Voting Station

Elinor Donahue

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Actress

The Resume

    (April 19, 1937- )
    Born in Tacoma, Washington
    Birth name is Mary Eleanor Donahue
    Played Bob Anderson's daughter Betty ('Princess') on 'Father Knows Best' (1954 - 60)
    Portrayed Miriam Welby on 'The Odd Couple' (1972- 75)
    Portrayed Jane Mulligan on 'Mulligan's Stew' (1977)
    Best known as Ellie Walker on The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    Married television executive Harry Ackerman (m. 1962-1991)

Why she might be annoying:

    She wrote a cookbook.
    She signed her first contract with Universal at age five.
    She began tap-dancing at a year and four months.
    Her movie career was limited to playing second fiddle to a young Elizabeth Taylor.
    She married three times (with her second husband, Harry Ackerman, being 25 years her senior).
    She admitted to rushing into her first marriage, immediately saying 'yes' when a sound grip proposed to her (they eloped weeks later).
    She was cast as a regular for 'The Andy Griffith Show' - as a potential love interest for Sheriff Taylor - but left after a single season.
    She left because she and Griffith mutually agreed that they lacked any romantic chemistry to be a convincing couple, although she later admitted this was partly because so many of her funny lines ended up going to Don Knotts.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was trained in ballet and displayed the skill on several episodes of 'Father Knows Best.'
    She remained close with Bob Anderson and her other 'Father Knows Best' co-stars.
    She comes off as warm and pleasant during interviews and appearances.
    She had small but pivotal roles in 'Pretty Woman' and 'Freddy's Dead' (the sixth 'Elm Street' installment).
    She was widowed after nearly twenty five years of marriage to Ackerman.
    Fans of the Griffith Show overwhelmingly tend to prefer Ellie as Andy Taylor's love interest over Aneta Corsaut/Helen Crump (whom Taylor married on 'Mayberry R.F.D').
    She sang a memorable duet rendition of 'Away in a Manger' with Andy Griffith on the show's single Christmas special.
    She attributed her career longevity to not having been a star, thereby enabling her to span several decades without 'forever trying to be a starlet.'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 22 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 130 Votes: 64.62% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 88 Votes: 42.05% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying