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- '60s TV Star Makes Rare Comment About On-Screen Sister's Tragic Death</p>
<p>Nicole MooreJuly 6, 2025 at 4:00 AM</p>
<p>Photo by M. Phillips/WireImage/Getty Images</p>
<p>'60s TV Star Makes Rare Comment About On-Screen Sister's Tragic Death originally appeared on Parade.</p>
<p>Family Affair star Johnny Whitaker, who played Jody Davis during the show's five-season run, is opening up about his time on the series.</p>
<p>ReMind magazine reported that Whitaker described filming the beloved series, which ended in 1971, during the MidSouth Nostalgia Festival held in June 2025. During the event, he spoke highly of his co-stars, which included Brian Keith, Sebastian Cabot, Kathy Garver, and Anissa Jones. According to Whitaker, Keith, who played Jody's uncle, Bill Davis, who takes in him and his siblings, Buffy (Jones) and Cissy (Garver), following their parents' death, "was a wonderful man, like an uncle."</p>
<p>"He loved the kids, hated the adults, hated everything about Hollywood, but loved his job, loved the fact that he could act and do what he wanted to do. He would pick us up from the school room, throw us on his back and we'd horsey into the set," said Whitaker during the MidSouth Nostalgia Festival.</p>
<p>In addition, he said Jones, who died in 1976, and Keith, who died in 1997, shared the trait of not enjoying the publicity of their work as actors.</p>
<p>"Anissa liked to act, but she was more like Brian. She didn't like doing the publicity. They had a Buffy and a Jody line of clothing and on our hiatuses, we would go around the country doing fashion shows. She did not really like the adulation," said the Tom Sawyer star.</p>
<p>The actor also spoke about Jones' 1976 death due to a drug overdose at the age of 18. He suggested he found the situation shocking because he was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.</p>
<p>"Anissa's death really shook me up. I was a good Mormon boy and decided to get out of show business. I went on a mission to Portugal," said Whitaker. "When I came home, I tried to get back in the business; but the business doesn't like when you leave it. It doesn't mind leaving you, but if you leave it, you don't recover easily."</p>
<p>Whitaker spoke about filming Family Affair during an April 2025 interview on KATU Lifestyle.</p>
<p>"Family Affair was great. Sebastian Cabot [who played Mr. Giles French] and Brian Keith were both wonderful people," said Whitaker during the interview.</p>
<p>He also referenced that he and Garver are the only surviving members of the show's cast. According to the actor, he and Garver will occasionally spend time together at fan events.</p>
<p>'60s TV Star Makes Rare Comment About On-Screen Sister's Tragic Death first appeared on Parade on Jul 5, 2025</p>
<p>This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 5, 2025, where it first appeared.</p>
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