I didnt feel like I had all my feathers yet and I didnt feel capable. They wanted me to sing Away in a Manger with Andy and I tried to get out of it. Why did Elinor Donahue leave Mayberry? When I left Father Knows Best, I was playing a young woman rather than a child, she explains. 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. The actress, Elinor Donahue, later admitted that she felt like she and Andy Griffith didn't have enough chemistry to portray a believable couple on screen, so she decided to leave the show. My mother said, Oh for heavens sake, you sing that in church all the time, you can certainly sing that. But I was very, very nervous about it. 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. Which Teeth Are Normally Considered Anodontia. Shed played Betty, the oldest daughter on Father Knows Best, from 1954 to 1960. Possibly, she might be the only child of her parents. Before The Andy Griffith Show, Donahue found major success on the show, Father Knows Best. Andy was leaving the show following the end of its eighth . Shes listed as being in 12 episodes. 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.And while Ellie and Andy did begin to date, the . Watching it back, she seemed to blend in just fine with the show. Elinor Donahue was Andy Griffith's 1st love interest on the show. I didnt feel like I had all my feathers yet and I didnt feel capable. Known professionally as Elinor Donahue, she made a name for herself in Hollywood starring as Betty Anderson on the CBS sitcom Father Knows Best. I didnt feel like I had all my feathers yet and I didnt feel capable. Pleshette married twice. And for almost two decades after it ended in 1968, finding another hit show eluded him. I didnt sing anymore, so I avoided it like the plague, she admits. In 1984, she made an appearance as Mrs. Broderick, the mother of a teenage drug addict on the last season of Happy Days. 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.". He was as gracious to me as you could imagine, she smiles. She was a pharmacist who helped her uncle. The actress, Elinor Donahue, later admitted that she felt like she and Andy Griffith didn't have enough chemistry to portray a believable couple on screen, so she decided to leave the show. Part of that, she believes, was because she had more or less grown up on the former. Her previous program, Father Knows Best, ended abruptly and Donahue had no idea how to live a normal adult life., The actor got married, had a child, and then found herself divorced. Her co-stars were Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Billy Gray as her . However, the episode "The Guitar Player Returns" was her last. He is a motorcycle collector and businessman. She has been married to Lou Genevrino since 1992 and has four children. He was just absolutely precious. Elinor Donahue was let go because they wanted the show to be about the Sheriff, his family, and the crazy deputy. It was just very sweet.. Between her dwindling self-confidence on the set and my emotional problems, she began to lose weight and was becoming anorexic. She developed pneumonia, which kept her off the show and required scripts to be written around her. Learn how your comment data is processed. Born on August 29, 1926, Elizabeth Ann Theresa Lynn was a well-known actress and appeared in several films during the 1940s and 1950s. Should be required viewing for any Andy Griffith fan. I didnt think there was any real chemistry there. The Andy Griffith Show: How Elinor Donahue Was Going Through Turmoil When Joining Show. It was the strangest feeling. Very good. who replaced warren on the andy griffith show. Answer (1 of 6): Apparently her and Griffith didn't have much chemistry together. Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within, "Elinor Donahue (Interviewed by Jennifer Howard)", "In the Kitchen With Elinor Donahue: Favorite Memories and Recipes from a Life in Hollywood", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elinor_Donahue&oldid=1141037797, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, "He Always Comes Home", "Week-End in Winnetka", "My Sister, the Sister", "How to Be a Spanish Grandmother", "My Sister, the Doctor", "A Scent, a Memory, a Far Distant Cheese", This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 01:24. "People of all ages hug me. In retrospect, from things that people have said to me very lovely things I was doing OK. She is apparently self-sufficient; her occupation is never revealed despite references to a never-seen office, yet she lives in a roomy and well-decorated house of her own. Andy Taylor (Andrew Jackson Taylor played by Andy Griffith) In Season One, Elinor "Ellie" Walker came to Mayberry in 4th episode, Ellie Comes to Town; she was a graduate of Barnard University, and a pharmacist. [4] 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. Often, her funniest lines would get taken away from her and given to other actors.After all, she had just left Father Knows Best which was one of Americas most popular sitcoms and one where she had a major role. There was no point in my trying to continue with it, she continued. The actress, Elinor Donahue, later admitted that she felt like she and Andy Griffith didn't have enough chemistry to portray a believable couple on screen, so she decided to leave the show. In the episode, Danny Thomas drives through the town of Mayberry and gets pulled over by Sheriff Taylor for running an unnoticed stop sign. She hasn't appeared in any onscreen roles since 2011. He said they just didnt know how to write for me. Elinor Donahue decided not to return after the first season, because she felt she had no on-screen chemistry with Andy Griffith. It was just very sweet., Our new Privacy Policy will go into effect on January 1st, 2023. Thankfully, she was able to leave the show with no bad blood. 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.. The only person who called me from the show was your dad, the actor said. In 2001 she wed Tom Poston, her long-ago Broadway co-star, who had also been a guest star on "The Bob Newhart Show" and a regular in Mr. Newhart's second sitcom, "Newhart," in the 1980s. In the shows first season, Andy and Helen marry. My mother said, Oh for heavens sake, you sing that in church all the time, you can certainly sing that. But I was very, very nervous about it. ELINOR DONAHUE. In 1963, Donahue was cast in an episode of NBC's short-lived modern Western series, Redigo, with Richard Egan as the rancher Jim Redigo; then in 1964, she appeared as Melanie in "The Secret in the Stone" in the NBC medical drama dealing with psychiatry, The Eleventh Hour, starring Jack Ging and Ralph Bellamy. Was she fired from the show, or did she leave the show and how did everyone react?First, lets look into how Elinor Donahue got her start in life. Its difficult to go from one series to another, especially in the early days of network television. And of course, they were funny, and they made those two characters so rich and terrific. After all, she was only 23 when he agreed to the three-year contract as Ellie. The widow of TV executive producer Harry Ackerman (he was 25 years her senior), whose list of credits included Leave It to Beaver (1957), Bewitched (1964) and Gidget (1965), and a mother of four sons, Elinor married third husband, contractor Louis Genevrino, in 1992. We just wish poor Ellie had been given a better send-off her character certainly deserved it! Years later, Elinor attended an event and saw him there. Answer (1 of 2): In the Andy Griffith Show the character of Ellie, played by Elinore Donahue, helped her uncle Fred at Walker's Drugstore in Mayberry. Sheriff Andy liked to call her the "lady pharmacist.". Her character mysteriously disappeared without any kind of explanation for the viewers. Elinor holds American citizenship but her ethnicity is Caucasian. She has also made appearances on Days of Our Lives, Many Happy Returns, and The Andy Griffith Show, among others. As of 2020, Elinor Donahue age is 83 years. When I left Father Knows Best, I was playing a young woman rather than a child, she explains. This article is from Do You Remember. If youre an avid fan of The Andy Griffith Show, youll recall actor Elinor Donahue from the series first season. I had a three-year contract for that show, but at the end of the first year, I asked to be let out of it because I didnt feel that I was playing the role properly. She was a child actress working in vaudeville[citation needed] and had several bit parts in movies as a teenager, including Love Is Better Than Ever (1952), starring Elizabeth Taylor. Ellie even ran for City Council. The Home of Nostalgia. Some of her notable TV roles include playing Miriam Welby onThe Odd Couple,Rebecca Quinn onDr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,Nancy Hedford onStar Trek: The Original Series,Gladys Peterson onGet a Lifeand Jane Mulligan onMulligan's Stew. Father Knows Best Star, Billy Gray, Reminisces on Childhood Fame, An Unhappy Elinor Donahue Quit The Andy Griffith Show, Feeling There Was No Point In Continuing, Why Clint Eastwood Turned Down This Iconic Role, 74-Year-Old Susan Sarandon Says Why She Prefers Younger Men. The first time Sheriff Andy Taylor made his appearance on television, he was a guest star on The Danny Thomas Show (formerly known as Make Room for Daddy). Is Ellie off of Andy Griffith Show still alive? Plus, the two helped bring Barney and Thelma Lou, together. Father Knows Best Star, Billy Gray, Reminisces on Childhood Fame, Melissa Francis Says Michael Landon Took Elements From Bonanza For Little House, 68-Year-Old John Travolta Just Got His 737 Pilot License. Was Andy Griffith show, Donahue found major success on the show was your dad the. She admits called me from the show, among others Original series, Gladys Peterson a. 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2023-04-21