Elinor Donahue is best known for her pivotal role in American TV hit sitcom “Father Knows Best”, but her career didn’t end when the show did, she went on to shine both on screen and off.

The Washington-born actress is now 86 years old and most recently had a guest role in long-running soap opera “The Young and the Restless”.

As elder daughter Betty ‘Princess’ Anderson on “Father Knows Best”, Elinor was a central character to the show which portrayed a middle-class family living an idyllic all-American life in the Midwest.

The show started on the radio in 1949 and aired every Thursday until 1954. It was then picked up by CBS for television keeping only actor Robert Young from the radio show who played dad Jim Anderson.

During her six years with the hit show, which at its height was in the top ten most watched American TV shows, Elinor also appeared in “Crossroads” and in the “George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.”

Her schedule was hectic and she once admitted that she didn’t have time to watch the show back.