Elinor Donahue

Acting

Elinor Donahue

Born

1937-04-19 (89)

Place of birth

Tacoma, Washington, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

76 titles

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 …

Known for

Friends poster
8.4

Six young people from New York City, on their own and struggling to survive in the real world, find the companionship, comfort and support they get from each other to be the perfect antidote to the pressures of life.

Friends

1994

The Love Boat poster
6.2

Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.

The Love Boat

1977

The Merv Griffin Show poster
6.8

No synopsis available yet.

The Merv Griffin Show

1962

Murder, She Wrote poster
7.5

An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.

Murder, She Wrote

1984

Star Trek poster
8.0

Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain James T. Kirk with First Officer Mr. Spock, from the planet Vulcan. With a determined crew, the Enterprise encounters Klingons, Romulans, time paradoxes, tribbles and genetic supermen led by Khan Noonian Singh. Their mission is to explore strange new worlds, to seek new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Star Trek

1966

The Andy Griffith Show poster
7.6

Andy Taylor is the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life.

The Andy Griffith Show

1960

Film credits

2010s · 1 titles

1990s · 3 titles

1970s · 7 titles

1950s · 8 titles

Tea for Two poster
6.1

In this reworking of "No, No, Nanette," wealthy heiress Nanette Carter bets her uncle $25,000 that she can say "no" to everything for 48 hours. If she wins, she can invest the money in a Broadway show featuring songs written by her beau, and of course, in which she will star. Trouble is, she doesn't realize her uncle's been wiped out by the Stock Market crash.

Tea for Two

1950

Imitation of Life poster
7.4

In 1940s New York, a white widow who dreams of being on Broadway has a chance encounter with a black single mother, who becomes her maid.

Imitation of Life

1959

Singing Guns poster
6.4

Notorious stagecoach robber Rhiannon is unintentionally appointed as deputy when he saves the sheriff's life and must wear two hats between his new job that he enjoys and his old occupation that he misses.

Singing Guns

1950

Love Is Better Than Ever poster
6.6

A dance instructor falls in love with a smart theatre agent; while he returns her affections, it's just not enough to give up his exciting bachelor life.

Love Is Better Than Ever

1952

My Blue Heaven poster
7.5

Radio star Kitty Moran, long married to partner Jack, finds she's pregnant, but miscarries. For a change, the couple turn their act into a series on early TV and try to adopt a baby. Finally they acquiring a girl in a somewhat back alley manner.

My Blue Heaven

1950

The Happy Years poster
7.5

Based on a collection of stories with the focus on young John Humperkink "Dink" Stover, a student at the Lawrenceville Prepatory School, in 1896, whose family, in Eastcester, New York, have just about given up on his education because he is an incorrigible student. He gets into one situation after another and incurs the dislike of his classmates, who think he is cowardly but he changes their opinion when he challenges several of them to a fight. When he returns home for the summer, he meets Miss Dolly Travers and increases his 'hatred of women' because she does not accept his schoolboy pranks. Back at school, in the fall, he is more difficult than ever until his philosophy is changed by a teacher.

The Happy Years

1950

Girls Town poster
3.7

Chip is killed accidentally while trying to rape a blonde girl, who runs. Silver becomes the number one suspect even though she has an alibi, but due to previous brushes with the law she's sent to Girls Town, a home for young women in trouble with the law which is run by nuns. Silver is rebellious and causes trouble at the school, and her friend Sarafina totters near the brink of self-destruction because of an infatuation with a young singer. Meanwhile Chip's father hires a detective to find out the truth, and Chip's friend Fred gets Silver's sister in trouble at a drag race. Silver has a lot of problems all right.

Girls Town

1959

Her First Romance poster
4.0

A teenager experiences her first crush while attending a summer camp. Director Seymour Friedman's 1951 film stars Margaret O'Brien, Allen Martin Jr., Sharyn Moffett, Jimmy Hunt, Elinor Donahue, Ann Doran, Lloyd Corrigan, Atthur Space and Maudie Prickett.

Her First Romance

1951

1940s · 10 titles

Tenth Avenue Angel poster
6.5

Flavia's been told that her Aunt Susan's fiancé, Steve, has been on a trip around the world, but in truth he's finished his prison term. Steve wonders how he can make some money and is approached by his old associates. When Flavia discovers the truth about Steve, she loses all faith in her family and in God, and it will take a miracle to restore Flavia's belief and keep Steve out of trouble.

Tenth Avenue Angel

1948

Three Daring Daughters poster
5.9

Three young girls try to help their divorced mother find the right husband.

Three Daring Daughters

1948

An Old-Fashioned Girl poster
6.0

A music teacher in 1870s Boston works hard to succeed, while her wealthy distant relatives find their fortunes turning.

An Old-Fashioned Girl

1949

The Unfinished Dance poster
6.4

Meg, a young ballet student, idolizes the school's top ballerina, the shallow Ariane Bouchet. Meg is distressed when she learns visiting prima ballerina Darina rather than Bouchet will play the lead in the school's production of "Swan Lake." So on opening night, Meg arranges an accident which nearly kills Darina and ends her dancing career. As a result, Bouchet becomes a star, while Meg is torn with guilt. This is a remake of the 1937 French film "Ballerina", based on a short story by Paul Morand.

The Unfinished Dance

1947

And Now Tomorrow poster
6.0

Emily Blair is rich and deaf. Doctor Vance, who grew up poor in Blairtown, is working on a serum to cure deafness which he tries on Emily. It doesn't work. Her sister is carrying on an affair with her fiance Jeff. Vance tries a new serum which causes Emily to faint... Will it work this time?

And Now Tomorrow

1944

Girls' Town poster
10.0

A West Coast version of "Stage Door", set at a Hollywood boarding house for young women hoping for movie careers.

Girls' Town

1942

Mister Big poster
3.8

Students at the Davis School of the Theatre are assigned "Antigone" as their class play, but they conspire to do a swing musical instead.

Mister Big

1943

Winter Wonderland poster
5.2

A farm girl has a romance with a ski instructor.

Winter Wonderland

1946

Honeymoon Lodge poster
6.5

Honeymoon Lodge is a musical variation on the old Awful Truth plotline. Divorce-bound Bob and Carol Sterling (David Bruce, June Vincent) make a last-ditch attempt to avoid their legal breakup by restaging their mountain-resort honeymoon. Things get complicated when a rancher named Big Boy (Rod Cameron, in a Ralph Bellamy-style "sap" role) shows up at the resort in ardent pursuit of Carol, while Lorraine Logan (Harriet Hilliard) sets her cap for Bob.

Honeymoon Lodge

1943

The Arkansas Swing poster
10.0

Ken, Gil, Hezzie and Gabe are members of the Country & Western band 'The Hoosier Hotshots'. They get involved with the beautiful Margie MacGregor, the scheming villain Pamela Trent and horse races. The Hoosier Hotshots discover that a horse will trot like a champion only when he hears a march played on a washboard.

The Arkansas Swing

1948

Series credits

Friends poster
8.4

Six young people from New York City, on their own and struggling to survive in the real world, find the companionship, comfort and support they get from each other to be the perfect antidote to the pressures of life.

Friends

1994

The Love Boat poster
6.2

Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.

The Love Boat

1977

The Love Boat poster
6.2

Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.

The Love Boat

1977

The Love Boat poster
6.2

Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.

The Love Boat

1977

The Love Boat poster
6.2

Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.

The Love Boat

1977

The Merv Griffin Show poster
6.8

No synopsis available yet.

The Merv Griffin Show

1962

Murder, She Wrote poster
7.5

An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.

Murder, She Wrote

1984

Star Trek poster
8.0

Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain James T. Kirk with First Officer Mr. Spock, from the planet Vulcan. With a determined crew, the Enterprise encounters Klingons, Romulans, time paradoxes, tribbles and genetic supermen led by Khan Noonian Singh. Their mission is to explore strange new worlds, to seek new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Star Trek

1966

The Andy Griffith Show poster
7.6

Andy Taylor is the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life.

The Andy Griffith Show

1960

Cold Case poster
7.7

The Philadelphia homicide squad's lone female detective finds her calling when she is assigned cases that have never been solved. Detective Lilly Rush combines her natural instincts with the updated technology available today to bring about justice for all the victims she can.

Cold Case

2003

The Virginian poster
6.5

The Shiloh Ranch in Wyoming Territory of the 1890s is owned in sequence by Judge Henry Garth, the Grainger brothers, and Colonel Alan MacKenzie. It is the setting for a variety of stories, many more based on character and relationships than the usual western.

The Virginian

1962

Have Gun, Will Travel poster
7.3

Have Gun – Will Travel is an American Western television series that aired on CBS from 1957 through 1963. It was rated number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings every year of its first four seasons. It was one of the few television shows to spawn a successful radio version. The radio series debuted November 23, 1958. The television show is presently shown on the Encore-Western channel. Have Gun – Will Travel was created by Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow and produced by Frank Pierson, Don Ingalls, Robert Sparks, and Julian Claman. There were 225 episodes of the TV series, 24 written by Gene Roddenberry. Other contributors included Bruce Geller, Harry Julian Fink, Don Brinkley and Irving Wallace. Andrew McLaglen directed 101 episodes and 19 were directed by series star Richard Boone.

Have Gun, Will Travel

1957

Happy Days poster
7.6

In 1950s Milwaukee the Cunningham family must contend with Fonzie, a motorcycle riding Casanova.

Happy Days

1974

Coach poster
6.7

Hayden Fox, the curmudgeonly coach of Minnesota State University's Screaming Eagles football team, tries to navigate his way through the sports world, fatherhood and family life without dropping the ball.

Coach

1989

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman poster
7.6

Dr. Michaela Quinn journeys to Colorado Springs to be the town's physician after her father's death in 1868.

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

1993

The Golden Girls poster
7.6

Four Southern Florida seniors share a house, their dreams, and a whole lot of cheesecake. Bright, promiscuous, clueless and hilarious, these lovely, mismatched ladies form the perfect circle of friends.

The Golden Girls

1985

Dr. Kildare poster
5.7

The story of a young intern in a large metropolitan hospital trying to learn his profession, deal with the problems of his patients, and win the respect of the senior doctor in his specialty, internal medicine.

Dr. Kildare

1961

Newhart poster
7.2

Dick Loudon and his wife Joanna decide to leave life in New York City and buy a little inn in Vermont. Dick is a how-to book writer, who eventually becomes a local TV celebrity as host of "Vermont Today." George Utley is the handyman at the inn and Leslie Vanderkellen is the maid, with ambitions of being an Olympic Ski champion; she is later replaced by her cousin Stephanie, an heiress who hates her job. Her boyfriend is Dick's yuppie TV producer, Michael Harris. There are many other quirky characters in this fictional little town, including Dick's neighbors Larry, Darryl, and Darryl...three brothers who buy the Minuteman Cafe from Kirk Devane. Besides sharing a name, Darryl and Darryl never speak.

Newhart

1982

Hotel poster
6.8

Hotel is an American prime time drama series which aired on ABC from September 21, 1983 to May 5, 1988 in the timeslot following Dynasty. Based on Arthur Hailey's 1965 novel of the same name, the series was produced by Aaron Spelling and set in the elegant and fictitious St. Gregory Hotel in San Francisco. Establishing shots of the hotel were filmed in front of The Fairmont San Francisco atop the Nob Hill neighborhood. Episodes followed the activities of passing guests, as well as the personal and professional lives of the hotel staff.

Hotel

1982

Police Woman poster
6.4

Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.

Police Woman

1974

Barnaby Jones poster
7.0

Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. The show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement. William Conrad guest starred as Frank Cannon of Cannon on the first episode of Barnaby Jones, "Requiem for a Son" and the two series had a two-part crossover episode in 1975, "The Deadly Conspiracy".

Barnaby Jones

1973

Ellen poster
6.2

Ellen works in a Los Angeles bookstore called Buy the Book and hangs around with her friends discussing lovers, work and family.

Ellen

1994

One Day at a Time poster
6.8

The misadventures of a divorced mother, two teenage daughters, and their new building superintendent in Indianapolis.

One Day at a Time

1975

The Odd Couple poster
7.8

Felix and Oscar are two divorced men. Felix is neat and tidy while Oscar is sloppy and casual. They share a Manhattan apartment, and their different lifestyles inevitably lead to conflicts.

The Odd Couple

1970

Father Knows Best poster
6.6

Family man Jim Anderson copes with the everyday problems among his wife Margaret and their three children as they experience day-to-day changes.

Father Knows Best

1954

The Rookies poster
6.9

The Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers working in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department.

The Rookies

1972

77 Sunset Strip poster
7.2

Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this Warner Brothers drama. They work out of an office located at 77 Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, California, right next door to a snazzy restaurant where Kookie works as a valet. The finger-snapping, slang-talking Kookie occasionally helps Stu and Jeff with their cases, and eventually becomes a full-fledged member of the detective agency. Rex Randolph and J.R. Hale also join the firm, and Suzanne is their leggy secretary.

77 Sunset Strip

1958

Dennis the Menace poster
6.6

This 1959-1963 television situation comedy series follows the lives of the Mitchell family, Henry, Alice, and their only child Dennis, an energetic, trouble-prone, mischievous, but well-meaning boy, who often tangles with his peace-and-quiet-loving neighbor George Wilson, a retired salesman, or, later, with George's brother John, a writer. Dennis is basically a good, well-intentioned boy who always tries to help people, but who winds up making situations worse – often at Mr. Wilson's expense.

Dennis the Menace

1959

Police Story poster
7.0

Detective Cheng is commissioned by Interpol to destroy the Empire of Chaiba, a worldwide criminal organization based in Southeast Asia. He initiates an undercover operation to infiltrate the organization.

Police Story

1973

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show poster
7.2

Burns and Allen, an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, worked together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio and television and achieved great success over four decades.

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

1950

The Flying Nun poster
6.3

Young Sister Bertrille uses her ability to become airborne to help others, whether they want it or not. Although her aims are always benevolent, her means are often bemoaned by Mother Superior. The other Sisters must cope with their beloved Sister's aerodynamics and antics as she flies in and out of trouble.

The Flying Nun

1967

Eek! The Cat poster
6.9

Koombaya, it's Eek the cat and all his friends. Annabelle, Eek's 800-pound girlfriend, Sharky the vicious but lovable sharkdog, and Elmo the elk. Plus you can watch the Terrible Thunderlizards try to make Bill and Scooter, the cavemen, extinct. Plus there's Klutter who's, well, we're not exactly sure what Klutter is, but watch and find out for yourself.

Eek! The Cat

1992

Petrocelli poster
7.2

Tony Petrocelli is an Italian-American Harvard-educated lawyer who gave up the big money and frenetic pace of major-metropolitan life to practice in a sleepy city in the American Southwest. He and wife Maggie live in a trailer in the country while waiting for their new house to be built, and travel around in a beat-up old pickup truck. For a quiet rural area, Petrocelli seems to have no trouble running into his share of murderers to defend.

Petrocelli

1974

Get a Life poster
7.3

Surreal, twisted and hilariously funny, Get a Life is the ultimate anti-sitcom. Chris Peterson is a 30-year-old paperboy who still lives with his parents and who seems to have an ever decreasing grip on reality.

Get a Life

1990

Herman's Head poster
6.8

Herman's Head is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network from September 8, 1991 until April 21, 1994. The series was created by Andy Guerdat and Steve Kreinberg, and produced by Witt/Thomas Productions in association with Touchstone Television. William Ragsdale stars as the titular character, Herman Brooks.

Herman's Head

1991

CHiPs poster
6.8

Lighthearted look at the adventures of two Highway Patrol officers in Los Angeles. The main characters are Jon Baker and Frank Poncherello, two motorcycle officers always on the street to save lives.

CHiPs

1977

Battle of the Network Stars poster
6.4

Battle of the Network Stars was a series of competitions where television stars from ABC, CBS, and NBC would compete in various sporting events. A total of nineteen of these competitions were held, all of which were aired by ABC. In 2013, the show appeared in TV Guide's list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.

Battle of the Network Stars

1976

The Eleventh Hour poster
6.7

The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.

The Eleventh Hour

1962

S.W.A.T. poster
7.1

S.W.A.T. is an American action/crime drama series about the adventures of a Special Weapons And Tactics team operating in an unidentified California city. A spin-off of The Rookies, the series aired on ABC from February 1975 to April 1976. Like The Rookies, S.W.A.T. was produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg.

S.W.A.T.

1975

Occasional Wife poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Occasional Wife

1966