‘Father Knows Best’ Star Dead at 80: RIP to Lauren Chapin

Lauren Chapin has died.

The Father Knows Best child star passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 24, following a battle with cancer, her son, Matthew, shared on Facebook. She was 80.

“After a long hard fought battle over the past 5 years, the time has come,” Matthew wrote. “My mother Lauren Chapin passed away from her battle with cancer tonight. I’m at a complete loss for words right now. Please keep my sister and family in your thoughts and prayers as we go through this incredibly tough time.”

Chapin was born on May 23, 1945, in Los Angeles, and she comes from a family of actors. Her big brothers, Billy and Michael, were child actors as well, notably appearing in The Night of the Hunter and It’s a Wonderful Life, respectively. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chapin’s mom, Marguerite, an alcoholic, took her brother Billy to New York to build his stage career when she was about six, and she was left with her father, William, whom Chapin said molested her. By the time she was 11, Chapin revealed she was a “manic depressive personality” and attempted suicide.

When she was nine, she landed the role of Kathy “Kitten” Anderson on the CBS sitcom Father Knows Best, starring alongside Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, and Billy Gray. Created by Ed James, the series started on the radio in 1949 and follows the lives of a middle-class family living in the town of Springfield. Father Knows Best ran for six seasons and 203 episodes.

In 1960, just five months after Father Knows Best ended, Chapin appeared on General Electric Theater with Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows. That appearance marked her final acting role for 16 years. Chapin ultimately dropped out of high school as a junior, later revealing on Regis and Kathie Lee that she got married at 16 and divorced at 18 and was in another marriage that was annulled after discovering her husband was still married. She also said she was involved with another man who turned her into a “call girl” and got her into heroin, which she did for seven years until she turned 25. During that time, she had eight miscarriages.

As if that wasn’t enough, Chapin said she had to sue her mother to claim a portion of her Father Knows Best money. Chapin achieved sobriety in the ‘70s and started working as a minister and talent manager. Jennifer Love Hewitt evidently “got her start in show biz” because of Chapin, according to her website.

Additional credits include A Star Is Born, Lux Video Theatre, Tension at Table Rock, and Scout’s Honor. Following Scout’s Honor in 1980, Chapin retired from acting, but briefly returned for the series School Bus Diaries, appearing in eight episodes between 2016 and 2017. Chapin is survived by her brother, Michael, her son, Matthew, and her daughter, Summer.