@@markhowell6601 Yes, I've seen that in the comment section more than once. Anytime Andy so much as stood in the same room with a pretty girl (or even those 2 goofy blondes!) the green-eyed monster would grab hold of Helen. But that was just what was written for her. Pretty much everyone was made to behave badly at some time. I thought Helen was beautiful and that she and Andy had very natural relaxed chemistry. Not surprised they actually had a loving relationship in real life.
Hi Buddy! ⬆️. I too would have loved for Ellie to have remained on AG! I was also very happy to hear that her leaving wasn’t because she was a terrible person, or the cast was was mean. And The AG Show STILL makes me happy! XO
I agree, she had such a way about her! I was so disappointed that she left that show, too! She could be warm and funny while retaining a level of dignity and class, a combination that seems impossible to find these days, one of the reasons why I tend to favor older sitcoms and over more modern.
I developed a crush on Elinor Donahue at the age of 12 in 1961 while watching syndicated reruns of Father Knows Best. The show idealized a family that I wished I had, although I realize today it was completely unrealistic. Now I'm 73 while Donahue is pushing 85, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for her. Wherever you are today, may God bless you, beautiful lady!
She added a sense of depth and soul, class and grounding to a show that has come down to us as more than merely a situation comedy but very often a life's lesson. She was and is a treasure.
Oh yes! I adored Elinor Donahue on the Andy Griffith show! I always loved the episodes that she was in. I was disappointed when she wasn't there anymore.
Yes. Elsinore made a lasting impression as the pharmacist on the Andy Griffith Show. It was strange to suddenly have her disappear. Another role late in her career was the kind sales lady to Julia Roberts as “Pretty Woman”.
Ellie Walker, The Lady Drugist, was my very first crush. Boy I loved her! I was a little kid, and just seeing her on the re-runs... and she was something else. Still one of my all-time favorites, to this day. What a wonderful and elegant Lady.
I absolutely loved her character. I really hated that she was gone so soon and I always kind of wondered how that happened and why. Good to have this information now! How lovely and sweet, knowing that Don knotts was a supportive friend, on and off the screen, and that he called her now and then to check on her and see how she was doing. From what I have read about him, I wouldn't have expected anything else, I've always heard he was such a nice guy.
My dad had a room at a small hotel in Virginia right next to a room Don Knotts was in. They spoke here and there in the lobby and my dad said he really was one of the nicest people you’d ever wanna meet. This was way back when the show was still on.
It's a shame that she didn't remain on the show..........She was 50 times more appealing than Helen or any of the other love interests for Andy on the show......and she was the best thing about Father Knows Best, and she could deliver a comic line with the best of them.
Agreed. Of Andy's love interests, Eleanor was far and away the most appealing and interesting . Joanna Moore was also very appealing. The Helen Crump character never worked for me. She came across as an angry and unattractive. The script writers did her no favors.. Thelma Lou, on the other hand, was absolutely fabulous. Perhaps my favorite of all. I would have Andy with Ellie, and Barney with Thelma Lou.
You’re right. I never understood why she was not going to be Andy’s love interest. She was so much better than Helen including acting-wise. Joanna Moore was good too. But Ellie should have been it.
I loved her on Father Knows Best and decades later was thrilled to find her playing opposite Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" as a knowing, sympathetic older sales lady . The thing is , for me , in seeing those two ladies together I saw a different pretty woman than the script intended . But I am nearing 75 . Elegance is never out of style .
She shined even though they didn't give her the line she felt she should have. She brought life to the show, when I started watching the show in high school back in the seventies I never know the store appreciated that until the last 8 years or so my favorite episodes involve her irresistible Andy and then when she enters the town as the new pharmacist. She just exudes wholesome vibes and life. The show would have maybe taken that little different twist if they had gotten married but I think it would have been a good one. Will never know but we have those episodes with her in it.
The first year was by far the worst ...years 3 and 4 were undoubtably the best ...Donahue was fired because she and her character were a terrible fit for Mayberry ...
She didn’t return for the second season ...she was told it wasn’t working out ...everyone has been nice about it , but the fact is she and her character were a terrible fit for the show , so she wasnt retained . It’s painful to watch the first season with this totally misplaced character
Eleanor Donahue is a lovely beautiful and talented actor. My favorite character she played was Ambassador Hedford in the Star Trek episode “Metamorphosis.” It was a relatively small role but she was stunning in it.
I would have loved to see Andy & Ellie get married. They would have made a wonderful couple to raise Opie. Ellie was a wonderful actress, very supportive & tender.
I thought the character of Ellie Walker was a great one. She had a professional career as a pharmacist, a lively personality, and was very likable. The PTB should have kept the character in the show. She had a lot to offer.
But did you listen to the narration? She asked to leave the show. The character disappeared because she left, not because the show got rid of the role.
@@susancook1448 Elinor described Andy Griffith during an interview as being "The Boss, in an excellent way, a good way". He told Elinor that they didn't know how to write for her character. She said that very early on in the first season, the Barney Fife character developed into the main sparring partner for Andy, which had not been expected. Elinor said that some of Miss Ellie's lines in the scripts would be removed and the lines given to the Barney Fife character. She had nothing but praise in the interview for Don Knotts, her personal friend Betty Linn, and Ron Howard, and said that she "loved" Frances Bavier. Elinor said she had been ill during Season 1, had missed several episodes, and decided herself to leave the show.
She was fantastic, I wish she would have stayed on. Andy blew it haha. The odd couple was the only show I saw her in after Mayberry and Father knows best! Beautiful and a great actress!
I absolutely was in awe of Miss Elinor and thought she was the most beautiful girl on TV. I watched A LOT of “Father Knows Best” re-runs in the early 80’s. 😊
I am in love with Eleanor Donahue. Every time I see her my heart melts. I am a self proclaimed biggest fan. I wish there was someway I could meet her or even speak to her. I first fell in love with her when watching reruns of father knows best and then of course the Andy Griffith show. I will look up shows and interviews with her just to see her. If anyone knows how I could speak to her please let me know. To this day this lady has the most beautiful smile ever.
It's funny. After about 70 years, there apparently are still a lot of people upset that Elly's character dropped out of the show. I still feel mildly upset. Eleanor just had charisma. Nobody on this board appears to have liked Helen very much. Her character just wasn't very appealing. I don't know if it was the writing or Anita herself or both. They had her get so angry at Andy a few times for ridiculous reasons. It made her seem really harsh and hard to like.
Helen Crump (the name fit her) was in a constant state of rage. And then she went on to be Pete Malloy's (Adam 12) main girl. There she emasculated the sexiest man on television at the time. I can't even watch the episodes with her in them. Elly was sweet. I think Andy Griffith was a bit of a wolf, and she might not have liked the uncomfortable experiences off stage.
my mother was just as beautiful and looked like she could be her sister, and her name was Eleanor. I was so disappointed to realize she was no longer on the show
Yes I would've loved for her to have continued on the show. If not as Andy's love interest, then just to continue as a the pharmacist and stay as a primary character on the show. She created a more down home feel to a very down home show.
I'll always remember her from an episode of Star Trek where she played a woman who was terminally ill and her body was taken over by an alien being to save her life
The story of an immortal who gives up her immortality for the love of a mortal man. Beren and Lúthien. Aragorn and Arwen. It isn't the best-loved Trek episode, but one of my personal favorites.
It was a very good original Star Trek episode. An early earth astronaut lost in space and kept alive by a non corperal alien being. Elinor played a Federation diplomat who was going to die after a shuttle crash. The alien being was actually in love with the astronaut. Elinor's character agreed to allow the alien to inhabit her body. A very well acted episode and the kind of television that is rarely produced today.
I think she misread the situation. Her character was clearly drawn, and she played it so well, that she became an integral part of the show. I remember even as a child I was very sad that she was no longer on the show. I didn't understand it.
I loved her on the show. I thought Ellie brought beauty and intelligence to Mayberry. The show WAS about a widower father raising son with help of aunt. I loved Peggy the nurse and Helen Crump later on. It's easy to spot Elinor often in 40's MGM movies even when she is very very young with her beautiful smile!
I like Elinor Donahue and when I watched the first season of The Andy Griffith Show I felt that she was wonderful as Ellie Walker the town pharmacist and Sheriff Andy Taylor's girlfriend.
Yes, she was very familiar and very warm hearted. It was kind of sad to see her go and I don't think that maybe the Andy Griffith show really knew what to do with women at the time. That's what I felt when I was watching it. They actually had only one Christmas show and that was with Elinor and that was it. They never had a Christmas show after that first season
I’d need to think about who was my favorite. There’s too many extremely talented and beautiful ladies who graced us with there time & skills to pick just one. That being said, I have always almost worshiped Sofia Lauren, Sandra Bullock, Elizabeth Taylor et al. There’s too many to pick just one. 😘
I love the early (black & white) Andy Griffith show. As much as I love it, “Ellie “ continuing on with the show, and perhaps getting married in the show would have only made it better!! I think by a lot! And that is coming from a big fan of the show. I still have the re-runs on several times every week…
Elinor Donahue was my favorite woman for Andy as far as love interest goes I really hated that she left the show, and I thought that she sounded really pretty. As a blind person not able to see her, I always thought that they should’ve kept her on the show throughout its seasons
Even though this show was before my time (born in 1984). I love it, it went downhill when don knotts left but it was good he branched out into movies. I feel Elinoir Donahue was the best love interest of Andy on the show.
She was the best of Andy's girlfriends! There were a couple others I liked but not Helen Crump. Couldn't stand her. I wanted Andy and Ellie to stay together. She was soooo pretty.
Yes I would love to see her more and Andy Griffith show I really liked her she was really a pretty woman she had a good character and she stand her ground
Not true, Helen played the part of a school teacher and girlfriend of Andy. He loved her. She was just what he needed, level headed and she treated him like a man as well as Opies father. She fit in with aunt Bea and all the town people. She did not write her lines. She delivered what writers put before her. I loved Ellie and all Andy's friends but the season was new and Ellie and Andy were silly together in the beginning. Ellie could be just as moody as Helen. Actually, I liked everyone in the show except the stupid Ernest T. Bass. I know he was a great actor,singer and producer on the show, just could not stand that character. I never liked the Darlings but I'm sure the rest of the world loved them. Best show ever for television.
Eleanor Donahue was the best thing about the first two seasons of Andy Griffith show--maybe the whole series but I think she was only in the first season. I loved her interactions with children.
I do remember seeing her when I was 10 years old expecting to see her in season 2 and wondered where she was an what happened of course many many years later she talked about it in a interview ❤️😟
This is the gripe I have with the Andy Griffith show. He had so many fine looking girl friends over the series but wound up with Helen Crump. Anita corsault wasn't ugly but she didn't rank up there with some of Andy,s earlier girlfriends.
Ellie was soooooo much more interesting and a better fit on this show than the god awful Helen character. Helen was every gross female stereotype and was deeply in charismatic.
It seems to me that none of Andy Griffith's love interests had any more, or less funny lines than the other. I think the love interests were meant to be just that, love interests, and not necessarily more than incidental comedy. She was a popular character, and the producers knew it. I think she made a bad decision to leave after just one season, if that was the true reason she left. She would have had a peach of a part, for at least a few years. I also think the "love interest" character was an afterthought of the writers, and producers.
Agree, the writers could have taken the relationship a lot slower than they did because it kind of catapults into a big time romance which didn't leave them a lot of options except marriage and that would have dramatically changed the show perhaps
I grew up on Andy Griffith re runs. I loved the show and thought Miss Ellie was the most beautiful woman in the world. Even now as a older man when I watch the show my eyes still see a knock out!
Yes I would have loved to see Ellie this day on the show. I thought she was an outstanding female actor and she would have done good things for the show
The Producers wanted her gone! Giving the best lines to someone else and not allowing the character to grow are things that do not happen by accident! They are never inadvertent.
Yes, clearly the producers fault for letting ellie go. What on earth were they thinking? And then giving us the humorless Helen Krump? Big mistake. I think Andy could've saved her from leaving if he wanted to, but obviously didn't care enough.
@@victoriabelveduto3279 I certainly agree! Ellie was a much more likable and interesting character than Helen was. In fact, I know it was of course the script and not the person herself, but the character of Helen could be downright unpleasant sometimes.
That’s a huge leap and extremely speculative. The show was Andy Griffith’s. He ultimately made all the decisions. He made sure the lines went to the character and actor who would produce the best result, completely ego-less. Unfortunately for Ms. Donahue that wasn’t her character. Those are the breaks.
I agree. They started to decrease her character for some reason. And the above is correct: It was Griffith's show and he could have corrected the situation. I heard that they did not get along. For that matter, any love interest of Griffith's did not last long. Crump wasn't on the show for long (was it two seasons). It was Andy that was responsible.
I would love yo see her more everywhere. I did not know she had parts in all of these other shows. I saw her in Pretty Woman and c was thrilled to see er once again.
According to Andy Griffith, the writers of the show had a hard time writing for Elinor Donahue. He said it wasn't her fault; they just couldn't get a bead on her character.
During the 1st year, Andy used his "No Time for Sergeants" persona, which was completely wrong for the character. Elinor probably just didn't want to play a romantic interest for a bumpkin. Andy cut out the hillbilly routine the 2nd year. She should have stuck around.
Ellie was my favorite girl of interest to Andy. I wish she would of been in the show for a longer time. I already was a fan of hers from watching Father Knows Best.
Andy was the Star of the Show, and the others were there to build their parts around him. Barnie certainly did so, and his character grew, each year, until we all looked forward, weekly, to his humor, and antics. And, Elinor DID THE SAME!!! She just left too soon. We still watch old Shows, and always look forward to the Shows she was on. The rest of Andy's girls added little. Elinor was Sunshine. She brought a brightness to the Show, and a smile to Andy's face. That first Season, he was happy. After she left, the Show kept getting darker, and darker - which might have happened, anyway, but, we'll never know. All I know is that every time she was on, it made us feel good, and Andy's playing off of her made us happy. He went from always smiling, to always scowling. Elinor was Classy, Cute, Demure, Happy, Bright, and Beautiful. Her huge smile, and bright eyes lit up every scene. She perfectly played the part of the girl we all hoped Andy would catch....the kind that would have made a wonderful wife, and Mother, for Opie. It was a huge mistake to let her go!!
To me the real change in Andy was the season after Don left. His character really became much darker and frustrated in his interactions with the other characters. In fact, looking back at those seasons after Don left, it’s a mystery to me how the show continued to be the top rated show for year’s afterwards. Howard, Emmett and Goober, um, nope.
I have seen scores of movies from the 1930s-1960s, and I have seen Eleanor when she was a kid in films. She was charming in those films when she was a child star. I have always liked her becuase she had that quality on screen that was always likeable.
As much as I loved The Sndy Griffith Show and all the cast members in it including the lady who played the part of Helen Crump, I really think that Ellie Walker would have made the perfect wife for Andy. I really, really do. God bless them all. Each and every one of them.
The appearance in Star Trek wasn't a cameo, she was a guest star. Cameos are small, sometimes tiny parts, and she was in the entire episode, as an integral part of the plot.
I also think any female character that played a love interest to Andy would been doomed in the first season. A big part of Andy's character was that he was a single dad. Getting married to the first woman that came along would have messed that up. I do wish Elinor Donahue had joined the show a couple season's later. She was much better than Anita Corsaut (Helen Crump).
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@@FactsVerse Hmmmmm...what about fun facts about actors and actresses who are nervous when first meeting each other....what kind of funny rituals would they use to break the ice 💖💖thank u for replying you're awesome 💖
All too often these shows were at their best in the first year but to me the writers and producers/directors seem too lose track of what made the show so appealing to the American audience to start with and stray from the original ideals and premise of a weekly show.
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Eleanor is a fine actress in her own right, but Aneta seemed to be the perfect fit as Andy's love interest.
smurfshak sucks
@@diananutt1517 Helen Crump was my least favorite of Andy’s love interest and I’m not the only one that feels that way.
@@markhowell6601 Yes, I've seen that in the comment section more than once. Anytime Andy so much as stood in the same room with a pretty girl (or even those 2 goofy blondes!) the green-eyed monster would grab hold of Helen. But that was just what was written for her. Pretty much everyone was made to behave badly at some time. I thought Helen was beautiful and that she and Andy had very natural relaxed chemistry. Not surprised they actually had a loving relationship in real life.
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Absolutely would have loved for Ellie to have continued on for years on the AG Show! Eleanor is a tremendous talent and truly an American Icon!
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Hi Buddy! ⬆️. I too would have loved for Ellie to have remained on AG! I was also very happy to hear that her leaving wasn’t because she was a terrible person, or the cast was was mean. And The AG Show STILL makes me happy! XO
I would have rather seen her on the show than Helen Crump. She was always crabby & hardly ever smiled. My least favorite character .
@@janetcrane59 There are many fans of the Andy Griffith show that feels the same way as you, including myself.
@@FactsVerse thank you!
Ellie was one of my favorite characters. She was funny, very pretty and talented. I was disappointed that she left the show.
She was very pretty, her smile was amazing.
Hello Doll! She was no fun girl!
I agree, she had such a way about her! I was so disappointed that she left that show, too! She could be warm and funny while retaining a level of dignity and class, a combination that seems impossible to find these days, one of the reasons why I tend to favor older sitcoms and over more modern.
@@patfromamboy3:04
I developed a crush on Elinor Donahue at the age of 12 in 1961 while watching syndicated reruns of Father Knows Best. The show idealized a family that I wished I had, although I realize today it was completely unrealistic. Now I'm 73 while Donahue is pushing 85, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for her. Wherever you are today, may God bless you, beautiful lady!
same as me 72
Thank you for sharing a part of your life. We're glad to know that you're a fan of Elinor. May she find peace 🙏
73 here too! I wished back then that I could find a girlfriend like her. She captured my heart. What a fond childhood memory.
Thank you.
Im 49 and had the same crush on the same girl from the same show, reruns in the early 80s beauty is timeless
I guess there are a lot of preteen boys that had a crush on Elinor Donahue. Yep, I am 73 also.
She added a sense of depth and soul, class and grounding to a show that has come down to us as more than merely a situation comedy but very often a life's lesson.
She was and is a treasure.
Watch season one carefully. Andy isnt sure any woman right for him or Opie
Peggy tried too hard.
Once Helen Crump moved in Mayberry, Opie growing fast, Andy trusts him to make a few dcisions for himself and as he told Barney, Im lonely sometimes.
Had Ron Howard not been cast as Opie. i think Andy Helen fukd like dogs. just as they did in real life!
Oh yes! I adored Elinor Donahue on the Andy Griffith show! I always loved the episodes that she was in. I was disappointed when she wasn't there anymore.
She was always lovely and memorable.
She was my favorite. You couldn’t help but like her. Glad she is doing well.
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Great as Dr Quinn virgin older sister
Yes. Elsinore made a lasting impression as the pharmacist on the Andy Griffith Show. It was strange to suddenly have her disappear. Another role late in her career was the kind sales lady to Julia Roberts as “Pretty Woman”.
Ellie Walker, The Lady Drugist, was my very first crush. Boy I loved her! I was a little kid, and just seeing her on the re-runs... and she was something else. Still one of my all-time favorites, to this day. What a wonderful and elegant Lady.
I absolutely loved her character. I really hated that she was gone so soon and I always kind of wondered how that happened and why. Good to have this information now! How lovely and sweet, knowing that Don knotts was a supportive friend, on and off the screen, and that he called her now and then to check on her and see how she was doing. From what I have read about him, I wouldn't have expected anything else, I've always heard he was such a nice guy.
He had a reputation as a cocksman
@Faye Enke BrianDavisand
My dad had a room at a small hotel in Virginia right next to a room Don Knotts was in. They spoke here and there in the lobby and my dad said he really was one of the nicest people you’d ever wanna meet. This was way back when the show was still on.
It's a shame that she didn't remain on the show..........She was 50 times more appealing than Helen or any of the other love interests
for Andy on the show......and she was the best thing about Father Knows Best, and she could deliver a comic line with the best of them.
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Agreed. Of Andy's love interests, Eleanor was far and away the most appealing and interesting . Joanna Moore was also very appealing. The Helen Crump character never worked for me. She came across as an angry and unattractive. The script writers did her no favors.. Thelma Lou, on the other hand, was absolutely fabulous. Perhaps my favorite of all. I would have Andy with Ellie, and Barney with Thelma Lou.
I couldn’t stand the character of Helen. I watch season one pretty much only.
You’re right. I never understood why she was not going to be Andy’s love interest. She was so much better than Helen including acting-wise. Joanna Moore was good too. But Ellie should have been it.
I did like Peggy the Nurse tho too.
I loved her on Father Knows Best and decades later was thrilled to find her playing opposite Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" as a knowing, sympathetic older sales lady . The thing is , for me , in seeing those two ladies together I saw a different pretty woman than the script intended . But I am nearing 75 . Elegance is never out of style .
She shined even though they didn't give her the line she felt she should have. She brought life to the show, when I started watching the show in high school back in the seventies I never know the store appreciated that until the last 8 years or so my favorite episodes involve her irresistible Andy and then when she enters the town as the new pharmacist. She just exudes wholesome vibes and life. The show would have maybe taken that little different twist if they had gotten married but I think it would have been a good one. Will never know but we have those episodes with her in it.
She is one of the reasons why the first season of AG is my favorite. I hate that she left.
Us too! Do you think it was a smart move that she left?
@@FactsVerse It sounds like she wanted to be a lead character and didn't want to be anything else
The first year was by far the worst ...years 3 and 4 were undoubtably the best ...Donahue was fired because she and her character were a terrible fit for Mayberry ...
@@jayedwards1205 she was fired on her interview she said she left cause they weren't a good match didn't know she was fired wow
She didn’t return for the second season ...she was told it wasn’t working out ...everyone has been nice about it , but the fact is she and her character were a terrible fit for the show , so she wasnt retained . It’s painful to watch the first season with this totally misplaced character
I loved her right from the start. She's a fine actor and I hoped she would have stayed a few more years on the show.
We're happy to see that there's another Elinor Donahue fan and we definitely agree that she's a fine actress ♥
🥃👴🏻 SHE A ACTRESS NOT A ACTOR
Elinor’s character would have added more family friendly issues to the Andy Griffith show.
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I loved the character she played on Star Trek, it was of my favorite episodes
We vividly remember it too! Thank you for bringing back memories. Who is your all-time favorite actress?
She is an extremely uniquely beautiful and talented actress who made the Andy Griffith show more interesting.
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America's Sweetheart. Possibly one of the best actors on the show. Loved by everyone.
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I would have loved to have seen more of Elinor on the Andy Griffith show! Married and everything!
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Eleanor was fabulous on the Andy Griffith show. I was upset when she left.
I've always liked her as Ellie she knew how to keep Andy in his place!
Well, it was too early for feminists and not wanted now.
Eleanor Donahue is a lovely beautiful and talented actor. My favorite character she played was Ambassador Hedford in the Star Trek episode “Metamorphosis.” It was a relatively small role but she was stunning in it.
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She was wonderful and a needed addition. I missed her ever after she left. I was sorry.
Absolutely Elinor should have stayed, a lot of us guys had crush’s on her ! A very “lovely lady” ! ❤️ 👍👍👍👍👍
Elinor Donahue was wonderful in every role she played.
Elinor Donahue: class and dignity personified. Tough feminist off-screen. A hero to many. One of the most under-rated actors in history.
@Max Alberts. Feminism is not a great thing. As a women they are noted to be far left and certainly not desirable to men that are worth their salt!!
@@danacaro-herman3530
Yeah because equal rights is just a bridge too far for you I guess. SMH
@@danacaro-herman3530 feminism is great, weak men don’t like it though.
@@patfromamboy God doesn't like it!! And read my above post again please, you're not getting it.
"woman"
Absolutely! She's a terrific actress and a beautiful woman. Both inside and outside.
I would have loved to see Andy & Ellie get married. They would have made a wonderful couple to raise Opie. Ellie was a wonderful actress, very supportive & tender.
I thought the character of Ellie Walker was a great one. She had a professional career as a pharmacist, a lively personality, and was very likable. The PTB should have kept the character in the show. She had a lot to offer.
But did you listen to the narration? She asked to leave the show. The character disappeared because she left, not because the show got rid of the role.
Is there any truth to the rumor that she left because Andy Griffith was a difficult person to get along with?
@@susancook1448 Elinor described Andy Griffith during an interview as being "The Boss, in an excellent way, a good way". He told Elinor that they didn't know how to write for her character. She said that very early on in the first season, the Barney Fife character developed into the main sparring partner for Andy, which had not been expected. Elinor said that some of Miss Ellie's lines in the scripts would be removed and the lines given to the Barney Fife character. She had nothing but praise in the interview for Don Knotts, her personal friend Betty Linn, and Ron Howard, and said that she "loved" Frances Bavier. Elinor said she had been ill during Season 1, had missed several episodes, and decided herself to leave the show.
Wish she had hung around Mayberry longer. She and Joanna Moore’s character, Peggy, were Andy’s best girlfriends in my opinion.
She was fantastic, I wish she would have stayed on. Andy blew it haha. The odd couple was the only show I saw her in after Mayberry and Father knows best! Beautiful and a great actress!
I absolutely was in awe of Miss Elinor and thought she was the most beautiful girl on TV.
I watched A LOT of “Father Knows Best” re-runs in the early 80’s. 😊
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I am in love with Eleanor Donahue. Every time I see her my heart melts. I am a self proclaimed biggest fan. I wish there was someway I could meet her or even speak to her. I first fell in love with her when watching reruns of father knows best and then of course the Andy Griffith show. I will look up shows and interviews with her just to see her. If anyone knows how I could speak to her please let me know. To this day this lady has the most beautiful smile ever.
She sure was lucky to have played in two of the best tv shows all the characters blended and made the show great
It's funny. After about 70 years, there apparently are still a lot of people upset that Elly's character dropped out of the show. I still feel mildly upset. Eleanor just had charisma. Nobody on this board appears to have liked Helen very much. Her character just wasn't very appealing. I don't know if it was the writing or Anita herself or both. They had her get so angry at Andy a few times for ridiculous reasons. It made her seem really harsh and hard to like.
Helen Crump (the name fit her) was in a constant state of rage. And then she went on to be Pete Malloy's (Adam 12) main girl. There she emasculated the sexiest man on television at the time. I can't even watch the episodes with her in them.
Elly was sweet. I think Andy Griffith was a bit of a wolf, and she might not have liked the uncomfortable experiences off stage.
I loved her and she was so gorgeous she took my breath away 🥰
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my mother was just as beautiful and looked like she could be her sister, and her name was Eleanor. I was so disappointed to realize she was no longer on the show
The first woman I ever loved. It was most unfortunate she was already 18 and I was but 10.
Yes I would've loved for her to have continued on the show. If not as Andy's love interest, then just to continue as a the pharmacist and stay as a primary character on the show. She created a more down home feel to a very down home show.
It was great seeing her play a pharmacist, usually played by a man
I'll always remember her from an episode of Star Trek where she played a woman who was terminally ill and her body was taken over by an alien being to save her life
holy crap, that was her...thanks for that...never realized it.
The story of an immortal who gives up her immortality for the love of a mortal man. Beren and Lúthien. Aragorn and Arwen. It isn't the best-loved Trek episode, but one of my personal favorites.
It was a very good original Star Trek episode. An early earth astronaut lost in space and kept alive by a non corperal alien being. Elinor played a Federation diplomat who was going to die after a shuttle crash. The alien being was actually in love with the astronaut. Elinor's character agreed to allow the alien to inhabit her body. A very well acted episode and the kind of television that is rarely produced today.
Bless you, Elinor, you are so greatly loved.
I think she misread the situation. Her character was clearly drawn, and she played it so well, that she became an integral part of the show. I remember even as a child I was very sad that she was no longer on the show. I didn't understand it.
I loved her on the show. I thought Ellie brought beauty and intelligence to Mayberry. The show WAS about a widower father raising son with help of aunt. I loved Peggy the nurse and Helen Crump later on. It's easy to spot Elinor often in 40's MGM movies even when she is very very young with her beautiful smile!
I like Elinor Donahue and when I watched the first season of The Andy Griffith Show I felt that she was wonderful as Ellie Walker the town pharmacist and Sheriff Andy Taylor's girlfriend.
Her episode of "Metamorphosis" in second season of Star Trek TOS was simply beautiful
Yes. I wish she was on the Andy Griffith Show more. I always thought she would marry Andy.
He lookd too mature for her
Yes, I always wondered how the relationship with Andy on the show might turn out if she stayed.
For those wishing she had married Andy, one must remember that everyone was single on the show except for Otis who was married and always drunk!
I liked her but I think.if Andy had married in the second season it would have been a very different show.
That's not true, Howard Sprague was married to his mother
Always loved the character's Elinor played!!!!
Wished she continued on AG.
But don't forget her cameo in
Pretty Woman!!!
Yes, she was very familiar and very warm hearted. It was kind of sad to see her go and I don't think that maybe the Andy Griffith show really knew what to do with women at the time. That's what I felt when I was watching it. They actually had only one Christmas show and that was with Elinor and that was it. They never had a Christmas show after that first season
I loved Elinor. Still do. I was sad to see her disappear from the cast. She was beautiful & a great actress.
Beautiful words, thank you for your message for Elinor! Who is your all-time favorite actress?
I’d need to think about who was my favorite. There’s too many extremely talented and beautiful ladies who graced us with there time & skills to pick just one. That being said, I have always almost worshiped Sofia Lauren, Sandra Bullock, Elizabeth Taylor et al. There’s too many to pick just one. 😘
I love the early (black & white) Andy Griffith show. As much as I love it, “Ellie “ continuing on with the show, and perhaps getting married in the show would have only made it better!! I think by a lot! And that is coming from a big fan of the show. I still have the re-runs on several times every week…
Yes absolutely. She was wonderful.
Elinor Donahue was my favorite woman for Andy as far as love interest goes I really hated that she left the show, and I thought that she sounded really pretty. As a blind person not able to see her, I always thought that they should’ve kept her on the show throughout its seasons
Bless u Toni
I had The same thoughts… and I too am blind
@@brittanybales715 thanks Britney! I just think that Eleanor sounded so pretty, and she didn’t seem to be so snooty like Helen was all the time
Yes I absolutely enjoyed her on the show. Remembered her from Father knows best. I was disappointed when she left.
Glad to know that you're a fan of Elinor! Which episode is the most memorable for you?
I often thought if Ellie stayed and did get married to Andy, how different the show would have been
Ellie was favorite girlfriend for Andy
Even though this show was before my time (born in 1984). I love it, it went downhill when don knotts left but it was good he branched out into movies. I feel Elinoir Donahue was the best love interest of Andy on the show.
She was the best of Andy's girlfriends! There were a couple others I liked but not Helen Crump. Couldn't stand her. I wanted Andy and Ellie to stay together. She was soooo pretty.
Yes I would love to see her more and Andy Griffith show I really liked her she was really a pretty woman she had a good character and she stand her ground
Yes, I liked most of Andy's girlfriends except Helen. I hated that character, always in a hateful bad mood.
Agreed, never likeable character IMO.
You are so right I really liked ellie.
Agreed! Helen was my least favorite character and girlfriend of Andy’s
Not true, Helen played the part of a school teacher and girlfriend of Andy. He loved her. She was just what he needed, level headed and she treated him like a man as well as Opies father. She fit in with aunt Bea and all the town people. She did not write her lines. She delivered what writers put before her. I loved Ellie and all Andy's friends but the season was new and Ellie and Andy were silly together in the beginning. Ellie could be just as moody as Helen. Actually, I liked everyone in the show except the stupid Ernest T. Bass. I know he was a great actor,singer and producer on the show, just could not stand that character. I never liked the Darlings but I'm sure the rest of the world loved them. Best show ever for television.
U mean Helen Crump? School teacher? Opies teacher? She was o.k. nothing to write home about.
I, for one, definitely missed her character and have always wondered why she was missing.
Eleanor Donahue was the best thing about the first two seasons of Andy Griffith show--maybe the whole series but I think she was only in the first season. I loved her interactions with children.
Yes, absolutely when she left fit me the show was quite the same. She was the special ingredient that set it off.
She and Andy Griffith had the best chemistry
I do remember seeing her when I was 10 years old expecting to see her in season 2 and wondered where she was an what happened of course many many years later she talked about it in a interview ❤️😟
This is the gripe I have with the Andy Griffith show. He had so many fine looking girl friends over the series but wound up with Helen Crump. Anita corsault wasn't ugly but she didn't rank up there with some of Andy,s earlier girlfriends.
Absolutely! I loved Elinor in any role.
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Ellie was soooooo much more interesting and a better fit on this show than the god awful Helen character. Helen was every gross female stereotype and was deeply in charismatic.
I loved her character wish I could have seen more. It's a shame cause to me she was just as important. I'm glad she went on to have more success
It seems to me that none of Andy Griffith's love interests had any more, or less funny lines than the other. I think the love interests were meant to be just that, love interests, and not necessarily more than incidental comedy. She was a popular character, and the producers knew it. I think she made a bad decision to leave after just one season, if that was the true reason she left. She would have had a peach of a part, for at least a few years. I also think the "love interest" character was an afterthought of the writers, and producers.
Agree, the writers could have taken the relationship a lot slower than they did because it kind of catapults into a big time romance which didn't leave them a lot of options except marriage and that would have dramatically changed the show perhaps
I grew up on Andy Griffith re runs. I loved the show and thought Miss Ellie was the most beautiful woman in the world. Even now as a older man when I watch the show my eyes still see a knock out!
Yes I would have loved to see Ellie this day on the show. I thought she was an outstanding female actor and she would have done good things for the show
Yes, I would have liked to see more of Elenor Donhue. I think she had a lot to offer which would have been developed as time went on.
If you watch Father Knows Best closely Elinor Donahue literally stole every scene she was in on that show
Yes, I really like her on the show. She was good and I liked how they portrayed her.
The Producers wanted her gone! Giving the best lines to someone else and not allowing the character to grow are things that do not happen by accident! They are never inadvertent.
Yes, clearly the producers fault for letting ellie go. What on earth were they thinking? And then giving us the humorless Helen Krump? Big mistake. I think Andy could've saved her from leaving if he wanted to, but obviously didn't care enough.
@@victoriabelveduto3279 I certainly agree! Ellie was a much more likable and interesting character than Helen was. In fact, I know it was of course the script and not the person herself, but the character of Helen could be downright unpleasant sometimes.
She probably wouldn't sleep with someone
That’s a huge leap and extremely speculative. The show was Andy Griffith’s. He ultimately made all the decisions. He made sure the lines went to the character and actor who would produce the best result, completely ego-less. Unfortunately for Ms. Donahue that wasn’t her character. Those are the breaks.
I agree. They started to decrease her character for some reason. And the above is correct: It was Griffith's show and he could have corrected the situation. I heard that they did not get along. For that matter, any love interest of Griffith's did not last long. Crump wasn't on the show for long (was it two seasons). It was Andy that was responsible.
I would love yo see her more everywhere. I did not know she had parts in all of these other shows. I saw her in Pretty Woman and c was thrilled to see er once again.
One of the prettiest smiles I've ever seen....
According to Andy Griffith, the writers of the show had a hard time writing for Elinor Donahue. He said it wasn't her fault; they just couldn't get a bead on her character.
Elinore Donahue was a beautiful actress. I followed her in the “Father Knows Best” series.
You fail to mention she had a cameo roll in "PRETTY WOMAN" staring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.
Absolutely she was naturally beautiful naturally talented and I thought a huge asset to the first season of the show. It's a shame she didn't see it.
During the 1st year, Andy used his "No Time for Sergeants" persona, which was completely wrong for the character. Elinor probably just didn't want to play a romantic interest for a bumpkin. Andy cut out the hillbilly routine the 2nd year. She should have stuck around.
Ellie was my favorite girl of interest to Andy. I wish she would of been in the show for a longer time. I already was a fan of hers from watching Father Knows Best.
Andy was the Star of the Show, and the others were there to build their parts around him. Barnie certainly did so, and his character grew, each year, until we all looked forward, weekly, to his humor, and antics. And, Elinor DID THE SAME!!! She just left too soon. We still watch old Shows, and always look forward to the Shows she was on. The rest of Andy's girls added little. Elinor was Sunshine. She brought a brightness to the Show, and a smile to Andy's face. That first Season, he was happy. After she left, the Show kept getting darker, and darker - which might have happened, anyway, but, we'll never know. All I know is that every time she was on, it made us feel good, and Andy's playing off of her made us happy. He went from always smiling, to always scowling. Elinor was Classy, Cute, Demure, Happy, Bright, and Beautiful. Her huge smile, and bright eyes lit up every scene. She perfectly played the part of the girl we all hoped Andy would catch....the kind that would have made a wonderful wife, and Mother, for Opie. It was a huge mistake to let her go!!
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To me the real change in Andy was the season after Don left. His character really became much darker and frustrated in his interactions with the other characters. In fact, looking back at those seasons after Don left, it’s a mystery to me how the show continued to be the top rated show for year’s afterwards. Howard, Emmett and Goober, um, nope.
I always wondered what happened to the character. Thank you for letting us know.
Absolutely she was by far my favorite love interest for Andy.
Was definitely hoping that She would had been written into the Show, GOD BLESS!!!
I would’ve loved to see more of Ellie Walker in later seasons. She was also Gladys Peterson on Get A Life in the early 90’s.
I have seen scores of movies from the 1930s-1960s, and I have seen Eleanor when she was a kid in films. She was charming in those films when she was a child star. I have always liked her becuase she had that quality on screen that was always likeable.
Loved her! Wish it had worked out with her on this show. She was a much better match with Andy than the awful school teacher.
Agree! Temperamental, jealous, hot headed 'old lady Crump'
😆
I agree. Ellie or Peggy would have been way better than Helen.
I Liked her and was disappointed that she left. She was intelligent, kind, and pretty.
As much as I loved The Sndy Griffith Show and all the cast members in it including the lady who played the part of Helen Crump, I really think that Ellie Walker would have made the perfect wife for Andy. I really, really do. God bless them all. Each and every one of them.
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The appearance in Star Trek wasn't a cameo, she was a guest star. Cameos are small, sometimes tiny parts, and she was in the entire episode, as an integral part of the plot.
Yes… I loved Elinor as Ellie and missed her greatly.
I also think any female character that played a love interest to Andy would been doomed in the first season. A big part of Andy's character was that he was a single dad. Getting married to the first woman that came along would have messed that up. I do wish Elinor Donahue had joined the show a couple season's later. She was much better than Anita Corsaut (Helen Crump).
She was one of my favorite characters I love her she was so sweet and the episode she made Andy a mixed drink was my favorite one with her💖💖
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@@FactsVerse Hmmmmm...what about fun facts about actors and actresses who are nervous when first meeting each other....what kind of funny rituals would they use to break the ice 💖💖thank u for replying you're awesome 💖
All too often these shows were at their best in the first year but to me the writers and producers/directors seem too lose track of what made the show so appealing to the American audience to start with and stray from the original ideals and premise of a weekly show.