Everyone Thought They Knew Her
For five seasons, millions of Americans watched Anissa Jones smile beneath blond pigtails and carry Mrs. Beasley everywhere she went. Buffy was sweet, innocent and impossible not to love. But away from the cameras, Anissa’s real childhood was becoming something very different.
Her Story Began In Indiana
Mary Anissa Jones was born in West Lafayette, Indiana, on March 11, 1958. She spent part of her early childhood in Charleston, West Virginia, before her family settled in Playa del Rey, California, where her father worked in aerospace engineering.
CBS Television Network., Wikimedia Commons, Enhanced
A Neighbor Made A Suggestion
After Anissa’s parents separated, a neighbor reportedly encouraged her mother to take the little girl to commercial auditions. Anissa made her first television appearance at approximately six years old. It did not take long for someone important to notice how naturally she behaved in front of a camera.
Then Came Buffy
In 1966, eight-year-old Anissa was cast as Buffy Davis on the new CBS sitcom Family Affair. She would play one of three orphaned siblings sent to live with their wealthy bachelor uncle in New York City. It was the role that changed everything.
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“Family Affair” Became A Hit
Brian Keith played Uncle Bill, whose orderly life was suddenly turned upside down by Buffy, her twin brother Jody and their older sister Cissy. Sebastian Cabot played Mr. French, the increasingly tender butler who helped turn Bill’s Manhattan apartment into an unexpected family home.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
Mrs. Beasley Became A Business
Buffy rarely went anywhere without Mrs. Beasley, her bespectacled doll dressed in blue polka dots. Mattel turned the character into a popular talking doll, while Buffy’s image appeared on coloring books, paper dolls, lunch boxes and other merchandise sold to children across America.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
The Schedule Was Relentless
Family Affair produced 138 episodes over five seasons. Anissa had filming, rehearsals, on-set schooling and promotional appearances. Johnny Whitaker later recalled that the children were also sent around the country for fashion shows during weekends and production breaks. For Anissa, television was a full-time childhood.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
Her Costars Saw The Real Anissa
Kathy Garver, who played Cissy, remembered Anissa as highly intelligent, sweet and naturally talented. Despite their age difference, the two developed a genuine friendship, and Anissa occasionally spent the night at Garver’s home. Johnny Whitaker became her constant on-screen companion as Jody.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
Even A Broken Leg Went Into The Show
Anissa broke her right leg in April 1969, but production continued. The writers incorporated her real cast into the fourth-season episode “What’s Funny About A Broken Leg?” Buffy was confined to bed, so her television family brought the circus she was missing directly to her.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
She Even Appeared With Elvis
In 1969, Anissa received her only movie role in The Trouble With Girls, starring Elvis Presley. She also appeared as Buffy in a 1970 crossover episode of To Rome With Love. Neither appearance helped audiences see her as anyone other than the little girl from Family Affair.
Screenshot from The Trouble with Girls, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (1969), Enhanced
America Got A Glimpse Of Anissa
In February 1971, Anissa appeared on The Dick Cavett Show alongside Sammy Davis Jr. She was funny, remarkably direct and clearly more thoughtful than Buffy. She discussed fan mail, feminism and even quail eggs she had purchased with her allowance but could not get to hatch.
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She Was Growing Out Of Buffy
As the years passed, Anissa became increasingly uncomfortable with the pigtails, childish dresses and Mrs. Beasley. When strangers called her Buffy, she reportedly corrected them and asked to be called Anissa. The audience wanted the little girl they remembered, but that little girl was disappearing.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
“Family Affair” Suddenly Ended
The final original episode of Family Affair aired on March 4, 1971, exactly one week before Anissa’s 13th birthday. After spending nearly half her life on the series, she suddenly had no studio schedule, no familiar set and no obvious place to go next.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
Hollywood Still Saw Buffy
Anissa wanted to move into movies and more mature roles. Garver later said she auditioned for The Exorcist, but she did not receive the part. According to later accounts, Brian Keith also offered her work on The Brian Keith Show, but she declined.
CBS Television Network., Wikimedia Commons
Her Acting Career Was Already Over
Anissa never appeared in another credited role after Family Affair. At an age when most performers are just beginning to imagine a career, hers had essentially ended. She enrolled in high school and attempted to experience the ordinary teenage life that television had never allowed her to have.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
Home Was Not A Safe Landing Place
Anissa’s parents divorced in 1965 and spent years fighting over custody of Anissa and her younger brother, Paul. The family conflict followed her throughout much of her time on television. When the show disappeared, that instability was still waiting for her at home.
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Her Father Won Custody—Then He Was Gone
Custody of Anissa and Paul was awarded to their father in 1973. On March 7, 1974, John Paul Jones passed away from heart problems at only 44, four days before Anissa’s 16th birthday. She soon resisted returning to her mother’s home and began staying with friends.
Authorities Became Involved
Anissa’s mother eventually reported her as a runaway. She was placed in juvenile custody for several months before being allowed to return home. Accounts from those years also described skipped school, shoplifting, erratic behavior and increasing involvement with substances.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
She Tried An Ordinary Job
Anissa left high school in 1975 and briefly worked at a Winchell’s Donuts shop in Playa del Rey. Customers sometimes recognized the former television star behind the counter. Only a few years earlier, her face had appeared on toys and lunch boxes. Now she was trying to disappear into ordinary life.
Turning 18 Changed Everything
On March 11, 1976, Anissa turned 18 and gained control of money saved from her years on Family Affair. Contemporary estimates placed the amount at roughly $180,000, including savings bonds. In today’s money, that would be close to $1 million.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
She Did Not Spend It All
Later stories claimed Anissa burned through virtually the entire fortune within months. However, accounts of her estate say she still had approximately $63,000 in cash and more than $100,000 in savings bonds. The reality was troubling enough without that frequently repeated exaggeration.
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Her Mother Made A Haunting Request
At Anissa’s 18th birthday party, her mother asked Kathy Garver to spend more time with her daughter because she was worried about the people around her. Garver agreed, but she was leaving to perform in My Fair Lady back East. She believed they could reconnect when she returned.
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The Final Night In Oceanside
On August 27, 1976, Anissa traveled to a home in Oceanside, California, with her boyfriend and other friends. The gathering continued through the night. By the following morning, something was terribly wrong, and the people inside the house could not wake her.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
She Was Found The Next Morning
Friends discovered Anissa unresponsive shortly before noon on August 28 and called for help, but she could not be revived. She was only 18 years old, five years removed from Family Affair and less than six months past the birthday that had finally given her complete independence.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
The Coroner Ruled It An Accident
The official autopsy listed the cause as poisoning from a combination of four substances. The medical examiner classified what happened as accidental. The findings showed that there had not been one substance involved, but a particularly dangerous mixture taken during the final hours of her life.
Her Doctor Was Already Under Investigation
Six days later, Dr. Don Carlos Moshos was arrested and accused of illegally prescribing Seconal to Anissa. He faced 11 offenses connected to a broader investigation into his prescribing practices. Moshos became seriously ill and passed away in December 1976 while awaiting trial.
The Legal Case Continued
Anissa’s surviving family later sued Moshos’s estate for $400,000. In 1979, a civil jury assigned 30% of the responsibility to Moshos and 70% to Anissa. The division of responsibility reduced the resulting judgment against the doctor’s estate to $79,500.
Johnny Whitaker Was Stunned
Johnny Whitaker learned what had happened while watching television during a touring bicentennial production. He later recalled freezing when her name was announced and calling the Family Affair production office for confirmation. Decades later, he explained his attempt to reach her simply: “She was my sister.”
Her Brother’s Story Ended Tragically Too
Anissa’s younger brother, Paul, also struggled with substances and passed away in 1984 at the age of 24. The second loss added another painful chapter to a family story already filled with instability, custody battles and two lives that ended far too soon.
Her Family Said Goodbye Privately
Anissa received a small private service before she was cremated. Her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean. There would be no public Hollywood farewell for the young woman who had once been among the most recognizable children on American television.
Television Froze Her In Time
Reruns allowed Buffy to remain forever young, carrying Mrs. Beasley through Uncle Bill’s apartment while everything ended happily before the closing credits. Garver remembered someone very different: a kind, intelligent girl who “tried so hard to be herself” while everyone expected her to remain Buffy.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
She Never Had The Chance To Find Out
Anissa Jones spent five years helping America believe that even a broken family could find safety, stability and love. Her own life offered none of those things for very long. Buffy became part of television history, but Anissa never had enough time to discover who she might have become.
Screenshot from Family Affair, CBS (1966–1971), Enhanced
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