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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
April 19, 1937
Place of Birth
Tacoma, Washington, USA
Also Known As
- Mary Eleanor Donahue
Elinor Donahue
1.5 Popularity
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
6.8
Self
Star Trek: Inside the Roddenberry Vault
2016
6.7
Lady Palimore
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
2004
7.8
Esther 'Legs' Davis (2005)
Cold Case
2003
7.8
Rebecca Quinn Dickinson
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within
2001
5.5
Elinor Donahue
Dear God
1996
8.1
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
8.4
Aunt Lillian
Friends
1994
6.1
Delores Warwell
Ellen
1994
7.6
Rebecca Quinn
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
1993
6.9
Mom (voice)
Eek! The Cat
1992
Credits
Star Trek: Inside the Roddenberry Vault
as Self
2016
6.8
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
as Lady Palimore
2004
6.7
Cold Case
as Esther 'Legs' Davis (2005)
2003
7.8
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within
as Rebecca Quinn Dickinson
2001
7.8
Dear God
as Elinor Donahue
1996
5.5
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
8.1
Friends
as Aunt Lillian
1994
8.4
Ellen
as Delores Warwell
1994
6.1
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
as Rebecca Quinn
1993
7.6
Eek! The Cat
as Mom (voice)
1992
6.9
Herman's Head
as Mrs. Fitzer
1991
6.7
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
as Orphanage Woman
1991
5.3
Get a Life
as Gradys Peterson
1990
7.4
Pretty Woman
as Bridget
1990
7.5
Coach
as Lorraine
1989
6.7
The New Adventures of Beans Baxter
as Susan Baxter
1987
5.0
The Golden Girls
as Katherine
1985
7.6
Murder, She Wrote
as Connie Lewis
1984
7.5
🎬
No Earthly Reason
as Mrs. Morrison
1984
0.0
High School U.S.A.
as Mrs. Franklin
1983
5.4
Going Berserk
as Margaret Anderson
1983
5.0
Just an Overnight Guest
1983
7.0
Hotel
1982
6.8
Condominium
as Audrey Ames
1980
3.0
🎬
$weepstake$
1979
0.0
Diff'rent Strokes
1978
7.1
Police Story: No Margin for Error
1978
0.0
Doctors' Private Lives
as Mona Wise
1978
0.0
Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas
as Betty Anderson
1977
7.3
🎬
Mulligan's Stew
as Jane Mulligan
1977
7.0
Dick Clark's Good Old Days
1977
0.0
The Love Boat
as Rowena
1977
6.3
The Love Boat
as Betty Anderson
1977
6.3
The Love Boat
as Mrs. Van Buren
1977
6.3
CHiPs
as Elnor Donahue (uncredited)
1977
6.8
Mulligan's Stew
as Jane Mulligan
1977
0.0
The Father Knows Best Reunion
as Betty Anderson
1977
5.7
Battle of the Network Stars
1976
6.0
One Day at a Time
1975
6.7
S.W.A.T.
1975
7.0
Police Woman
as Ellie Tarlow
1974
6.2
Happy Days
1974
7.6
Police Story
1973
6.9
Barnaby Jones
as Judy Corbett
1973
6.9
The Rookies
1972
6.8
Gidget Gets Married
as Medley Blaine
1972
5.6
The Odd Couple
as Miriam Welby
1970
7.8
In Name Only
as Esther Garrity
1969
0.0
🎬
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
1969
9.0
The Flying Nun
as Dr. Jennifer Ethrington
1967
6.3
Occasional Wife
1966
7.5
Star Trek
as Commissioner Nancy Hedford
1966
8.0
🎬
Many Happy Returns
1964
5.0
Redigo
1963
5.0
The Eleventh Hour
1962
6.0
The Merv Griffin Show
as Self
1962
6.2
The Virginian
as Carole Cole
1962
6.4
Dr. Kildare
as Sharon Calloway
1961
5.5
The Andy Griffith Show
as Ellie Walker
1960
7.6
The Brothers Brannagan
as Diane
1960
0.0
Girls Town
as Mary Lee Morgan
1959
3.4
Dennis the Menace
1959
6.5
Imitation of Life
as Lora's Friend
1959
7.4
77 Sunset Strip
as Laura Holt
1958
6.7
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Letty Mae Stinchcomb
1957
7.3
Father Knows Best
as Betty Anderson
1954
6.5
Letter to Loretta
as Debbie Waring
1953
6.5
Letter to Loretta
as Janey
1953
6.5
General Electric Theater
as Carol Madsen
1953
6.4
Love Is Better Than Ever
as Pattie Marie Levoy
1952
6.1
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
7.2
Her First Romance
as Lucille Stewart
1951
3.0
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
as Emily Vanderlip Foster
1950
7.1
My Blue Heaven
as Mary (uncredited)
1950
7.0
Tea for Two
1950
6.0
The Happy Years
as Connie Brown
1950
7.7
Singing Guns
as Little Girl (uncredited)
1950
6.0
An Old-Fashioned Girl
as Maud Shaw (as Mary Eleanor Donahue)
1949
5.0
Tenth Avenue Angel
as Cynthia (uncredited)
1948
6.0
Three Daring Daughters
as Alix Morgan
1948
5.7
The Unfinished Dance
as Josie (as Mary Eleanor Donahue)
1947
6.0
Winter Wonderland
as Betty Wheeler
1946
4.3
And Now Tomorrow
as Janice
1944
5.7
Honeymoon Lodge
as Janie Thomas
1943
0.0
Mister Big
as Muggsy
1943
2.2
Girls' Town
as Bit Role (uncredited)
1942
0.0