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, on April 19, 1937, she appeared as a radio singer and
vaudeville dancer while a mere toddler, then was picked up by
Universal Studios at the age of 5.
Cast in minor child roles in such
pictures as Mister Big (1943), the
precocious youngster eventually moved to MGM but didn't attain the
juvenile stardom of a
Margaret O'Brien or
Elizabeth Taylor, whom she
supported in both
Tanz ohne Ende (1947)
and
Die süße Falle (1952),
respectively. Still and all, Elinor's talent and wholesome appeal was
recognized and the 50s brought her into the TV era.
Elinor became more accessible, finally winning nationwide "girl-next-door" notice in
her late teens as the oldest daughter of "ideal" parents
Robert Young and
Jane Wyatt in the classic family show
Vater ist der Beste (1954).
Suffering more than her share of teen angst, she played Betty
("Princess") Anderson from 1954 to 1960.
By the time the series was
finished, Eleanor was blossoming into a pretty, wholesome, romantic ingénue. She became
Andy Griffith's first longstanding
girlfriend on
The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
for one season, but then suffered a major slump. She revived in the 70s
with steady roles on
Männerwirtschaft (1970) (as
Tony Randall's girlfriend),
Pilot (1977)
as a typical sunny mom, and as a guest for countless other shows,
including Barnaby Jones (1973),
Newhart (1982) and
Golden Girls (1985).
An extremely pleasant personality, she was primarily tapped into playing
nice, friendly, non-flashy parts in both lightweight comedy and dramatic.
Possessing a suitable voice for commercials and cartoons, she has
lately found recurring roles on
Dr. Quinn - Ärztin aus Leidenschaft (1993)
and a few soaps, including
California Clan (1984) and
Zeit der Sehnsucht (1965),
the latter in which she played a rare malicious part.
Though she may not have had much of a chance to shine in her career, Elinor has
certainly been a steady, reliable player who has not let her fans down
with her obvious warmth and pleasing disposition. Into the 90's, guest appearances included "Murder, She Wrote," "Coach," "Friends," "Herman's Head," "Ellen," "Cold Case," and a recurring role as "Rebecca Quinn" on Dr. Quinn - Ärztin aus Leidenschaft (1993). Her last credits were several appearances as a judge on Schatten der Leidenschaft (1973) in 2010 and a featured role in the film Plötzlich Prinzessin 2 (2004).
The widow of TV executive producer Harry Ackerman (he was
25 years her senior), whose list of credits included
Erwachsen müsste man sein (1957),
Verliebt in eine Hexe (1964) and
Gidget (1965), and a mother of four
sons, Elinor married third husband, contractor Louis Genevrino, in 1992.
In 1998, she published a memoir
entitled "In the Kitchen with Elinor Donahue", in which she relived
some of her memories of Hollywood along with providing more than 150 of
her top-grade recipes.
