| Elinor Donahue | |
| Birthname: | Mary Eleanor Donahue |
| Birth Date: | 1937 4, mf=yes |
| Birth Place: | Tacoma, Washington, U.S. |
| Known For: | Father Knows Best Many Happy Returns The Andy Griffith Show Metamorphosis The Odd Couple Pretty Woman Days of Our Lives |
| Othername: | Mary Elinor Donahue |
| Years Active: | 1942 - 2011 |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 4[1] |
Elinor Donahue (born Mary Eleanor Donahue, April 19, 1937) is a retired American actress, best known today for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Jim and Margaret Anderson on the 1950s American sitcom Father Knows Best.
Donahue was born in Tacoma, Washington, the daughter of Doris Genevieve (née Gelbaugh) and Thomas William Donahue on April 19, 1937.[2]
Appearing in dancing-chorus film roles from the age of five, Donahue was at one point a ballet-school classmate of future Fred Astaire partner Barrie Chase. She was a child actress working in vaudeville[3] and had several bit parts in movies as a teenager, including Love Is Better Than Ever (1952), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Tea for Two (1950) starring Doris Day. She played one of the daughters in Three Daring Daughters in 1948 and appeared as Mamie Van Doren's sister in Girls Town (1959).
See main article: Father Knows Best. Donahue achieved stardom for her role as the elder daughter, Betty, on the television family series Father Knows Best, which aired from 1954 to 1960.[4] 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).[5] 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.[6] She acted in the feature film Girls Town (1959 film), which she later described as "an awful picture".[7]
Donahue played Georgiana Balanger, the niece of George and Martha Wilson, in the episode "Dennis and the Wedding" (1960) on Dennis the Menace.[8] 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 evil Nurse Hunnicut on Days of Our Lives.
She was part of the main cast for the first season of CBS's The Andy Griffith Show, as Andy's pharmacist love interest Ellie Walker. She was even mentioned in the opening credits before Don Knotts. After one season (1960–1961), Donahue asked for a release from her three-year contract.[9]
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 she played in another Western series Have Gun Will Travel as Letty May in the episode "The Burning Tree".
In 1964, she appeared in the NBC TV series The Eleventh Hour, a medical drama dealing with psychiatry, starring Jack Ging and Ralph Bellamy, where she played the role of Melanie in the episode "The Secret in the Stone".
In 1966, she guest-starred on the TV series A Man Called Shenandoah, episode 8, "Town On Fire".
In 1967, she guest-appeared on Star Trek in the second-season episode "Metamorphosis" as commissioner Nancy Hedford.
Donahue portrayed the sister of Sister Bertrille (Sally Field) in three episodes of ABC's The Flying Nun (1968–70).
She portrayed Miriam Welby in 17 episodes of The Odd Couple (1972–75).
In 1977, she appeared in an episode of the ABC crime drama The Feather and Father Gang.
In 1978, Donahue starred in the NBC sitcom Please Stand By.
In 1979, she appeared on Diff'rent Strokes as a fiancée to Mr. Drummond in season 1.
In 1981, Donahue appeared in an episode of One Day at a Time, as Alex's mother Felicia.
In 1984, she made an appearance as Mrs. Broderick, the mother of a teenage drug addict on the last season of Happy Days.
In 1987, she played the title character's mother in the short-lived Fox series The New Adventures of Beans Baxter.
In 1988, she appeared in a Newhart episode ("Courtin' Disaster").
In 1989 she appeared in an episode of The Golden Girls as the newest wife of Dorothy Zbornak's ex-husband, Stan.
In 1990, she played Bridget, a Beverly Hills clothing-store manager, in the film Pretty Woman. Donahue played Gladys, the mother of Chris Peterson (Chris Elliott), in all 35 episodes of the sitcom Get a Life (1990–92), and had a recurring role as Rebecca Quinn on the CBS drama series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
In 1991, she portrayed the "Orphanage woman" in .
In 1992, she voiced the mother on the Fox Kids animated series Eek! the Cat. In 1994, she made an appearance as Aunt Lillian in "The One Where Nana Dies Twice", an episode of Friends. She played the part of Lorraine, Luther Van Dam's girlfriend, in season five of Coach in the early 1990s.
In 1998, Donahue published a memoir titled In the Kitchen with Elinor Donahue, in which she relived some of her memories of Hollywood along with providing more than 150 of her recipes.
In September 2010, Donahue made an appearance on The Young and the Restless as Judge Anderson, one of Nikki Newman's old friends and also as the woman minister who will officiate at the wedding of Billy Abbott and Nikki's daughter, Victoria Newman. The wedding took place in front of the Abbotts' new home, which just happened to be a replica of the Anderson house from Father Knows Best.
In 2015, Donahue played the role of Mrs. Chumley in Judson Theatre Company's production of the Pulitzer Prize play Harvey by Mary Chase. Donahue called the role her "swan song".[10]
Donahue was married three times. Her first husband was sound producer Richard Smith whom she married in 1955. She had one son with him. They divorced in 1961.[11] Her second marriage, to producer Harry Ackerman, who was 25 years her senior, was in 1962 at the Court of Liberty. He was the adoptive father of her son from her first marriage, and Donahue and he had three sons together. Ackerman died in 1991.[12] As a memorial and resource for the history of American television, Donahue donated Ackerman's personal papers to the Rauner Library at Dartmouth College, his alma mater.[13] In 1992, she married actor Lou Genevrino.[11]
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Mister Big | Muggsy | |
| 1943 | Honeymoon Lodge | Janie Thomas | |
| 1944 | Bowery to Broadway | Young Bessie Jo | |
| 1944 | And Now Tomorrow | Janice - age 4 | |
| 1946 | Winter Wonderland | Betty Wheeler | |
| 1947 | Josie | ||
| 1948 | Three Daring Daughters | Alix Morgan | |
| 1948 | Tenth Avenue Angel | Cynthia | |
| 1948 | Toni MacGregor | ||
| 1949 | Maud Shaw | ||
| 1950 | Connie Brown | ||
| 1950 | Tea for Two | Lynne Smith | |
| 1950 | My Blue Heaven | Mary | |
| 1951 | Her First Romance | Lucille Stewart | |
| 1952 | Love Is Better Than Ever | Pattie Marie Levoy | |
| 1959 | Girls Town | Mary Lee Morgan | |
| 1983 | Going Berserk | Margaret Anderson | |
| 1990 | Pretty Woman | Bridget | |
| 2004 | Lady Palimore |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954–60 | Father Knows Best | Betty Anderson | Main role | |
| 1955 | Lux Video Theatre | Helen Richards | Episode: "The Life of Emile Zola" | |
| 1955 | Letter to Loretta | Debbie Waring / Janey | 2 episodes | |
| 1956 | Emily Vanderlip Foster | Episode: "The Newlyweds" | ||
| 1956 | Ford Theatre | Katherine Casey | Episode: "Sheila" | |
| 1958 | U.S. Marshal | Martha Watson | Episode: "Shoot to Kill" | |
| 1960 | Goodyear Theatre | Connie Peters | Episode: "Marked Down for Connie" | |
| 1960 | Dennis the Menace | Georgiana Balanger | Episode: "Dennis and the Wedding" | |
| 1960 | Kate Warren | Episode: "Duet" | ||
| 1960–61 | Elinor "Ellie" Walker | Main cast (season 1) | ||
| 1961 | General Electric Theater | Carol Madsen | Episode: "A Voice on the Phone" | |
| 1961 | Fran Crowell | Episode: "Delayed Honeymoon" | ||
| 1963 | 77 Sunset Strip | Laura Holt | Episode: "Scream Softly, Dear" | |
| 1963 | Have Gun – Will Travel | Letty Mae Stinchcomb | Episode: "The Burning Tree" | |
| 1963 | Dr. Kildare | Sharon Calloway | Episode: "Ship's Doctor" | |
| 1963 | Redigo | Joanie-Mae Kilpatrick | Episode: "Hostage Hero Riding" | |
| 1963 | Carole Cole | Episode: "Siege" | ||
| 1964 | Melanie | Episode: "The Secret in the Stone" | ||
| 1964–65 | Many Happy Returns | Joan Randall | Main role | |
| 1965 | Julie Wade | Episode: "Town on Fire" | ||
| 1967 | Occasional Wife | Linda Sue | Episode: "Oil, Be Seeing You" | |
| 1967 | Nancy Hedford | Episode: "Metamorphosis" | ||
| 1968–70 | Dr. Jennifer Ethrington | 3 episodes | ||
| 1969 | In Name Only | Esther Garrity | TV film | |
| 1972 | Gidget Gets Married | Medley Blaine | TV film | |
| 1972–75 | Miriam Welby | Recurring role | ||
| 1974 | If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever? | Alice Bennett | TV film | |
| 1974 | Police Woman | Ellie Tarlow | Episode: "Warning: All Wives" | |
| 1974 | Amanda | Episode: "Blue Christmas" | ||
| 1975 | Petrocelli | Joan Hiller | Episode: "Vengeance in White" | |
| 1976 | S.W.A.T. | Marjorie Kemp | Episode: "Lessons in Fear" | |
| 1977 | Julie | Episode: "The People's Choice" | ||
| 1977 | Betty Anderson | TV film | ||
| 1977 | Insight | Margaret Drill | Episode: "Christmas 2025" | |
| 1977 | Mulligan's Stew | Jane Mulligan | Main role | |
| 1977 | Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas | Betty Anderson | TV film | |
| 1977 | Police Story | Camille Tackleberry | Episode: "Ice Time" | |
| 1978 | Police Story | Joan Anderson | Episode: "No Margin for Error" | |
| 1978 | Doctors' Private Lives | Mona Wise | TV film | |
| 1979 | Please Stand By | Carol Lambert | TV series | |
| 1979 | Diff'rent Strokes | Diane Sloane | Episode: "The Woman" | |
| 1980 | Condominium | Audrey Ames | TV film | |
| 1980 | Barnaby Jones | Judy Corbett | Episode: "The Silent Accuser" | |
| 1981 | Mork & Mindy | Dr. Joni Lincoln | Episode: "Mindy and Mork" | |
| 1981 | Ellie Williams | TV film | ||
| 1981 | One Day at a Time | Felicia | Episode: "Alex Moves In" | |
| 1981 | Fantasy Island | Madge Nolan / Blanche Barrens | 2 episodes | |
| 1982 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Marjorie Dane | Episode: "The Sound of Music - Hazzard Style" | |
| 1983 | High School U.S.A. | Mrs. Franklin | TV film | |
| 1983 | Hotel | Louise | Episode: "Deceptions" | |
| 1984 | No Earthly Reason | Mrs. Morrison | TV film | |
| 1984 | Happy Days | Mrs. Broderick | Episode: "School Dazed" | |
| 1984–85 | Days of Our Lives | Kate Honeycutt | Guest role | |
| 1986 | Riptide | Elaine Warwick | Episode: "Echoes" | |
| 1987 | Betty Anderson | Episode: "Who Killed Maxwell Thorn?" | ||
| 1987 | Susan Baxter | Regular role | ||
| 1988 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Laura Donovan | Episode: "Never Say Goodbye" | |
| 1988 | Newhart | Irma | Episode: "Courtin' Disaster" | |
| 1989 | Katherine | Episode: "Stan Takes a Wife" | ||
| 1989 | Generations | Sylvia Furth | TV series | |
| 1989 | Santa Barbara | Dr. Anderson | 2 episodes | |
| 1990 | Murder, She Wrote | Connie Lewis | Episode: "The Szechuan Dragon" | |
| 1990–92 | Get a Life | Gladys Peterson | Main role | |
| 1992 | Herman's Head | Mrs. Fitzer | Episode: "A Charlie Brown Fitzer" | |
| 1992–93 | Eek! The Cat | Mom | Voice | |
| 1993 | Queen Eleanora | Voice, episode: "The Jubilee" | ||
| 1993 | Coach | Lorraine | 2 episodes | |
| 1993 | Biker Mice from Mars | Munsterella | Voice, episode: "A Scent, a Memory, a Far Distant Cheese" | |
| 1993–97 | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | Rebecca Quinn | Recurring role (seasons 2–6) | |
| 1994 | Friends | Aunt Lillian | Episode: "The One Where Nana Dies Twice" | |
| 1995 | Norma Winters | 2 episodes | ||
| 1996 | Ellen | Delores Warwell | Episode: "The Tape" | |
| 1999 | Mrs. Lebowitz | TV film | ||
| 2001 | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within | Rebecca Quinn Dickinson | TV film | |
| 2005 | Cold Case | Esther 'Legs' Davis | Episode: "Colors" | |
| 2010–11 | Judge Marie Anderson | Guest role (4 episodes) |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | 11th Primetime Emmy Awards | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Father Knows Best | ||
| 2004 | TV Land Award | Legend Award | The Andy Griffith Show |