Elinor Donahue Photo

Elinor Donahue

Acting

0.9 Popularity Apr 19, 1937 (88 years old) Tacoma, Washington, USA

Mary Eleanor Donahue (born April 19, 1937), credited as Elinor Donahue, is an American actress, best remembered today for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Robert Young and Jane Wyatt, on the 1950s American sitcom Father Knows Best.

Donahue achieved stardom for her role as the...

Biography

Mary Eleanor Donahue (born April 19, 1937), credited as Elinor Donahue, is an American actress, best remembered today for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Robert Young and Jane Wyatt, on the 1950s American sitcom Father Knows Best.

Donahue achieved stardom for her role as the elder daughter, Betty, on the television family series Father Knows Best. Her co-stars were Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Billy Gray as her younger brother, James "Bud" Anderson, Jr., and Lauren Chapin as her younger sister, Kathy.

Donahue was a musical judge in ABC's Jukebox Jury (1953–54). While in the first season of Father Knows Best she also appeared on The Ray Bolger Show, starring Ray Bolger as a song-and-dance man. Thereafter, she was cast with James Best, Ann Doran, and J. Carrol Naish in the 1956 episode "The White Carnation" of the religion anthology series, Crossroads. She guest starred on an episode of U.S. Marshal. She also appeared as a new bride in the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show episode titled "The Newlyweds" that aired April 2, 1956.

She played Georgiana Balanger in the episode "Dennis and the Wedding" (1960) on Dennis the Menace.[5] Donahue was also cast, in 1960, with Marion Ross in an episode ("Duet") of The Brothers Brannagan. She played Miriam Welby on ABC's The Odd Couple, Jane Mulligan on Mulligan's Stew, and Nurse Hunnicut on Days of Our Lives.

She was featured in 12 episodes of CBS's The Andy Griffith Show as pharmacist Ellie Walker, even getting a mention in the opening credits. The character was intended to be a love interest for Sheriff Andy Taylor, but after one season (1960–1961), Donahue decided to ask for a release from her three-year contract.[6]

In 1963, Donahue was cast in an episode of NBC's short-lived modern Western series, Redigo, with Richard Egan as the rancher Jim Redigo; then in 1964, she appeared as Melanie in "The Secret in the Stone" in the NBC medical drama dealing with psychiatry, The Eleventh Hour, starring Jack Ging and Ralph Bellamy.

Additionally, on February 9, 1963, she played Letty May in the episode "The Burning Tree" on Have Gun Will Travel.

In the 1964–65 season, Donahue costarred as Joan Randall, the daughter of Walter Burnley, played by John McGiver, on the CBS sitcom, Many Happy Returns about the complaint department of a fictitious Los Angeles department store. She guest-appeared on Star Trek in the second-season episode "Metamorphosis" (1967) as commissioner Nancy Hedford.

In 1966, she guest starred on the TV series A Man Called Shenandoah, episode 8, "Town On Fire."

Filmography 86

2004
2003
Cold Case TV

as Esther 'Legs' Davis (2005)

2001
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within Movie

as Rebecca Quinn Dickinson

1996
Dear God Movie

as Elinor Donahue

1994
Friends TV

as Aunt Lillian

1994
Ellen TV

as Delores Warwell

1993
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman TV

as Rebecca Quinn

1992
Eek! The Cat TV

as Mom (voice)

1991
Herman's Head TV

as Mrs. Fitzer

1991
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare Movie

as Orphanage Woman

1990
Get a Life TV

as Gradys Peterson

1990
Pretty Woman Movie

as Bridget

1989
Coach TV

as Lorraine

1987
1985
The Golden Girls TV

as Katherine

1984
Murder, She Wrote TV

as Connie Lewis

1984
No Earthly Reason Movie

as Mrs. Morrison

1983
High School U.S.A. Movie

as Mrs. Franklin

Photos 6

Elinor Donahue Photo
Elinor Donahue Photo
Elinor Donahue Photo
Elinor Donahue Photo
Elinor Donahue Photo
Elinor Donahue Photo

Personal Details

Known For Acting
Gender Not specified
Birthday April 19, 1937 (88 years old)
Place of Birth Tacoma, Washington, USA
Also Known As Mary Eleanor Donahue
Years Active 1942 - 2016
Popularity 0.9
Career Stats
86 Total Credits
35 Movie Roles
51 TV Roles
6 Photos