Kathy Garver Remembers ‘Family Affair’s Anissa Jones 50 Years After Her Tragic Death

It was 50 years ago, on Aug. 28, 1976, that Family Affair‘s Anissa Jones, who played the angelic, curly-haired twin Buffy Davis, passed away from combined drug intoxication at age 18. With Hayden Panettiere‘s recent death, and the long list of child stars who are victims of drugs and being exposed to the wrong people, there has been a renewed industry-wide conversation regarding the lack of protection for child stars in Hollywood.

Anissa Jones was just eight years old when she began playing the blond, piggy-tailed Buffy, whose siblings were twin brother Jody (Johnny Whitaker) and older sister Cissy (Kathy Garver), on Family Affair.