Anissa Jones : Biography, Pictures, Photos, Trivia, Address, Filmography (Family Affair)

At 8 years of age her acting skills drew the attention of television producers and she shot to television stardom when she was cast as the character of Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis on CBS's sitcom Family Affair (1966). Her character was one of 3 siblings sent to live with her Uncle Bill (Brian Keith) and his butler, Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot) when their parents were killed in a car accident. Jones quickly became one of the most recognizable child actors in Hollywood. Her looks and presentation allowed to her to be convincing as her six-year old character.

Her character Buffy had a doll named "Mrs. Beasley" that she would claim talked to her, often commenting on the context of the scene in a humorous way. Mattel marketed the doll during the series and it became the best-selling doll in America at that time. When the show was finally cancelled in 1971, the then 13-year-old Anissa expressed relief that she would no longer need to carry the doll around.

Jones and her co-star Johnny Whitaker (who played her twin brother Jody) once visited with U.S. President Lyndon Johnson. In 1967, she was one of the youngest presenters ever at the Emmy awards. In addition to the Mrs. Beasley doll, she was part of several other lucrative Family Affair marketing campaigns including Buffy paper dolls, lunch boxes, a clothing line, colouring books and a 1971 cookbook featuring her on the cover.

While the show ran, being Buffy was a gruelling, full-time, year-round job for Jones. She was often either shooting or promoting the show 7 days a week. The first 3 seasons consisted of up to 30 episodes each, unlike modern series which usually shoot less than 25 episodes a year. When Jones broke her leg on a playground in April of 1969, the producers had the injury written into the show because they considered her role too important to allow her to be sidelined to heal.

Also in 1969, at age 11, Jones played the role of Carol Bix in her only film, The Trouble With Girls alongside Elvis Presley.

. Creation date : 2003/07/01 by doudoune