Lauren Chapin of Father Knows Best Dies at 80

Lauren Chapin, the child actress best known for her role as the youngest daughter on the 1950s sitcom Father Knows Best, died Tuesday at age 80 after a five-year battle with cancer.

Her son, Matthew Chapin, announced the death on Facebook that evening. "After a long hard fought battle over the past five years, the time has come," he 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, born on May 23, 1945, in Los Angeles, began her acting career at age 6 with appearances on the anthology series Lux Video Theatre and a minor role in the 1954 film A Star Is Born, starring Judy Garland and James Mason.

Chapin's breakthrough came in 1954 when she was cast as Kathy "Kitten" Anderson, the youngest child in the Anderson family on Father Knows Best. The Emmy-winning series, which aired from October 1954 to May 1960 across CBS and NBC, followed the everyday lives of a middle-class family led by insurance salesman Jim Anderson, played by Robert Young, and his wife Margaret, portrayed by Jane Wyatt....