Born 1937 in Tacoma, Washington, American actress Elinor Donahue appeared in dancing-chorus film roles from the age of five, she was at one point a ballet-school classmate of future Fred Astaire partner Barrie Chase.
Donahue was a child actress working in vaudeville and had several bit parts in movies as a teenager, including Love Is Better Than Ever (1952), starring Elizabeth Taylor. She played one of the daughters in Three Daring Daughters in 1948 and appeared as Mamie Van Doren’s sister in Girls Town (1959).
Donahue is 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. In 2015, she played the role of Mrs. Chumley in Judson Theatre Company’s production of the Pulitzer Prize play Harvey, by Mary Chase. Donahue called the role her “swan song.”
Take a look at these vintage photos to see portraits of a young Elinor Donahue in the 1950s and 1960s.
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