Garver - Surviving Cissy: my family affair of life in Hollywood

Kathy not only gives us the insiders look at TVs classic, Family Affair ; she also shares the affairs of her own family with detailed accounts of their influence and guidance through her journey. The result is an uplifting message to guide all of us to get the most out of life.

P AUL L ISNEK , WGN-TV; host, Broadway in Chicago Backstage , Comcast Network

Kathy Garver didnt just survive after Cissy, she thrived! All too often we hear of child stars whose best years were their first years. This was not and is not the case for the talented author of this book. Kathy shines as an all-too-rare exception of how to be a young star and gracefully transition through a life filled with normalcy... Hollywood style.

N EAL S ABIN , creator, MeTV Network

There are very few former child stars lucky enough to continue working in Hollywood in their adult years. Kathy is one of thosebut luck had nothing to do with it. This book could have been called Surviving Cissy: The Art of Reinvention, because, in it, she proves to be a master of that craft. Kathy is someone who has garnered both experience and friends with each surprising twist and turn her life has taken.

J ON P ROVOST , actor, Lassie

If you like a great book, youll love Surviving Cissy . I was producer/production manager of all Don Feddersons family shows, including Family Affair , and can attest that Kathy was the talented and hardworking backbone of that show. She has continued her acting career with films, TV, the stage, and voice-overs. In this book, she has transferred her experiences onto the page so everyone will know where the multitalented Kathy Garver has been!

J OHN G. S TEPHENS , executive producer and production manager whose work includes My Three Sons , Family Affair , and Simon and Simon ; creator and producer of Major Dad ; author of From My Three Sons to Major Dad

Published by Taylor Trade Publishing

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite , Lanham, Maryland 20706

www.rowman.com

Unit A, Whitacre Mews, Stannary Street, London SE 11 4 AB, United Kingdom

Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

Copyright 2015 by Kathy Garver

Lyrics for Lem (Lunar Excursion Module), the Orphan Reindeer
reprinted courtesy of Aquarian Records

A Sweet Old-Fashioned Girl, written by Bob Merrill
1956 , 1984 Golden Bell Songs. Used by Permission

Poem An Outstretched Hand by Rod McKuen
reprinted courtesy of Random House

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Garver, Kathy, 1945

Surviving Cissy : my family affair of life in Hollywood / by Kathy Garver ; foreword by Patty Duke.

pages cm

Summary: Kathy Garver, the heartthrob from the hit series Family Affair, was a journeywoman actress who appeared in such classic films as The Ten Commandments long before her television notoriety. This memoir is a recollection of a working actresss life, from the many films, television shows, and stage plays in which she performed, to her second career as a voice-over specialistProvided by publisher.

ISBN - - 63076 - - (hardback)ISBN - - 63076 - - (electronic)

. Garver, Kathy 1945 . ActorsUnited StatesBiography. I. Title.

PN 2287 .G 3955 A 3 2015

. 4502 8092 dc

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z . 1992 .

Printed in the United States of America

To my Mom and Dad

In reading your book, its not surprising that we had so much in common as child actors.

I confess here that I always envied how pretty you were in Family Affair . Youve proved then and since your talent and skills as an actress.

Kathy dear, you took my breath away several times as I read of the life challenges you faced.

You inspire me to rededicate myself to my career and use my imagination as you have done to remain vital in your career and, most importantly, in your life and family.

Thank you for writing this book. I needed it.

Anna Patty Duke

It was my third year as a student at UCLA; I was sharing a room at the Pi Beta Phi sorority with my good friend and the president of the sorority house, Sandy Blue. At : p.m., the phone suddenly jangled me out of my concentrated study, having reread paragraph one in my Psychology textbook three times. Half-falling out of my single bunk, I stumbled over to the prized private phone, courtesy of my roommates vaunted political position. I mumbled a hoarse, Hello?

Hazel McMillan, my theatrical agent, excitedly told me she had an audition for me. It was for a new television series called Family Affair . The show had already been sold to CBS, thirty-two episodes, an interesting anomaly in show business where pilots are first made and then hawked.

Now fully alert, I listened raptly as Hazel explained the setup. It seemed simple: A bachelor uncle and his valet live in a posh penthouse in the sophisticated city of New York. Suddenly they become caretakers of the bachelors two orphaned nieces and a nephew from the countrified town of Terre Haute, Indiana. The show was cast except for one remaining family member. The front office had to quickly complete the main cast with a blond teenager. The producer wanted to see me that afternoon.

There was a slight problem: I wasnt blond, and I wasnt a teenager. Well, I am blond now, but back then, my hair was a very dark brown. It was panic time. But I was sure my mother had the solution; or rather she had the can. Thats right, an aerosol can of Streaks and Tips. Streaks and Tips was the name of a sticky spray in the sixties that, spattered onto the hair, would instantly change its color.

I confidently told Hazel that yes, of course, I would be there for my appointment at : p.m.

I quickly called my mother and asked her to hurry over with a can to the sorority house from her home twenty minutes away; we had to be across town in two hours. Rushing to the drugstore to buy the aerosol, my mother then sped to the sorority, fully armed. I held my hands like a double salute to my forehead so that the streaky substance would not get into my eyes or dye my eyelashes blond. Thus protected, I peeked out as my mother then attacked me and my short hair with professional velocity. She quickly moved the spray to and fro, painting glistening, golden streaks onto my brunette locks. The dark curls eventually lightened, but it seemed as if a steel helmet had been plastered to my head; my Vidal Sassoon do was immovable to the touch, and I felt like one of the gilded characters from the James Bond movie Goldfinger .

I dressed as young as I could in my best preppy outfit; my character was supposed to be fifteen years old. I had just turned twenty. I felt that I could pass as a teenager, though. I was still going up to Mammoth Mountain in California on weekends, scrunching low at the ticket office and buying a twelve-and-under childs ski-lift ticket. Who can tell ones real age under all those bulky layers? Having a baby face and being five-foot-one also helps.