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Anissa Jones

Mary Anissa Jones (March 11, 1958 – August 28, 1976) was born in West Lafayette, Indiana. She appeared alongside Elvis Presley in The Trouble with Girls (1969), but is probably best remembered as the freckle-faced Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis on CBS's Family Affair.

She portrayed the pleasant, warm and all too adorable Buffy from 1966 to 1971 alongside Johnny Whitaker, Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot on Family Affair.

Jones's personal life, in contrast, was anything but pleasant. She was victimized not only by her inability to deal with Buffy's immense and sudden popularity, but also by her inability to deal with her parents' messy divorce.

Following Family Affair, Jones decided that she no longer wanted to be in the entertainment industry. Jones's turbulent relationship with her parents led to her living in various homes and spending a few months in juvenile detention.

Upon her 18th birthday, Jones took control of a $75,000 trust fund that had been created with her earnings from Family Affair. Jones and her brother Paul rented an apartment and Anissa started dating Allan Kovan, whose influence contributed to Anissa and Paul's involvement in heavy drug use.

On August 28, 1976, Anissa Jones was found dead at a friend's house in Oceanside, California. The coroner who examined Jones reported that she had died from the most severe drug overdose he had ever seen. Her body was cremated and her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.

The Canadian pop-punk band The Diodes sang about Jones's turbulant life and overdose in the song Child Star.

In 1984, Paul Jones also died of a drug overdose.

Anissa Jones attended Paseo Del Rey Grammar School, Orville Wright Junior High School and Westchester High School.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2005.

Anissa Jones Facts

Birth NameMary Anissa Jones
OccupationActress
BirthdayMarch 11, 1958
SignPisces
BirthplaceWest Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Date of deathAugust 29, 1976 (age 18)

Selected Filmography

Family Affair: Season 1
Family Affair: Season 4
Family Affair: Season 2
Family Affair: Season 3
The Trouble With Girls
Family Affair: Season 4 by Brian Keith
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