LAUREN CHAPIN, THE YOUNGEST CHILD ON FATHER KNOWS BEST, DIES AT 80.(PHOTO).

Lauren Chapin, the youngest child on Father Knows Best, dies at 80

Lauren Chapin, best known for playing the precocious Kathy “Kitten” Anderson on the 1950s television classic Father Knows Best, has died at the age of 80. Chapin’s son, Matthew, shared on Facebook that she passed away on Tuesday after a battle with cancer.

Chapin began her career with appearances on a 1952 episode of CBS’s Lux Video Theatre and the 1954 film A Star Is Born starring Judy Garland. She joined Father Knows Best at age 9, partly because she closely resembled one of Robert Young’s real daughters, also named Kathy. On the show, she starred alongside Elinor Donahue as Betty “Princess” Anderson, Billy Gray as James “Bud” Anderson Jr., Jane Wyatt as Margaret Anderson, and Young as patriarch Jim Anderson. The series ran for six seasons from 1954 to 1960, with reruns airing for years afterward, and reunited the cast for two specials in 1977.

Born May 23, 1945, in Los Angeles, Chapin came from a family of child actors, including brothers Billy and Michael Chapin. She trained under Columbia Pictures and studied with choreographers Gower and Marge Champion, as well as French mime Marcel Marceau. Her early life, however, was marked by trauma, including alleged abuse by her father, struggles with mental health, and substance use. Chapin spoke publicly about these challenges, recounting bouts of drug addiction, miscarriages, early marriages, and exploitation in her youth.

After achieving sobriety in the 1970s, Chapin found work as a minister and talent manager, helping launch the careers of performers such as Jennifer Love Hewitt. She also wrote a memoir, Father Does Know Best, and appeared in the 2016 YouTube series School Bus Diaries. Chapin is survived by her son, Matthew, her daughter, Summer, and her brother Michael. She once reflected on her career, saying she would have welcomed another wholesome television series like Father Knows Best, “one that has no violence, no sex, and shows nothing but purity and love.”