Elinor Donahue (born Mary Eleanor Donahue, April 19, 1937) is an American actress who appeared as Dr. Joni Lincoln, a psychologist, and colleague of Mindy at KTNS, where she had her own phone-in show, in the Season 3 episode Mindy and Mork.
Biography[]
Donahue was born in Tacoma, Washington, the daughter of Doris Genevieve (née Gelbaugh) and Thomas William Donahue on April 19, 1937
She has been married three times, the first time to Richard Smith (11 June 1955 - 11 August 1961) the couple having one son, before the marriage ended in 1961, Elinor taking a break from her career at that time to sort out her personal life. She remarried to Harry Ackerman (8 June 1962 - 3 February 1991), a top TV producer and 24 years her senior, happily until his passing, the couple having 3 sons, with Ackerman adopting the son from her first marriage. Her sons being, Brian Ackerman, Peter Ackerman, James Ackerman and Chris Ackerman and two step-children: Susan Peterson and Stephen Ackerman. She is currently married to Louis Gerard Genevrino (4 January 1992 - present)
Career[]
Elinor Donahue has been entertaining audiences for six decades. Tap dancing from 16 months old, 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 The Unfinished Dance (1947) and Love Is Better Than Ever (1952), respectively. She played one of the daughters in Three Daring Daughters in 1948 and appeared as Mamie Van Doren's sister in Girls Town (1959).
It was TV however that brought her stardom when in 1954, she landed the role as the elder daughter, Betty, on the television family series Father Knows Best, which aired from 1954 to 1960. 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.
While in the first season of Father Knows Best, she also appeared on The Ray Bolger Show, starring Ray Bolger as a song-and-dance man. Thereafter, she was cast with James Best, Ann Doran, and J. Carrol Naish in the 1956 episode "The White Carnation" of the religion anthology series, Crossroads. She guest starred on an episode of U.S. Marshal. She also appeared as a new bride in The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show episode titled "The Newlyweds" that aired April 2, 1956.
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 due to difficulties in her personal life, requested she be released from her contract. The break to put her personal life in order, stalled her career somewhat, but she returned to begin a long line of appearances across many top shows across the following decades, including Star Trek: TOS (1967), The Odd Couple (1972 - 75), Diff'rnt Strokes (1979), Newhart (1982) and The Golden Girls (1985) as Stan's new wife, Coach, as Jerry Van Dyke's girlfriend, Friends as Ross & Monica's Aunt Lillian.
Television[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954–1960 | Father Knows Best | Betty Anderson | Main role |
| 1955 | Lux Video Theatre | Helen Richards | "The Life of Emile Zola" |
| 1955 | Letter to Loretta | Debbie Waring / Janey | "He Always Comes Home", "Week-End in Winnetka" |
| 1956 | The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show | Emily Vanderlip Foster | "The Newlyweds" |
| 1956 | Ford Theatre | Katherine Casey | "Sheila" |
| 1958 | U.S. Marshal | Martha Watson | "Shoot to Kill" |
| 1960 | Goodyear Theatre | Connie Peters | "Marked Down for Connie" |
| 1960 | Dennis the Menace | Georgiana Balanger | "Dennis and the Wedding" |
| 1960 | The Brothers Brannagan | Kate Warren | "Duet" |
| 1960–61 | The Andy Griffith Show | Elinor "Ellie" Walker | Recurring role |
| 1961 | General Electric Theater | Carol Madsen | "A Voice on the Phone" |
| 1961 | The United States Steel Hour | Fran Crowell | "Delayed Honeymoon" |
| 1963 | 77 Sunset Strip | Laura Holt | "Scream Softly, Dear" |
| 1963 | Have Gun – Will Travel | Letty Mae Stinchcomb | "The Burning Tree" |
| 1963 | Dr. Kildare | Sharon Calloway | "Ship's Doctor" |
| 1963 | Redigo | Joanie-Mae Kilpatrick | "Hostage Hero Riding" |
| 1963 | The Virginian | Carole Cole | "Siege" |
| 1964 | The Eleventh Hour | Melanie | "The Secret in the Stone" |
| 1964–65 | Many Happy Returns | Joan Randall | Main role |
| 1965 | A Man Called Shenandoah | Julie Wade | "Town on Fire" |
| 1967 | Occasional Wife | Linda Sue | "Oil, Be Seeing You" |
| 1967 | Star Trek: The Original Series | Nancy Hedford | "Metamorphosis" |
| 1968–1970 | The Flying Nun | Dr. Jennifer Ethrington | "My Sister, the Sister", "How to Be a Spanish Grandmother", "My Sister, the Doctor" |
| 1969 | In Name Only | Esther Garrity | TV film |
| 1972 | Gidget Gets Married | Medley Blaine | TV film |
| 1972–1975 | The Odd Couple | Miriam Welby | Recurring role |
| 1974 | If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever? | Alice Bennett | TV film |
| 1974 | Police Woman | Ellie Tarlow | "Warning: All Wives" |
| 1974 | The Rookies | Amanda | "Blue Christmas" |
| 1975 | Petrocelli | Joan Hiller | "Vengeance in White" |
| 1976 | S.W.A.T. | Marjorie Kemp | "Lessons in Fear" |
| 1977 | The Feather and Father Gang | Julie | "The People's Choice" |
| 1977 | The Father Knows Best Reunion | Betty Anderson | TV film |
| 1977 | Insight | Margaret Drill | "Christmas 2025" |
| 1977 | Mulligan's Stew | Jane Mulligan | Main role |
| 1977 | Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas | Betty Anderson | TV film |
| 1977 | Police Story | Camille Tackleberry | "Ice Time" |
| 1978 | Police Story | Joan Anderson | "No Margin for Error" |
| 1978 | Doctors' Private Lives | Mona Wise | TV film |
| 1979 | Please Stand By | Carol Lambert | TV series |
| 1979 | Diff'rent Strokes | Diane Sloane | "The Woman" |
| 1980 | Condominium | Audrey Ames | TV film |
| 1980 | Barnaby Jones | Judy Corbett | "The Silent Accuser" |
| 1981 | Mork & Mindy | Dr. Joni Lincoln | "Mindy and Mork" |
| 1981 | The Grady Nutt Show | Ellie Williams | TV film |
| 1981 | One Day at a Time | Felicia | "Alex Moves In" |
| 1981 | Fantasy Island | Madge Nolan / Blanche Barrens | 2 episodes |
| 1982 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Marjorie Dane | "The Sound of Music - Hazzard Style" |
| 1983 | High School U.S.A. | Mrs. Franklin | TV film |
| 1983 | Hotel | Louise | "Deceptions" |
| 1984 | No Earthly Reason | Mrs. Morrison | TV film |
| 1984 | Happy Days | Mrs. Broderick | "School Dazed" |
| 1984–85 | Days of Our Lives | Kate Honeycutt | Guest role |
| 1986 | Riptide | Elaine Warwick | "Echoes" |
| 1987 | The Love Boat | Betty Anderson | "Who Killed Maxwell Thorn?" |
| 1987 | The New Adventures of Beans Baxter | Susan Baxter | Regular role |
| 1988 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Laura Donovan | "Never Say Goodbye" |
| 1988 | Newhart | Irma | "Courtin' Disaster" |
| 1989 | The Golden Girls | Katherine | "Stan Takes a Wife" |
| 1989 | Generations | Sylvia Furth | TV series |
| 1989 | Santa Barbara | Dr. Anderson | "1.1278", "1.1277" |
| 1990 | Murder, She Wrote | Connie Lewis | "The Szechuan Dragon" |
| 1990–1992 | Get a Life | Gladys Peterson | Main role |
| 1992 | Herman's Head | Mrs. Fitzer | "A Charlie Brown Fitzer" |
| 1992–93 | Eek!stravaganza | Mom (voice) | TV series |
| 1993 | The Legend of Prince Valiant | Queen Eleanora (voice) | "The Jubilee" |
| 1993 | Coach | Lorraine | "Burden of the Burleighs", "Luthario" |
| 1993 | Biker Mice from Mars | Munsterella (voice) | "A Scent, a Memory, a Far Distant Cheese" |
| 1993–1997 | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | Rebecca Quinn | Recurring role (seasons 2–6) |
| 1994 | Friends | Aunt Lillian | "The One Where Nana Dies Twice" |
| 1995 | The Invaders | Norma Winters | "1.1", "1.2" |
| 1996 | Ellen | Delores Warwell | "The Tape" |
| 1999 | Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story | Mrs. Lebowitz | TV film |
| 2001 | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within | Rebecca Quinn Dickinson | TV film |
| 2005 | Cold Case | Esther 'Legs' Davis | "Colors" |
| 2010–11 | The Young and the Restless | Judge Marie Anderson | Guest role (4 episodes) |
Mork & Mindy[]
Elinor appeared in a number of Garry Marshall productions under her belt, having appeared in 17 episodes of The Odd Couple, and later appearing in Happy Days, and film wise both Pretty Woman and the Princess Diaries 2.
Mork and Mindy was the second of his productions she appeared in, and in it she played Dr. Joni Lincoln, the unfortunate TV psychologist on KTNS, whose show gets hijacked by Mindy & Mork's personal problems at home in Mindy and Mork. With Mork ringing in constantly, and Mindy getting increasing distracted by the issues at home that its affecting her work, Dr. Lincoln has the unenviable task of trying to help Mindy work through one of the most unusual of relationships, some of which surrounding their physical romantic compatibility, embarrassingly for a still distracted Mindy goes out live on air.
Elinor Donahue recalls in her interview with the American Foundation, how, during the read through for the episode, Robin Williams lost his temper with one of the writers resulting in a rare outburst. She recounted how, later, as she was in her dressing room, reading her bible, he suddenly appeared, and crawled in on all fours, looking up at her with puppy dog eyes, and asking tremulously and apologetically if she was 'afraid' of him now? Laughing, she assured him she was not.[1]