Elinor Donahue

Actor Apr 19 (age 88) Tacoma, Washington, USA 1942–2016 (74 year career)

6.4 avg rating

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 a…

Known For

Film

Pretty Woman

Bridget

Film

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Lady Palimore

Film

Imitation of Life

Lora's Friend

Film

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

Orphanage Woman

Film

Eek! The Cat

Mom (voice)

Film

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within

Rebecca Quinn Dickinson

Film

Friends

Aunt Lillian

Film

Get a Life

Gradys Peterson

Filmography

Acting (83)

Movies (35)

Star Trek: Inside the Roddenberry Vault

2016

as Self

6.8

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

2004

as Lady Palimore

6.7

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within

2001

as Rebecca Quinn Dickinson

7.8

Dear God

1996

as Elinor Donahue

5.5

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

as Orphanage Woman

Pretty Woman

as Bridget

No Earthly Reason

as Mrs. Morrison

Going Berserk

as Margaret Anderson

High School U.S.A.

as Mrs. Franklin

Just an Overnight Guest

1983

7.0

Doctors' Private Lives

1978

as Mona Wise

Police Story: No Margin for Error

1978

Mulligan's Stew

1977

as Jane Mulligan

Dick Clark's Good Old Days

1977

The Father Knows Best Reunion

1977

as Betty Anderson

5.7

Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas

as Betty Anderson

Gidget Gets Married

as Medley Blaine

In Name Only

as Esther Garrity

Imitation of Life

as Lora's Friend

Girls Town

as Mary Lee Morgan

Love Is Better Than Ever

1952

as Pattie Marie Levoy

Her First Romance

as Lucille Stewart

Singing Guns

as Little Girl (uncredited)

My Blue Heaven

as Mary (uncredited)

The Happy Years

as Connie Brown

Tea for Two

An Old-Fashioned Girl

1949

as Maud Shaw (as Mary Eleanor Donahue)

5.0

Tenth Avenue Angel

1948

as Cynthia (uncredited)

6.0

Three Daring Daughters

1948

as Alix Morgan

5.7

The Unfinished Dance

1947

as Josie (as Mary Eleanor Donahue)

Winter Wonderland

as Betty Wheeler

And Now Tomorrow

as Janice

Honeymoon Lodge

as Janie Thomas

Mister Big

1943

as Muggsy

2.2

Girls' Town

1942

as Bit Role (uncredited)

Television (48)

Cold Case

2003

as Esther 'Legs' Davis (2005)

7.8

E! True Hollywood Story

Friends

as Aunt Lillian

Ellen

as Delores Warwell

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

as Rebecca Quinn

Eek! The Cat

as Mom (voice)

Herman's Head

as Mrs. Fitzer

Get a Life

as Gradys Peterson

Coach

as Lorraine

The New Adventures of Beans Baxter

as Susan Baxter

The Golden Girls

as Katherine

Murder, She Wrote

as Connie Lewis

Hotel

Condominium

as Audrey Ames

$weepstake$

Diff'rent Strokes

The Love Boat

as Rowena

CHiPs

as Elnor Donahue (uncredited)

6.8

Mulligan's Stew

1977

as Jane Mulligan

7.0

Battle of the Network Stars

One Day at a Time

S.W.A.T.

Happy Days

Police Woman

as Ellie Tarlow

Barnaby Jones

as Judy Corbett

Police Story

The Rookies

The Odd Couple

as Miriam Welby

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

1969

9.0

The Flying Nun

1967

as Dr. Jennifer Ethrington

6.3

Star Trek

1966

as Commissioner Nancy Hedford

Occasional Wife

Many Happy Returns

Redigo

The Merv Griffin Show

as Self

The Virginian

as Carole Cole

The Eleventh Hour

Dr. Kildare

as Sharon Calloway

The Andy Griffith Show

1960

as Ellie Walker

7.6

The Brothers Brannagan

1960

as Diane

Dennis the Menace

77 Sunset Strip

as Laura Holt

Have Gun, Will Travel

1957

as Letty Mae Stinchcomb

7.3

Father Knows Best

1954

as Betty Anderson

6.5

General Electric Theater

as Carol Madsen

Letter to Loretta

as Debbie Waring

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

1951

7.2

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

1950

as Emily Vanderlip Foster

7.1