# Elinor Donahue

Elinor Donahue (born Mary Eleanor Donahue, April 19, 1937) is an American retired 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.

## Early life and career

Donahue was born in Tacoma, Washington, the daughter of Doris Genevieve (née Gelbaugh) and Thomas William Donahue on April 19, 1937.
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 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).

## 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. 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 acted in the feature film Girls Town (1959 film), which she later described as "an awful picture".

## 1960s to 1980s

Donahue played Georgiana Balanger, the niece of George and Martha Wilson, in the episode "Dennis and the Wedding" (1960) on Dennis the Menace. 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.
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.

## 1990s and later

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 Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare.
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".

## Personal life

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. 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. 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. In 1992, she married actor Lou Genevrino.

## Filmography
### Film

| 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 | The Unfinished Dance | Josie |
| 1948 | Three Daring Daughters | Alix Morgan |
| 1948 | Tenth Avenue Angel | Cynthia |
| 1948 | The Arkansas Swing | Toni MacGregor |
| 1949 | An Old-Fashioned Girl | Maud Shaw |
| 1950 | The Happy Years | 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 | The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement | Lady Palimore |

### Television

| 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 | The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show | 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 | The Brothers Brannagan | Kate Warren | Episode: "Duet" |
| 1960–61 | The Andy Griffith Show | Elinor "Ellie" Walker | Main cast (season 1) |
| 1961 | General Electric Theater | Carol Madsen | Episode: "A Voice on the Phone" |
| 1961 | The United States Steel Hour | 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 | The Virginian | Carole Cole | Episode: "Siege" |
| 1964 | The Eleventh Hour | Melanie | Episode: "The Secret in the Stone" |
| 1964–65 | Many Happy Returns | Joan Randall | Main role |
| 1965 | A Man Called Shenandoah | Julie Wade | Episode: "Town on Fire" |
| 1967 | Occasional Wife | Linda Sue | Episode: "Oil, Be Seeing You" |
| 1967 | Star Trek: The Original Series | Nancy Hedford | Episode: "Metamorphosis" |
| 1968–70 | The Flying Nun | Dr. Jennifer Ethrington | 3 episodes |
| 1969 | In Name Only | Esther Garrity | TV film |
| 1972 | Gidget Gets Married | Medley Blaine | TV film |
| 1972–75 | The Odd Couple | 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 | The Rookies | Amanda | Episode: "Blue Christmas" |
| 1975 | Petrocelli | Joan Hiller | Episode: "Vengeance in White" |
| 1976 | S.W.A.T. | Marjorie Kemp | Episode: "Lessons in Fear" |
| 1977 | The Feather and Father Gang | Julie | Episode: "The People's Choice" |
| 1977 | The Father Knows Best Reunion | 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 | The Grady Nutt Show | 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 | The Love Boat | Betty Anderson | Episode: "Who Killed Maxwell Thorn?" |
| 1987 | The New Adventures of Beans Baxter | Susan Baxter | Regular role |
| 1988 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Laura Donovan | Episode: "Never Say Goodbye" |
| 1988 | Newhart | Irma | Episode: "Courtin' Disaster" |
| 1989 | The Golden Girls | 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 | The Legend of Prince Valiant | 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 | The Invaders | Norma Winters | 2 episodes |
| 1996 | Ellen | Delores Warwell | Episode: "The Tape" |
| 1999 | Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story | 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 | The Young and the Restless | Judge Marie Anderson | Guest role (4 episodes) |

### Literature

| Year | Title | Publisher | Category | Notes |
| 1998 | In the Kitchen With Elinor Donahue: Favorite Memories and Recipes from a Life in Hollywood | Cumberland House | Memoir / Nonfiction | Paperback |

## Awards and nominations

| 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 | Nominated |
| 2004 | TV Land Award | Legend Award | The Andy Griffith Show | Won |