- DailyMail.com spotted this actress stepping out for lunch in Beverly Hills on Sunday
- She starred in one of the biggest movies of the 1970s before appearing in a slew of other shows including three daytime soaps and even The Sopranos
- Now she has reunited with that movie’s star for a cameo appearance on a Christmas commercial for a credit card. So, who is it?
She looks a world away from the 23-year-old who starred as a gifted dancer who becomes a victim of sexual assault in a movie that took the world by storm.
Now she is back in the limelight thanks to a Christmas ad for a credit card opposite the man who went on to worldwide fame thanks to his starring role in that film.
In the intervening years she landed the title role in a short-lived sitcom and played the first lesbian on a daytime soap among dozens of other roles. She even appeared as a mobster’s wife in the very final episode of The Sopranos.
So who is the actress who was spotted stepping out for lunch in Beverly Hills on Sunday? Can you tell?
The actress looked totally unrecognizable from her days as a silver screen disco queen
![She was spotted stepping out for lunch in Beverly Hills on Sunday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/05/19/78598477-12827775-She_was_spotted_stepping_out_for_lunch_in_Beverly_Hills_on_Sunda-m-16_1701804603657.jpg)
![She went incognito wearing sunglasses and a Purple Haze hat](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/05/19/78598467-12827775-She_went_incognito_wearing_sunglasses_and_a_Purple_Haze_hat-a-17_1701804609058.jpg)
She was spotted stepping out for lunch in Beverly Hills on Sunday
![The actress was cast as the first lesbian to appear in a day time soap. In real life she has been married to advertising executive Arnold Zelonka for 36 years](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/05/17/78598453-12827775-The_actress_was_cast_as_the_first_lesbian_to_appear_in_a_day_tim-a-26_1701798194234.jpg)
The actress was cast as the first lesbian to appear in a day time soap. In real life she has been married to advertising executive Arnold Zelonka for 36 years
![She has appeared on daytime soaps All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital over the years](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/05/17/78598385-12827775-She_has_appeared_on_daytime_soaps_All_My_Children_One_Life_to_Li-a-25_1701798194025.jpg)
She has appeared on daytime soaps All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital over the years
It’s Donna Pescow – Annette in Saturday Night Fever!
Donna, who went incognito wearing sunglasses and a Purple Haze hat, shot to overnight fame thanks to her role alongside John Travolta in the classic 1977 movie.
Her character loses out to Karen Lynn Gorney’s Stephanie as Travolta’s dance partner and then is attacked by two of his friends in the back of a car.
But Pescow could not turn her role in the disco movie into the same sort of international success that Travolta did.
She had her own show Angie which ran for a couple of seasons and also starred in another sit-com Even Stevens.
But it was roles on daytime soaps – including as the gay Dr. Lynn Carson on All My Children — that sustained her acting career. She also appeared in One Life to Live and General Hospital.
On The Sopranos she played Patsy Parisi’s wife Donna in the series finale.
Now she has a cameo appearance in Capital One’s Christmas ad which sees Travolta, 69, transform into Santa Claus and recreate his iconic dance moves from both Fever and its 1983 sequel Staying Alive.
The ad shows Travolta as Santa strutting down the street performing Christmas miracles before talking to a shopkeeper – played by Pescow.
![Donna was initially considered to be too pretty to play Annette. She had to gain weight for the role and relearn her Brooklyn accent she had worked hard to lose at acting school](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/05/14/78598905-12827775-image-a-4_1701786782363.jpg)
Donna was initially considered to be too pretty to play Annette. She had to gain weight for the role and relearn her Brooklyn accent she had worked hard to lose at acting school
![Donna could not parlay her fame from her biggest movie role into the kind of worldwide fame that costar Travolta enjoyed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/05/16/78598911-12827775-image-m-12_1701794395154.jpg)
Donna could not parlay her fame from her biggest movie role into the kind of worldwide fame that costar Travolta enjoyed
![John Travolta transformed into Santa Claus and recreated his incredible 1977 Saturday Night Fever dance for a new Capital One advert.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/05/14/77369451-12827775-John_Travolta_transformed_into_Santa_Claus_and_recreated_his_inc-a-6_1701786782464.jpg)
![The Travolta we remember – as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/05/14/77369775-12827775-Iconic_Travolta_recreate_his_famed_Staying_Alive_routine_as_Tony-a-7_1701786782481.jpg)
Wow: John Travolta transformed into Santa Claus and recreated his incredible 1977 Saturday Night Fever dance for a new Capital One advert
![Donna has a cameo in the new Capital One ad as a shopkeeper who asks Travolta's Santa where he has been. He replies 'The North Pole'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/05/16/78599503-12827775-image-a-11_1701794058789.jpg)
Donna has a cameo in the new Capital One ad as a shopkeeper who asks Travolta’s Santa where he has been. He replies ‘The North Pole’
![Donna had her own ABC sitcom, Angie, which ran for two seasons. She starred opposite Robert Hayes](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/05/17/78608563-12827775-image-a-27_1701798817611.jpg)
Donna had her own ABC sitcom, Angie, which ran for two seasons. She starred opposite Robert Hayes
Based on Nik Cohn’s ‘Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night’ article, Saturday Night Fever was a critical and commercial smash hit on release in 1977, and has since come to define the grittier side of the disco era.
The musical tells the story of Travolta’s Tony Manero, a 19-year-old who escapes the drudge of life as a Brooklyn paint store clerk by spending his weekends as king of the local disco.
He agrees to be Annette’s partner in a dance contest but then dumps her for Stephanie
Saturday Night Fever was produced by late Australian producer Robert Stigwood, and spawned one of the best-selling movie soundtracks of all time featuring the Bee Gees with tracks including Stayin’ Alive, More Than a Woman, How Deep is Your Love and Night Fever.
Travolta, who was already famous for playing Vinnie Barbarino on Welcome Back, Kotter when he got his Saturday Night Fever role went on to star in movies including Grease, Urban Cowboy, Look Who’s Talking, Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty and Face/Off.