‘Andy Griffith Show’: Elinor Donahue Reportedly Felt ‘Undermined’ by the Show Star, Book Claims
While Elinor Donahue had a three-year contract when she signed on with The Andy Griffith Show, the actor completed only 11 episodes.
In addition to what she called “personal problems,” she was described in a recent memoir by Karen Knotts, daughter of Don Knotts, as feeling “undermined” on the show, deciding in the end to cut her contract short.
Donahue played Ellie Walker on ‘The Andy Griffith Show’
The actor told the Television Academy Foundation in 2006 how she joined the cast in 1960 of The Andy Griffith Show.
“I was called into the office to meet with the producers, went home that afternoon, and found out I had the part,” she said. “And I didn’t read or anything. I didn’t really know that much about it except that I was going to be in the show with Andy Griffith.”
The former Father Knows Best star recalled the storyline introducing her to viewers went as follows: “I had taken over the drugstore from my uncle who had retired. Sort of a loose premise to get a female in town, I guess, of Andy’s age.” The two characters eventually formed a romantic attachment with Andy both falling for Ellie and at the same time avoiding marriage with her.
In the end, Donahue said, “It didn’t really work out. … I was going through some personal problems at the time … I’d gone directly from Father Knows Best to having a couple of months of turmoil in my personal life that was not settled at all. It was an ongoing whirlwind. And then went right into [The Andy Griffith Show]. I was exhausted.”
Karen Knotts said Donahue felt ‘undermined’ on the show
The comedian’s daughter in her memoir Tied Up in Knotts: My Dad and Me wrote that she and Donahue met “on a shuttle to [Andy Griffith Show fan festival] Mayberry Days” in 2016 where Donahue was a festival guest star. In their impromptu meeting, Karen learned from the actor that she had been “excited and of course, a bit nervous” when she joined the Griffith Show cast.
“Everyone was gracious and the read-through was full of laughs,” Karen wrote. “But something began to happen at the table read that undermined Elinor’s self-confidence. During the discussion, Andy would say, ‘You know, I think that line of Ellie’s would be funnier if Don said it,’ or ‘I think that bit we’re gonna do would be funnier if Don did it.'”
As Donahue reportedly shared with Karen, “So he would take things that were actually written for Miss Ellie and the sheriff and give them to your dad. Certainly nothing romantic but, you know, little bits, side things, just moments. And of course, they were funny, and they made those two characters so rich and terrific.”
The problem, Donahue explained, was that she interpreted Griffith’s decision to give Knotts her lines as his way of saying she wasn’t doing a good job: “I felt that it was because I was so terrible.”
Griffith blamed himself for Donahue’s departure
Author Richard Kelly in his 1981 book The Andy Griffith Show reported that Griffith and the show’s team were thrilled to have landed Donahue for the show. When she announced she wanted to leave, he blamed himself.
“Elinor Donahue was a regular in the company before we ever started, and we were so lucky to get her, we thought,” Griffith was quoted by Kelly as saying. “Well, she didn’t work out at all. It wasn’t her fault.”
Griffith blamed himself and the show’s writers for what he viewed as their failure to write for female characters.
“It was our fault,” he said. “And it starts with me. She asked to be relieved from duty after that first season. It became evident that we couldn’t write for her. We were glad to oblige her because we didn’t know what else to do.”
Years later, according to author Daniel de Visé in his biography of the comedy titled Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show, Donahue saw Griffith at a social event and tried to explain why she left the show.
De Visé quoted Donahue as telling Griffith, “‘Mr. Griffith? I want to tell you how sorry I am if I upset you for having left the show.’ He said, ‘No, no, don’t give it another thought. We didn’t know how to write for you. That’s all it was.'”
His demeanor, she added according to the author, said otherwise: “He gave me a look that told me I was dismissed.”
