Born on August 29, 1926, Elizabeth Ann Theresa Lynn was a well-known actress and appeared in several films during the 1940s and 1950s. There was no mean spiritedness to it. However, Father Knows Best would be abruptly canceled. Thankfully, she was able to leave the show with no bad blood. Just a rehearsal. We started singing and sang through the whole thing. Very good. Donahue called the role her "swan song."[7]. After twelve appearances in the first season, Ellie disappeared with no explanation offered to the audience. In 2015, Donahue played the role of Mrs. Chumley in Judson Theatre Company's production of the Pulitzer Prize play Harvey, by Mary Chase. I was exhausted.. The Andy Griffith Show made its debut in 1960, and Elinor was a part of it, playing pharmacist Ellie Walker, with the idea being that she would eventually become the girlfriend of Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) following a rocky start between the two of them. Suddenly the fan mail became all about Ellie and Andy as a couple. Elinor Donahue (born Mary Eleanor Donahue, April 19, 1937) is an American 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. RELATED: How Did The Andy Griffith Show End? Chapin married an auto mechanic at 16 and divorced two years later. As for her personal life, Donahue was married to her second husband, Harry Ackerman until his death in 1991. Donahue played Ellie Walker from 1960 through 1961. Subscribe to our newsletter for new stories, tips & events. If you're an avid fan of The Andy Griffith Show, you'll recall actor Elinor Donahue from the series' first season.She played "lady druggist" Ellie Walker on the CBS comedy for about a . In the eyes of the world, I was a young woman and was launched into the rest of my career, already not having to make a huge transition from child to an adult., RELATED: Father Knows Best Star, Billy Gray, Reminisces on Childhood Fame. That could have been part of it. In 1984, she made an appearance as Mrs. Broderick, the mother of a teenage drug addict on the last season of Happy Days. In The Andy Griffith Shows only Christmas episode, Ellie and Andy sang a duet, Away in the Manger. I was very, very touched by that. Donahue achieved stardom for her role as the elder daughter, Betty, on the television family series Father Knows Best, which aired from 1954 to 1960. The two were married for almost 30 years when he died in 1991. Plus, when you rewatch a show, you spot details that you may have missed the first time. Part of that, she believes, was because she had more or less grown up on the former. She later rejoined the original cast forThe Father Knows Best Reunionin 1977. Andy later took the blame and said he wasn't very good at showing . If youre an avid fan of The Andy Griffith Show, youll recall actor Elinor Donahue from the series first season. We're talking about pharmacist Ellie Walker, who had a pretty prominent role in Season 1. After training in vaudeville, she started getting parts in films and TV shows as a teenager likeMister BigandWinter Wonderland. Why did Barney leave the show? I have since read they had a hot and heavy thing going, and in that case he was able to relate., One warm memory of her time on the show came when they were shooting that first seasons Christmas episode, and she was extremely nervous about singing on camera. Elinor Donahue was Andy Griffith's 1st love interest on the show. The actor told the Television Academy Foundation how she came to be cast in 1960 on The Andy Griffith Show. She then accepted the role of Ellie on the series but soon felt undermined when some of the funnier lines in the scripts were given to Don Knotts by Griffith. People are so good to me," she said. In retrospect, from things that people have said to me very lovely things I was doing OK. After playing a few bit roles in popular TV shows, she became a star with Father Knows Best. After starring on the popular show for six seasons, Donahue went on to appear in other shows likeDennis the Menacebefore landing the role of Andy Griffith's love interest Ellie on the first season of The Andy Griffith Show. The Andy Griffith Show ran for eight seasons and highlighted the innocent joys of small-town living, but under the surface, the main cast harbored their share of scandalous secrets. In the shows first season, Andy and Helen marry. For her full interview, see http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/elinor-donahue And while Ellie and Andy did begin to date, the relationship was a short-lived . And I didnt read or anything. He wanted to make sure I was all right. "People of all ages hug me. Donahue played Ellie Walker from 1960 through 1961. Get Surfshark VPN at https://surfshark.deals/factsverse - Enter promo code FACTSVERSE for 83% off and 3 extra months for FREE!Do you remember watching the ic. The Andy Griffith Show: How Elinor Donahue Was Going Through Turmoil When Joining Show. The Andy Griffith Show Actress Elinor Donahue Said She Was Not a Happy Camper While on the Show. We just wish poor Ellie had been given a better send-off her character certainly deserved it! Plus, the two helped bring Barney and Thelma Lou, together. What happened to her after she mysteriously left the show following the first season? So at the end of filming one day, we met at a recording studio and he got a key. While she was hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia, Donahue told Karen Knotts no one from the show rang her to ask how she was. Fife appeared on The Andy Griffith Show from the show's beginning in 1960 until 1965, when Knotts left the show to pursue a career in feature films. In 1987, she played the title character's mother in the short-lived Fox series The New Adventures of Beans Baxter. Sign up for daily stories delivered to your inbox. She went up and apologized for having left the show. Donahue played a strong female role on The Andy Griffith Show. Ellie even ran for City Council. View results. Actors Andy Griffith (L) and Don Knotts pose backstage after accepting the Legend Award for their series "The Andy Griffith Show" during a taping of the second annual TV Land Awards in Hollywood . I didnt sing anymore, so I avoided it like the plague, she admits. I didnt think there was any real chemistry there. How old was Andy Griffith during the show? Don Knotts' Exit From 'The Andy Griffith Show' Explained 55 Years Later, The Cast of 'Happy Days', 36 Years Later, Honor Garry Marshall, Where Did 'Man with a Plan' Daughter Emme Go? As much as we enjoyed watching Andy Griffith play Ron Howard's onscreen father, it was entertaining to see him simultaneously pursue relationships with women on the family sitcom. She started performing on the radio at the age of two and was signed as a dancer and singer by Universal Studios after three years. Behind the scenes, Donahue decided she and Griffith lacked the chemistry to make their on-screen romantic relationship credible and she decided to leave. Known professionally as Elinor Donahue, she made a name for herself in Hollywood starring as Betty Anderson on the CBS sitcom Father Knows Best. All Rights Reserved. Andy later took the blame and said he wasn't very good at showing affection while being filmed. Why Did Elinor Donahue Leave Andy Griffith Show? There was no point in my trying to continue with it, she continued. Additionally, in 1963, she played Letty May in the episode "The Burning Tree" on Have Gun Will Travel. I didnt feel like I had all my feathers yet and I didnt feel capable. Sheriff Andy liked to call her the lady pharmacist. Ellie even ran for City Council. Later, Andy took the blame and said he is not very good at showing affection while filming. It seemed like the conflict she experienced on the show that caused her to stay on for only a year came from herself. Elinor Donahue, who portrayed Ellie, wanted off the show almost immediately. I didnt sing anymore, so I avoided it like the plague, she admits. Andy was leaving the show following the end of its eighth . Her character mysteriously disappeared without any kind of explanation for the viewers. She was a pharmacist who helped her uncle. I did 11 episodes, just there for the first season, Donahue said in a 2006 interview with the Archive of American Television. However, Mayberry, the quaint hometown made famous on The Andy Griffith Show, has long been considered a fictional place, but the real Mayberry does exist. DNA. Betty Lynn, most famously known for her portrayal of Thelma Lou on the classic "The Andy Griffith Show," has died at age 95. . Ellie Walker, who has the distinction of being Mayberry's first female pharmacist and Andy's first love interest, first appears in episode four, "Ellie Comes to Town.". In 1991, she portrayed the "Orphanage woman" in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. Study Guides . Oftentimes it is virtually impossible for a young performer in television to make the transition to more adult roles, but Elinor Donahue managed to break the mold given that she was able to seamlessly go from Father Knows Best to The Andy Griffith Show. Why did Elinor Donahue leave the Andy Griffith Show? Still, Donahue said she didnt feel right on the show. who replaced warren on the andy griffith show. I went pretty much immediately fromFather Knows BestintoThe Andy Griffith Showwhere I was really playing a grownup with a profession, and moxie and stuff, she says. Long-time fans of The Andy Griffith Show fans probably enjoyed the relationship between Sheriff Taylor and Ellie Walker. So at the end of filming one day, we met at a recording studio and he got a key. It goes to show just how much of the kindness of Mayberry and its characters was just as important behind the scenes. It is explained that Fife had left Mayberry to take a job as a detective in Raleigh, North Carolina. View results. So he was only a few months away from turning 60 when Matlock premiered on NBC. Walker was Mayberrys pharmacist. The Andy Griffith Show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California. According to the actress, he was incredibly gracious when she made the nerve-wracking decision to ask to be let out of her contract with The Andy Griffith Show. Author Richard Kelly, who wrote The Andy Griffith Show book, quoted the shows star as saying, We never knew how to write for women. As she explained to Don Knotts daughter Karen in her recent book Tied Up in Knotts: My Dad and Me, she was only 23 years old when she appeared on the Griffith Show. Griffith died on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his coastal home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, in Dare County, North Carolina. And of course, they were funny, and they made those two characters so rich and terrific. Donahue portrayed Miriam Welby in 17 episodes of The Odd Couple (197275). To hear Elinor Donahue in her own words regardingFather Knows BestandThe Andy Griffith Show, as well as people likeGilligans Islandstar Dawn Wells and others, please visit theTV RetroVisionpodcast by clicking HERE. It was the strangest feeling.. Before The Andy Griffith Show, Donahue found major success on the show, Father Knows Best.After Father Knows Best ended, she really struggled to adjust to a new show. Is Ellie off of Andy Griffith Show still alive? Donahue opened up about what exactly made her exit the show so suddenly and the kindness shown to her by former co-star Don Knotts. Woodsy locales were filmed north of Beverly Hills at Franklin Canyon. After all, she was only 23 when he agreed to the three-year contract as Ellie. He could tell I was nervous and said, Just sit down here on the floor and Ill just noodle around with the guitar and you come in when you feel comfortable and well start. For The Andy Griffith Show, Peterson initially read for the role of Ellie Walker, a love interest for Sheriff Andy Taylor, but the role went to Elinor Donahue. . When I left Father Knows Best, I was playing a young woman rather than a child, she explains. 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