Elinor Donahue 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 Jim and Margaret Anderson (Robert Young and Jane Wyatt), on the 1950s American sitcom Father Knows Best.

Early life and career

Donahue was born in Tacoma, Washington, the daughter of Doris Genevieve (ne Gelbaugh) and Thomas William Donahue.

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. 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

Template:Main article 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.

1960s to 1980s

She played Georgiana Balanger 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 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.

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."

Donahue portrayed Miriam Welby in 17 episodes of The Odd Couple (1972-75).

Donahue appeared in a 1981 episode of One Day at a Time, as Alex's mother Felicia.

Donahue portrayed the sister of Sister Bertrille (Sally Field) in three episodes of ABC's The Flying Nun (1968-70). 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 1984, she made an appearance as Mrs. Broderick, the mother of a teenaged 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") and appeared (in a 1989 episode) on The Golden Girls as the newest wife of Dorothy Zbornak's ex-husband.

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 entitled 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 Abbott's new home, which just happened to be an exact replica of the Anderson house from Father Knows Best.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
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

Television

1981 The Dukes of Hazzard

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954-1960	Father Knows Best	Betty Anderson	Main role
1955	Lux Video Theatre	Helen Richards	"The Life of Emile Zola"
1955	Letter to Loretta	Debbie Waring / Janey	"He Always Comes Home", "Week-End in Winnetka"
1956	'	Emily Vanderlip Foster	"The Newlyweds"
1956	Ford Theatre	Katherine Casey	"Sheila"
1958	U.S. Marshal	Martha Watson	"Shoot to Kill"
1960	Goodyear Theatre	Connie Peters	"Marked Down for Connie"
1960	Dennis the Menace	Georgiana Balanger	"Dennis and the Wedding"
1960	'	Kate Warren	"Duet"
1960-61	'	Elinor "Ellie" Walker	Recurring role
1961	General Electric Theater	Carol Madsen	"A Voice on the Phone"
1961	'	Fran Crowell	"Delayed Honeymoon"
1963	77 Sunset Strip	Laura Holt	"Scream Softly, Dear"
1963	Have Gun - Will Travel	Letty Mae Stinchcomb	"The Burning Tree"
1963	Dr. Kildare	Sharon Calloway	"Ship's Doctor"
1963	Redigo	Joanie-Mae Kilpatrick	"Hostage Hero Riding"
1963	'	Carole Cole	"Siege"
1964	'	Melanie	"The Secret in the Stone"
1964-65	Many Happy Returns	Joan Randall	Main role
1965	'	Julie Wade	"Town on Fire"
1967	Occasional Wife	Linda Sue	"Oil, Be Seeing You"
1967	Star Trek: The Original Series	Nancy Hedford	"Metamorphosis"
1968-1970	'	Dr. Jennifer Ethrington	"My Sister, the Sister", "How to Be a Spanish Grandmother", "My Sister, the Doctor"
1969	In Name Only	Esther Garrity	TV film
1972	Gidget Gets Married	Medley Blaine	TV film
1972-1975	'	Miriam Welby	Recurring role
1974	If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever?	Alice Bennett	TV film
1974	Police Woman	Ellie Tarlow	"Warning: All Wives"
1974	'	Amanda	"Blue Christmas"
1975	Petrocelli	Joan Hiller	"Vengeance in White"
1976	S.W.A.T.	Marjorie Kemp	"Lessons in Fear"
1977	'	Julie	"The People's Choice"
1977	'	Betty Anderson	TV film
1977	Insight	Margaret Drill	"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	"Ice Time"
1978	Police Story	Joan Anderson	"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	"The Woman"
1980	Condominium	Audrey Ames	TV miniseries
1980	Barnaby Jones	Judy Corbett	"The Silent Accuser"
1981	Mork & Mindy	Dr. Joni Lincoln	"Mindy and Mork"
1981	'	Ellie Williams	TV film
1981	One Day at a Time	Felicia	"Alex Moves In"
1981	Fantasy Island	Madge Nolan / Blanche Barrens	2 episodes
Marjorie Dane
1983	High School U.S.A.	Mrs. Franklin	TV film
1983	Hotel	Louise	"Deceptions"
1984	No Earthly Reason	Mrs. Morrison	TV film
1984	Happy Days	Mrs. Broderick	"School Dazed"
1984-85	Days of Our Lives	Kate Honeycutt	Guest role
1986	Riptide	Elaine Warwick	"Echoes"
1987	'	Betty Anderson	"Who Killed Maxwell Thorn?"
1987	'	Susan Baxter	Regular role
1988	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Laura Donovan	"Never Say Goodbye"
1988	Newhart	Irma	"Courtin' Disaster"
1989	'	Katherine	"Stan Takes a Wife"
1989	Generations	Sylvia Furth	TV series
1989	Santa Barbara	Dr. Anderson	"1.1278", "1.1277"
1990	Murder, She Wrote	Connie Lewis	"The Szechuan Dragon"
1990-1992	Get a Life	Gladys Peterson	Main role
1992	Herman's Head	Mrs. Fitzer	"A Charlie Brown Fitzer"
1992-93	Eek!stravaganza	Mom (voice)	TV series
1993	'	Queen Eleanora (voice)	"The Jubilee"
1993	Coach	Lorraine	"Burden of the Burleighs", "Luthario"
1993	Biker Mice from Mars	Munsterella (voice)	"A Scent, a Memory, a Far Distant Cheese"
1993-1997	Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman	Rebecca Quinn	Recurring role (seasons 2-6)
1994	Friends	Aunt Lillian	"The One Where Nana Dies Twice"
1995	'	Norma Winters	"1.1", "1.2"
1996	Ellen	Delores Warwell	"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	"Colors"
2010-11	'	Judge Marie Anderson	Guest role (4 episodes)