danica McKellar. Mills has also had tremendous success in the soap opera world, starring on The Bold and the Beautiful and General Hospital. But in a revealing new interview on The Mark Joseph Show on Aug. 21, Mills shared a horrific story about her husband’s death, noting that she cradled Bean’s body for “hours” after he was hit by 2 cars.
Bean, a successful actor in his own right, was struck by a vehicle while walking in Venice, Calif., in February 2020, Entertainment Weekly shared. When he was on the ground, a second car hit him while he was down, killing him.
While Mills tried to resuscitate him, Bean had already died. He was 91.
“He was long gone, but your heart keeps beating, which I didn’t know,” she said. “So I gave him mouth-to-mouth and, you know, there was blood everywhere, but he was gone.”
“They put a tent over me because there were a lot of helicopters overhead and everything, and they let me hold him for four hours,” Mills recalled.
Check out the powerful interview below:
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Her Husband Died on Impact
Mills soon got a call from the surgeon who performed Bean’s autopsy, who clarified that he “was totally killed on impact” and “did not suffer at all.”
“He had a great life, and he died instantly,” she continued, calling him her “guardian angel.”
“It was just brutal to see, but it wasn’t brutal for him. And that’s what really mattered to me.”
Does The Wonder Years Cast Stay in Touch?
Yes! Last year, Access Hollywood caught up with Mills and Olivia D’Abo, who played free-spirited Karen on the series.
“When we met for the audition, she had no bra…” Alley recalled D’Abo, whose character was always free-wheeling.
D’Abo added, “I was in character!”
Mills continued, “She had this silk top on with no back, and it was flapping, and I literally, I started blushing, and they said, ‘I think we’re done, I think we got it.”
Check out this fun photo of some of the cast together in 2023:
Bobby Bank / Getty Images
Related: Olivia D’Abo, Who Played Karen on ‘The Wonder Years,’ Is 57 and Gorgeous in Rare Social Media Appearance
