Elinor Donahue
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- April 19, 1937 (age 89)
- Birthplace
- Tacoma, Washington, USA
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."
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Star Trek: Inside the Roddenberry Vault
Movie · as Self
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Movie · as Lady Palimore
Cold Case
TV · as Esther 'Legs' Davis (2005) · 1 ep
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within
Movie · as Rebecca Quinn Dickinson
Dear God
Movie · as Elinor Donahue
E! True Hollywood Story
TV · 1 ep
Ellen
TV · as Delores Warwell · 1 ep
Friends
TV · as Aunt Lillian · 1 ep
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
TV · as Rebecca Quinn · 9 eps
Eek! The Cat
TV · as Mom (voice) · 112 eps
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Movie · as Orphanage Woman
Herman's Head
TV · as Mrs. Fitzer · 1 ep
Pretty Woman
Movie · as Bridget
Get a Life
TV · as Gradys Peterson · 35 eps
Coach
TV · as Lorraine · 2 eps
The New Adventures of Beans Baxter
TV · as Susan Baxter · 17 eps
The Golden Girls
TV · as Katherine · 1 ep
No Earthly Reason
Movie · as Mrs. Morrison
Murder, She Wrote
TV · as Connie Lewis · 1 ep
Going Berserk
Movie · as Margaret Anderson
Just an Overnight Guest
Movie
High School U.S.A.
Movie · as Mrs. Franklin
Hotel
TV · as Louise · 1 ep
Newhart
TV · as Irma · 1 ep
Condominium
TV · as Audrey Ames · 2 eps
$weepstake$
TV · 1 ep
Doctors' Private Lives
Movie · as Mona Wise
Police Story: No Margin for Error
Movie
Diff'rent Strokes
TV · 1 ep
Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas
Movie · as Betty Anderson
Mulligan's Stew
Movie · as Jane Mulligan
Dick Clark's Good Old Days
Movie
The Father Knows Best Reunion
Movie · as Betty Anderson
The Love Boat
TV · as Rowena, Betty Anderson, Mrs. Van Buren, Andrea Hammond · 1 ep
Mulligan's Stew
TV · as Jane Mulligan · 6 eps
CHiPs
TV · as Elnor Donahue (uncredited) · 1 ep
Battle of the Network Stars
TV · 1 ep
S.W.A.T.
TV · 1 ep
One Day at a Time
TV · 1 ep
Happy Days
TV · 1 ep
Police Woman
TV · as Ellie Tarlow · 1 ep
Petrocelli
TV · as Joan Hiller · 1 ep
Police Story
TV · 2 eps
Barnaby Jones
TV · as Judy Corbett · 1 ep
Gidget Gets Married
Movie · as Medley Blaine
The Rookies
TV · 1 ep
The Odd Couple
TV · as Miriam Welby · 17 eps
In Name Only
Movie · as Esther Garrity
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
TV · 1 ep
The Flying Nun
TV · as Dr. Jennifer Ethrington · 1 ep
Star Trek
TV · as Commissioner Nancy Hedford · 1 ep
Occasional Wife
TV · 1 ep
Many Happy Returns
TV · 26 eps
Redigo
TV · 1 ep
The Eleventh Hour
TV · 1 ep
The Virginian
TV · as Carole Cole · 1 ep
The Merv Griffin Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Dr. Kildare
TV · as Sharon Calloway · 1 ep
The Andy Griffith Show
TV · as Ellie Walker · 12 eps
The Brothers Brannagan
TV · as Diane · 1 ep
Girls Town
Movie · as Mary Lee Morgan
Imitation of Life
Movie · as Lora's Friend (uncredited)
Dennis the Menace
TV · 1 ep
77 Sunset Strip
TV · as Laura Holt · 1 ep
Have Gun, Will Travel
TV · as Letty Mae Stinchcomb · 1 ep
Father Knows Best
TV · as Betty Anderson · 203 eps
General Electric Theater
TV · as Carol Madsen · 1 ep
Letter to Loretta
TV · as Debbie Waring, Janey · 1 ep
Love Is Better Than Ever
Movie · as Pattie Marie Levoy
Her First Romance
Movie · as Lucille Stewart
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV · 1 ep
Singing Guns
Movie · as Little Girl (uncredited)
Tea for Two
Movie
The Happy Years
Movie · as Connie Brown
My Blue Heaven
Movie · as Mary (uncredited)
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
TV · as Emily Vanderlip Foster · 1 ep
An Old-Fashioned Girl
Movie · as Maud Shaw (as Mary Eleanor Donahue)
Three Daring Daughters
Movie · as Alix Morgan
Tenth Avenue Angel
Movie · as Cynthia (uncredited)
The Arkansas Swing
Movie · as Toni MacGregor
The Unfinished Dance
Movie · as Josie (as Mary Eleanor Donahue)
Winter Wonderland
Movie · as Betty Wheeler
And Now Tomorrow
Movie · as Janice
Mister Big
Movie · as Muggsy
Honeymoon Lodge
Movie · as Janie Thomas
Girls' Town
Movie · as Bit Role (uncredited)