Elinor donahue biography

Elinor Donahue is an American retired actress, best known today for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Jim and Margaret Anderson on the.

Elinor Donahue is an American retired actress, best known today for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Jim and Margaret Anderson on the 1950s American sitcom Father Knows Best.

Born Mary Eleanor Donahue in Tacoma, Washington, on April 19, 1937, she appeared as a radio singer and vaudeville dancer while a mere toddler.

•

Elinor Donahue

Elinor Donahue
Donahue in 1960.
Born	Mary Eleanor Donahue (1937-04-19) April 19, 1937 (age 87) Tacoma, Washington, US
Other names	Mary Elinor Donahue
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1942–present
Spouse(s)	Richard Smith (1955–61; divorced) Harry Ackerman (1962–91; his death) Lou Genevrino (1992–present)
Children	4

Mary Eleanor Donahue (born April 19, 1937),^[1] best known as Elinor Donahue, is an Americanactress. She was known for her role in the 1950s sitcom, Father Knows Best. She was born in Tacoma, Washington

Donahue was married for nearly 30 years to producerHarry Ackerman. They met each other on the set of Father Knows Best. She and Ackerman had three children together: Peter, James, and Christopher Ackerman.

References

[change | change source]

Other websites

[change | change source]

Media related to Elinor Donahue at Wikimedia Commons

•

Elinor Donahue Biography

Date of Birth:
Apr 19, 1937Birth Place:
Tacoma, Washington, USA

Biography

Elinor Donahue was thrust into show business at an early age by her stage costumer mother. She danced in vaudeville at first, then at fem years old, she was given a contract with Universal Pictures. She spent most of the 1940s performing in small spelfilm roles for the studio, mainly in musicals, dramas and breezy comedies. Her star never hit in feature films, and Donahue turned to the growing industry of television for work. In 1954, she was chosen for the role of Betty Anderson, the angst-ridden elder daughter of Robert Young's patriarch in the sitcom "Father Knows Best." The show's six-season run made her a household name, and more roles poured in. She played the pharmacist/girlfriend of Andy Griffith for 12 episodes of the family comedy "The Andy Griffith Show" and the daughter of John McGiver in the department store comedy "Many Happy Returns." She was "The Flying Nun"'s

•

Elinor Donahue

American actress (born 1937)

Elinor Donahue (born Mary Eleanor Donahue, April 19, 1937) is an American retired actress, best known today for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Jim and Margaret Anderson on the 1950s American sitcom Father Knows Best.

Early life and career

[edit]

Donahue was born in Tacoma, Washington, the daughter of Doris Genevieve (née Gelbaugh) and Thomas William Donahue on April 19, 1937.^[2]

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^[3] and had several bit parts in movies as a teenager, including Love Is Better Than Ever (1952), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Tea for Two (1950) starring Doris Day. She played one of the daughters in Three Daring Daughters in 1948 and appeared as Mamie Van Doren's sister in Girls Town (1959).