Where To Watch
Elinor Donahue had to wear a fake ponytail for years on TV
The acting talent? Real. The hair? Fake.
MeTV fans know Elinor Donhue as the sweet Mayberry pharmacist that Andy dates in the first season of The Andy Griffith Show. Or maybe from her role on Star Trek, where she appears on the episode "Metamorphosis" — notable for being the first appearance of the character Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of the warp drive.
Before she appeared in Mayberry, though, she was a household name from her starring role on the sitcom Father Knows Best. Donahue played eldest daughter Betty Anderson in the TV program from 1954 until its abrupt ending in 1960. Betty was known for her distinctive hair style: her ponytail. In a 1982 interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Donahue called it "Betty Anderson's trademark." And that trademark caused a lot of fuss.
Donahue, during the filming of the series, had gotten married and become pregnant. The producers were not pleased. "I was playing America's teen-ager," Donahue said. "The world was supposed to think of me as a 16-year-old girl, not a 19-year-old woman who was married and was having a baby. They wrote me out of the show."
In a fit of pique over her sudden expulsion from the series, Donahue lopped off her iconic locks. "I actually thought I wasn't going back, so I cut my hair very, very short. Then my agent called and said 'You're back on the show'. The producer saw the haircut and nearly had a fit."
Betty Anderson came back to the show, of course, and she had to have her ponytail. "Within a month, the hair department had gotten a false pony tail for me," Donahue said. "They would slick my hair all up and then mash it down and pin this false pony tail on me. Except for a few shows, I had it all the way through the series."
Donahue appeared on The Andy Griffith Show in 1960, the same year Father Knows Best ended. Presumably, as Ellie Walker, Donahue had her own hair. The fake ponytail wasn't gone yet, though.
"I kept the pony tail in a box for many years," Donahue said. Then, she donated it as a prize to a "Betty Anderson look-alike contest" at a girl's school.
Watch The Andy Griffith Show on MeTV!
Weeknights at 8 & 8:30, Sundays at 6 & 6:30 PM
*available in most MeTV markets
79 Comments
Now Peggy... Andy really let a good one get away with her. Sweet, even-tempered, and definitely easy on the eyes.
Mr.Ed.