"She's dead, Jim."
Posted on 10/22/2006 4:26:57 PM PDT by lunarbicep
Jane Wyatt, the lovely, serene actress who for six years on "Father Knows Best" was one of TV's favorite moms, has died, said her publicist. She was 96.
Wyatt died Friday in her sleep of natural causes at her home in Bel-Air, according to publicist Meg McDonald. Her death also was confirmed by Bernard Johnson of the funeral home Gates, Kingsley & Gates Moeller Murphy Funeral Directors.
Yup..Ward Cleaver died a few years back..
From Wikipedia :
Jane Waddington Wyatt (born August 12, 1910 in Campgaw, New Jersey, died October 22, 2006 in Bel Air, California) was an American actress.
Her most famous roles were as Ronald Colman's love interest in Frank Capra's Lost Horizon (1937); as Margaret Anderson, the mother in the 1950s television comedy Father Knows Best; and as Amanda Grayson, Mr. Spock's mother on Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
She also appeared in other celebrated films, such as 1947's best picture Oscar winner, Gentleman's Agreement (with Gregory Peck), None but the Lonely Heart (with Cary Grant), and Boomerang (with Dana Andrews).
Wyatt came from a New York family of social distinction. Her father was a Wall Street investment banker and her mother was a drama critic, while one of her ancestors, Rufus King, had been a Presidential candidate. Among her other forebears were the van Rensselaers and the Livingstons, two of the most prominent families in New York City and State. She was also a cousin of Franklin Roosevelt. Her mother was a Catholic convert, and her father ultimately converted as well, although Jane did not attend Catholic schools.
Jane was raised from the age of three months in New York City, attended the fashionable Chapin School and later Barnard College. After two years of college, she left to join the apprentice school of the Berkshire Playhouse at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where for six months she played a varied assortment of roles.
One of her first jobs on Broadway was as understudy to Rose Hobart in a production of Trade Winds - a career move that cost her her listing in the New York Social Register (her name was later relisted). Receiving favorable notices on Broadway and celebrated for her understated beauty, Wyatt made the transition from stage to screen and was placed under contract at Universal (and co-starred in Frank Capra's Columbia film Lost Horizon on loan from Universal).
In the 1950s, she co-starred with Robert Young in Father Knows Best, the classic TV show chronicling the life and times of the Anderson family in the Midwestern town of Springfield. She won the Emmy for best actress in a comedy for three years in a row for her role as Margaret Anderson. Her film career suffered because of her outspoken opposition to Senator Joseph McCarthy, the chief figure in the anti-Communist hysteria of that era. As a result, she returned to her roots on the New York stage for a time and appeared in such plays as Lillian Hellman's The Autumn Garden opposite Fredric March.
She spent her later years at home in Bel Air, California, having outlasted almost all of her peers from Hollywood's golden age. Her husband, Edgar Bethune Ward (also a Catholic convert) died the day before what would have been their 65th wedding anniversary in 2000. She met her husband one weekend in the late 1920s, when they were both houseguests of the Franklin Roosevelts at Hyde Park. Among her earlier suitors was John D. Rockefeller III. The Wards had 2 sons, one a musician and the other an engineer and businessman.
Ms. Wyatt suffered a stroke some years ago but recovered remarkably well. Among her avocations are/were travel (to remote locations), bird-watching, and gardening.
Wyatt died on October 22, 2006 of natural causes in her home in Bel Air, California. She was 96 years old.
I enjoyed her work.
Nice!
Some of the best TV in the pioneer years of the 50s and 60s.
RIP
she was a lovely and beautiful lady. May she rest in peace
You Tarzan, she wrong Jane.
We are richer for having had her, and poorer for having lost her.
RIP, Jane Wyatt!
I loved that show; I loved BUD.
A nice article on Jane Wyatt.
"Father, if he's even around at all on TV shows today, doesn't seem to know anything any more. He's just there for the women and kids to ridicule because he's so stupid.'
You have been peeking.
>Yup..Ward Cleaver died a few years back..
Gosh, how old was Hugh? He had a gorgous wife on his TV show.
"She's dead, Jim."
My mistake I guess. Although, I did google it and found one hit that said that.
(on the internet no one knows you're a dog) /;o)
"What about Cosby?"
He is still like the energizer Bunny.
The list of those who are now gone is a very long list, and I am one who lived to see them all.
She was wonderful in that role.
1909-1982....he died of a coronary...June Cleaver was played by Barbara Billingsley...who probably gained MORE fame for her parody of her persona in "Airplane" (One of the funniest flicks of all time)..remember the scene when she spoke "jive?"
She was great. May she rest in peace.
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