Sal
02-20-2002, 02:26 PM
In this Saturday's Toronto Star in its Starweek TV magazine, I read an answer to a letter from a fan who wondered what the "Family Affair" cast is up to today so I thought I'd pass on what it said to any of you who might be wondering the same thing.
Sadly, out of the 5 regular cast members, 3 of them have died. We all know about Anissa Jones and her tragic story so I won't get into it again. A year after her death saw the passing of Mr. French, Sebastian Cabot, on Aug. 22, 1977 in Canada. A few years earlier, he gave a great performance as Kris Kringle in the 1974 re-make of "Miracle On 34th Street". He died of a stroke.
Most recently, "Uncle Bill", Brian Keith died while committing suicide on June 24, 1997. He was best known for appearing on the popular series "Hardcastle and McCormick" in the 1980s.
According to the Star article, the 2 surviving cast members have not acted often since the show ended, preferring to keep a low profile and raise their families. Kathy Garver ("Cissy") has appeared on TV series such as "Nash Bridges", "Matlock", and "Simon and Simon" making guest appearances, and has also appeared in the movies "Closer Than The Boy Next Door", "Sweet November", and "The Princess Diaries". She has also done voice-over work in the cartoon series "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends", "Spider-Man", and "Marvin: Baby Of The Year".
Johnnie Whittaker ("Jody") appeared in a memorable episode of "Bewitched" where he played Jack from "Jack and the Beanstalk". As a teenager, he starred in the Saturday morning series "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters" which I just adored as a kid! Since then, he has become a talent agent looking to represent future child stars like himself. In a terrible stroke of timing, one of his clients was Dana Plato of "Diffrent Strokes" just before her death by suicide.
Sadly, out of the 5 regular cast members, 3 of them have died. We all know about Anissa Jones and her tragic story so I won't get into it again. A year after her death saw the passing of Mr. French, Sebastian Cabot, on Aug. 22, 1977 in Canada. A few years earlier, he gave a great performance as Kris Kringle in the 1974 re-make of "Miracle On 34th Street". He died of a stroke.
Most recently, "Uncle Bill", Brian Keith died while committing suicide on June 24, 1997. He was best known for appearing on the popular series "Hardcastle and McCormick" in the 1980s.
According to the Star article, the 2 surviving cast members have not acted often since the show ended, preferring to keep a low profile and raise their families. Kathy Garver ("Cissy") has appeared on TV series such as "Nash Bridges", "Matlock", and "Simon and Simon" making guest appearances, and has also appeared in the movies "Closer Than The Boy Next Door", "Sweet November", and "The Princess Diaries". She has also done voice-over work in the cartoon series "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends", "Spider-Man", and "Marvin: Baby Of The Year".
Johnnie Whittaker ("Jody") appeared in a memorable episode of "Bewitched" where he played Jack from "Jack and the Beanstalk". As a teenager, he starred in the Saturday morning series "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters" which I just adored as a kid! Since then, he has become a talent agent looking to represent future child stars like himself. In a terrible stroke of timing, one of his clients was Dana Plato of "Diffrent Strokes" just before her death by suicide.