ELINOR DONAHUE
Updated 05-May-2020.
Mondo shtuff from around the internet, all about ELINOR DONAHUE!
Elinor Donahue – IMDb: Elinor Donahue, Actress: Pretty Woman. Tap dancing at the age of 16 months, pert and pretty Elinor Donahue has been entertaining audiences for six decades. Born Mary Eleanor Donahue in Tacoma, Washington in 1937, she appeared as a radio singer and vaudeville dancer while still a mere toddler, then was picked up by Universal Studios at the age of 5. Cast in minor child roles in such …
‘Father Knows Best’ star Elinor Donahue explains why beloved series ended: ‘I was sad and disappointed’: Elinor Donahue believed her days as a child star were long gone before her hit series “Father Knows Best” came along.
Elinor Donahue: In her three-and-a-half-hour Archive interview, Elinor Donahue talks about growing up as a performer in radio and vaudeville, and outlines her early film career in the films “Mister Big” and “The Unfinished Dance.” She describes appearing in early experimental television for Klaus Landsberg (under hot lights and wearing unusual make-up) and speaks fondly of Ray Bolger, whom she danced with on The Ray Bolger Show. She details her role as teenager “Betty ‘Princess’ Anderson” on the classic 1950s television sitcom Father Knows Best, and chronicles auditioning for the role, the long production hours, and the series’ abrupt cancellation. She recalls working with series producer Eugene Rodney, whom she describes as a “benevolent despot, demanding strict adherence to the script. Donahue discusses working with fictional father Robert Young, “mother” Jane Wyatt and “siblings” Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. She talks of her marriage to the sound man on the series and working on the show until six weeks before the birth of her first child, disguising her pregnancy from the cameras. Donahue then recalls her role as “Andy Taylor’s” love interest, “Ellie May Walker,” on The Andy Griffith Show, and describes the atmosphere on the Griffith set. She recounts tales of two other recurring parts, those of “Miriam Welby” on The Odd Couple and “Rebecca” on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. She discusses playing the mother of 30-year-old paperboy Chris Elliot on Get A Life and how she read for the part as if she were speaking to a twelve-year-old, not knowing that Elliot would be playing an adult lead. Donahue also talks about her many guest appearances on various series over the years, including The Loretta Young Show, Star Trek, and Ellen. Jennifer Howard conducted the interview on April 25, 2006 in Burbank, CA.
Elinor Donahue of Father Knows Best Is a Mother to Six, Plus Beans Baxter: Put it this way: Father Knows Best‘s teenage Princess has moved into the Jane Wyatt role. From 1954 to 1963 Elinor Donahue was Betty, the…
My botty best at summarizing from Wikipedia: Mary Eleanor Donahue (born April 19, 1937) is an american actress . her co-stars were Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin . she was a musical judge in she guest starred on an episode of the religion anthology series, Crossroads . she also appeared as a new bride in the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show episode . she was also cast in an episode (“Duet”) of The Brothers Brannagan . in 1963, she played Letty May in the episode “The Burning Tree” on Have Gun Will Travel. Donahue portrayed Miriam Welby in 17 episodes of The Odd Couple . she appeared in a 1981 episode of One Day at a Time, as Alex’s mother Felicia . Donahue portrayed sister of Sister Bertrille (Sally Field) in three episodes of ABC’s The Flying Nun . in 1977, she appeared in an episode of the ABC crime drama The Feather and donahue played Gladys, the mother of Chris Peterson (Chris Elliott) in all 35 episodes of the sitcom get a life . in 1991, she portrayed the “Orphanage woman” in in 1994, she appeared as Aunt Lillian in “the One Where Nana Dies Twice” in 1998, she published a memoir entitled In the Kitchen with Elinor Donahue . in 2010, she appeared on “the Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, pp. 58–59.