Elinor Donahue | 1937

Elinor Donahue is best known for playing Betty Anderson in the popular sitcom Father Knows Best. The actress began starring in dancing-chorus movie roles at the age of five, and from there, she enrolled at a ballet school and became a child star working in vaudeville. As a teenager, she appeared in Love Is Better Than Ever, alongside Elizabeth Taylor.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Donahue found her footing in the Hollywood industry. She consistently accepted roles in movies and television, including The Andy Griffith Show, for which she was often mentioned in the opening credits. By the following decade, the actress sporadically appeared on the screen. She ventured into writing her memoir, in which she relived some of her early Hollywood memories. Donahue has now retired from the acting scene and was last seen on The Young and the Restless in 2011.