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Anissa Jones

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Cause of death
  
Role
  
Actress

Name
  
Anissa Jones


Years active
  
1966–1971

Occupation
  
Actress

Siblings
  
John Paul Jones, Jr.

Anissa Jones smiling and sporting two ears hairstyle with red ribbons while wearing a black coat.


Full Name
  
Mary Anissa Jones

Born
  
March 11, 1958 (
1958-03-11
)

Education
  
Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnets

Movies and TV shows
  
Parents
  
John Paul Jones, Mary Paula Jones

Similar People
  

Died
  
August 28, 1976 (aged 18), Oceanside, California, United States

Anissa jones memories updated version


Mary Anissa Jones (; March 11, 1958 – August 28, 1976) was an American child actress known for her role as Buffy on the CBS sitcom Family Affair. She died from combined drug intoxication at the age of 18.

Contents

Anissa Jones smiling with darker hair and wearing a black and white blouse and sunglasses.

Anissa jones


Early life

Anissa Jones smiling and sporting two ears hairstyle with black ribbons while wearing a short sleeve blouse.

Jones was born in West Lafayette, Indiana and attended Paseo del Rey Elementary School, and, later, Orville Wright Junior High School. Her maternal grandparents were Lebanese, and Jones' middle name means "Little Friend" in Arabic.

At the time of her birth, Jones' father John Paul Jones was an engineering graduate and faculty board member at Purdue University, where her mother Mary Paula Jones (née Tweel) was a zoology student. Soon after the birth of Anissa's brother John Paul Jones, Jr., the family moved to Playa Del Rey, California, where John Paul, Sr. took a job in aerospace engineering.

Career

A memorial of Mary Anissa Jones featuring her in different stages of her life as well as her doll and another remembrance.

When Jones was two years old, her mother enrolled her in dance classes. In 1964, when Jones was six, Mary Paula took her daughter to an open audition for a breakfast cereal commercial, which became Jones' first television appearance.

Jones was eight when her acting skills drew the attention of television producers, and she was cast as Ava Elizabeth "Buffy" Patterson-Davis on the CBS sitcom Family Affair (1966). In the opening plotline, Buffy, her twin brother Jody (Johnny Whitaker), and older sister Cissy (Kathy Garver) are sent to live with their Uncle Bill (Brian Keith) and his valet Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot) a year after the children's parents die in a car accident (The DVD collection notes mistakenly state "plane accident"). By July 1969, the series had become a hit, and Jones became a popular child celebrity. She also played the role of Carol Bix in the Elvis Presley comedy film The Trouble with Girls (1969).

Anissa Jones as Buffy Davis sporting a two ears hairstyle on the CBS sitcom Family Affair, 1996.

 Family Affairwas a grueling, full-time, year-round job for Jones: she was often either shooting the show or promoting it in public, seven days a week. Through each of the first three seasons, up to 30 programs were filmed for broadcast. This contrasts with later American episodic television that produce runs of 24 shows per season or less, allowing more breaks in filming and requiring fewer promotional appearances for the principal actors. In April 1969, Jones broke her right leg in a playground accident, and the producers had her injury written into the show's scripts.

Anissa Jones in a black and white portrait sporting a two ears hairstyle and wearing a white dress.

Jones' Buffy character had a doll named Mrs. Beasley, which she claimed talked to her, often making funny comments. When the show became a hit, the doll was marketed by Mattel and became a best-seller in North America. Mattel also marketed two other dolls, patterned after Buffy: one in the size of its "Tutti" line of dolls and another in its talking "Small Talk" line, which featured eight different phrases (using Jones' voice). Jones took part in several other lucrative Family Affair product marketing campaigns such as Buffy paper dolls, lunch boxes, a clothing line, coloring books, and a 1971 cookbook with her picture on the cover.

Jones appeared on The Dick Cavett Show on February 25, 1971, along with actor/singer Sammy Davis Jr., and pianist Garrick Ohlsson; it was her final guest appearance on television.

Family Affair was cancelled abruptly by CBS's "rural purge" campaign in 1971, after five seasons and 138 episodes. By then, Jones was 13 years old and said she was happy at the thought of no longer needing to be seen with the Mrs. Beasley doll. She wanted to act in films, but Jones could not find the kind of work she wanted. She auditioned for the part of Regan MacNeil in the film The Exorcist (released in 1973), but the director, William Friedkin, felt that, with Family Affair still in popular consciousness at the time through syndicated daytime reruns, movie audiences might have thought Buffy was the one being possessed. Linda Blair was cast instead.

Meanwhile, Brian Keith kept in touch with Jones through letters and offered her a young-adult role on The Brian Keith Show (1972–1974). Keith told her she would not need to audition for the part, but, by then, Jones no longer wanted to work in television.

Teen years

Jones believed she had been typecast. She enrolled in Los Angeles' Westchester High School and returned to a life outside the entertainment industry.

Jones' parents had initiated a bitter divorce in 1965 and carried on a long feud over custody of Anissa and her younger brother, Paul. In 1973, custody of both children was awarded to their father, but he died of heart disease shortly thereafter.

While her brother went to live with their mother, Jones moved in with a friend and began skipping school. Her mother reported Jones to the police as a runaway. Jones was arrested and sent to juvenile hall, and spent many months in state custody, after which she was allowed to live with her mother.

However, Jones soon began shoplifting and taking drugs. In 1975, she dropped out of high school altogether and briefly worked at Winchell's Donuts shop in Playa Del Rey. She reportedly felt embarrassed whenever customers recognized who she was.

On her 18th birthday, in March 1976, Jones gained control of her saved earnings from her work in Family Affair, about $180,000 (equal to $757,579 today) as well as an undetermined amount of U.S. Savings Bonds, both of which had been held for her in a trust fund. Jones and her brother Paul then rented an apartment together, not far from their mother.

Death

Shortly before noon on August 28, 1976, after partying all night in the beach town of Oceanside, California, with her new boyfriend Allan "Butch" Koven and others, Jones was found dead in a bedroom of a house belonging to the father of a 14-year-old friend named Helen Hennessy. The coroner's report listed her death as a drug overdose, later ruled accidental; cocaine, PCP, Quaalude, and Seconal were found in her body during an autopsy toxicology examination. The police report also indicated a small vial of blue liquid next to Jones at the scene, which was never identified. The coroner who examined Jones reported she died from one of the most severe drug overdoses he had ever seen. Jones was 18 years old.

Jones had no funeral. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean. She left $63,000 in cash and more than $100,000 in savings bonds when she died.

Six days after Jones' death, Dr. Don Carlos Moshos was arrested and charged with illegally prescribing Seconal to Jones, among other drugs-for-profit charges from a concurrent undercover criminal investigation. An envelope with Moshos' business address was present at Jones' scene of death, specifying a drug found in Anissa's toxicology report (Seconal), its dosage (1.5 gr), quantity (50), and the recipient's last name (Jones). Moshos was charged with 11 offenses, including second-degree murder; while awaiting trial, Moshos died of cancer by acute viral hepatitis on December 27, 1976, four months after Jones. Although the murder charges were dropped before his death, Moshos' estate was sued by Jones' surviving family for $400,000; in July 1979, the verdict found him 30% liable and Jones 70% responsible for her death, and the resulting judgment was reduced to $79,500.

On March 15, 1984, Jones' brother Paul also died of a drug overdose. He was 24 years old. On January 14, 2012, their mother, Mary Paula Tweel, died in Detroit, Michigan. Jones' father, John Paul Jones, Sr., had died of heart failure on March 7, 1974, and there were no surviving heirs to the family name.

In 1978, Canadian punk-rock group The Diodes recorded Child Star, detailing Anissa's death by overdose in a sound and style reminiscent of The Ramones. In 1983, Hillary Carlip and her band, Angel and the Reruns, recorded "Buffy Come Back", a satiric tribute to the late Jones, set to the refrain of the Family Affair theme song.

Filmography

Actress
1971
Laugh-In (TV Series) as
Guest Performer
- Raquel Welch (1971) - Guest Performer (uncredited)
1966
Family Affair (TV Series) as
Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis / Buffy Davis
- You Can't Fight City Hall (1971) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Buffy's Fair Lady (1971) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Goodbye, Mrs. Beasley (1971) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Cinder-Emily (1971) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Joiners (1971) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Put Your Dreams Away (1971) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Littlest Exile (1971) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Too Late, Too Soon (1971) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Nobody Here But Us Uncles (1971) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Heroes Are Born (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Feat of Clay (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Wish You Were Here (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Unsinkable Mr. French (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Class Clown (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Say Uncle (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- And Baby Makes Eight (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Stamp of Approval (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Travels with Cissy (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- It Can't Be Five Years (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Return of Maudie (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Meet Emily (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Eastward Ho (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Desert Isle: Manhattan Style (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Good Neighbors (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Family in Paradise: Part 2 (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Family in Paradise: Part 1 (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Angel in the Family (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Old Cowhand (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Boys Against the Girls (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Wouldn't It Be Loverly (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- There Goes New York (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Inheritance (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Language of Love (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Mr. Osaki's Tree (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Marooned (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Grandpa, Sir (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Girl Graduate (1970) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Maudie (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Tale of Two Travels (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Number One Boy (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Stowaway (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Birthday Boy (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- What's Funny About a Broken Leg? (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- With This Ring (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Jody Affair (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Cissy's Apartment (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Uncle Prince Charming (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Wings of an Angel (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- No Uncle Is an Island (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- My Man, the Star (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Flower Power (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Matter of Dignity (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Flip Side (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Speak for Yourself, Mr. French (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Young Man from Bolivia (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Diller, a Dollar (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Lost in Spain: Part 3 (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Lost in Spain: Part 2 (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Lost in Spain: Part 1 (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Matter of Privacy (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Oh, to Be in England (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Lesson for Grown-Ups (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Family Group (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- To Love with Buffy (1969) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Family Plan (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Nanny for All Seasons (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Ciao, Uncle Bill (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Matter of Choice (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Albertine (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Unsound of Music (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Christmas Came a Little Early (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Oliver (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Substitute Teacher (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Your Friend, Jody (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Waltz from Vienna (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- By a Whisker (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Latch Key Kid (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Family Portrait (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Baby Sitters (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Beasley Story (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Mr. French's Holiday (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Family Outing (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The New Cissy (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- His and Hers (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Member of the Family (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Matter of Tonsils (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A House in the Country (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Day Nothing Happened (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Fish Watchers (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Great Kow-Tow (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Man's Place (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Family Reunion (1968) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Best of Breed (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Star Dust (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Somebody Upstairs (1967) - Buffy Davis
- Our Friend Stanley (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Freddie (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- You Like Buffy Better (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Take Me Out of the Ballgame (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Toy Box (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Fat, Fat, the Water Rat (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Candy Striper (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Other Cheek (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Arthur, the Invisible Bear (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Go Home, Mr. French (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- First Love (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Birds, Bees and Buffy (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Butler Method (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Award (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- What Did You Do in the West, Uncle? (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Prize (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- All Nephews Are Created Equal (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Way It Was (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Everybody Needs Somebody (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Mother Tongue (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Ballerina Buffy (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Once in Love with Buffy (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Helping Hand (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Fancy Free (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- One for the Little Boy (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- All Around the Town (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- That Was the Dinner That Wasn't (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Hard Hat Jody (1967) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Think Deep (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Thursday Man (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Love Me, Love Me Not (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Beware the Other Woman (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- A Matter for Experts (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Who's Afraid of Nural Shpeni? (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Mrs. Beasley, Where Are You? (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Room with a Viewpoint (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Marmalade (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Matter of School (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- The Gift Horse (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Jody and Cissy (1966) - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Buffy (1966) - Buffy Davis
- Goodbye Harold - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
- Take Two Aspirin - Ava Elizabeth 'Buffy' Patterson-Davis
1970
To Rome with Love (TV Series) as
Buffy Davis
- Roman Affair (1970) - Buffy Davis
1969
The Trouble with Girls as
Carol
Self
1971
The Dick Cavett Show (TV Series) as
Self - Guest
- Sammy Davis Jr./Anissa Jones/Garrick Ohlsson (1971) - Self - Guest
1970
Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon (TV Movie) as
Self
1970
Life with Linkletter (TV Series) as
Self
- Nancy Gould, Moe Di Sesso, Anissa Jones & Johnny Whitaker (1970) - Self
1969
The Mike Douglas Show (TV Series) as
Self - Co-Hostess / Self
- Episode #9.81 (1969) - Self - Co-Hostess
- Episode #8.129 (1969) - Self
1969
The Merv Griffin Show (TV Series) as
Self
- Richard Harris, B.J. Thomas, Rodney Dangerfield, Anissa Jones, Nita Talbot, Colleen Moore (1969) - Self
1968
Laugh-In (TV Series) as
Self
- Barbara Feldon, Sonny Bono, Cher, Pat Morita, Paul Winchell, Anissa Jones, Jerry Lewis, Dinah Shore, John Wayne (1968) - Self (uncredited)
1967
The Hollywood Palace (TV Series) as
Self - Ringmistress
- Episode #5.15 (1967) - Self - Ringmistress
1967
The 19th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (TV Special) as
Self - Presenter
1967
Dateline: Hollywood (TV Series) as
Self - Actress
- Episode dated 17 April 1967 (1967) - Self - Actress
Archive Footage
2017
Ok! TV (TV Series) as
Self
- Episode #3.30 (2017) - Self
- Episode #2.229 (2017) - Self
2017
Autopsy: The Last Hours of (TV Series documentary) as
Self
- Anissa Jones (2017) - Self
1999
E! True Hollywood Story (TV Series documentary) as
Self
- Family Affair: The Anissa Jones Story (1999) - Self
1997
Hey, Hey We're the Monkees (TV Movie documentary) as
Presenter at the Emmy Awards (uncredited)

References

Anissa Jones Wikipedia


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