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."
2016
as Self
2004
as Lady Palimore
2003
as Esther 'Legs' Davis (2005)
2001
as Rebecca Quinn Dickinson
1996
as Elinor Donahue
1996
1994
as Aunt Lillian
1993
1992
as Mom (voice)
1991
as Mrs. Fitzer
1991
as Orphanage Woman
1990
as Gradys Peterson
1990
as Bridget
1989
as Lorraine
1987
as Susan Baxter
1985
as Katherine
1984
as Connie Lewis
1984
as Mrs. Morrison
1983
as Mrs. Franklin
1983
as Margaret Anderson
1983
1982
1980
as Audrey Ames
1978
1978
1978
as Mona Wise
1977
as Betty Anderson
1977
as Jane Mulligan
1977
1977
as Rowena
1977
as Betty Anderson
1977
as Mrs. Van Buren
1977
as Elnor Donahue (uncredited)
1977
as Jane Mulligan
1977
as Betty Anderson
1976
1975
1975
1974
as Ellie Tarlow
1974
1973
1972
1972
as Medley Blaine
1970
as Miriam Welby
1969
as Esther Garrity
1969
1967
as Dr. Jennifer Ethrington
1966
1966
as Commissioner Nancy Hedford
1964
1963
1962
1962
as Carole Cole
1961
as Sharon Calloway
1960
as Ellie Walker
1960
as Diane
1959
as Mary Lee Morgan
1959
1959
as Lora's Friend
1958
as Laura Holt
1957
as Letty Mae Stinchcomb
1954
as Betty Anderson
1953
as Debbie Waring
1953
as Janey
1953
as Carol Madsen
1952
as Pattie Marie Levoy
1951
1951
as Lucille Stewart
1950
as Emily Vanderlip Foster
1950
as Mary (uncredited)
1950
1950
as Connie Brown
1950
as Little Girl (uncredited)
1949
as Maud Shaw (as Mary Eleanor Donahue)
1948
as Cynthia (uncredited)
1948
as Alix Morgan
1947
as Josie (as Mary Eleanor Donahue)
1946
as Betty Wheeler
1944
as Janice
1943
as Janie Thomas
1943
as Muggsy
1942
as Bit Role (uncredited)