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Anissa Jones | |
|---|---|
 Jones in 1970 | |
| Born | Mary Anissa Jones (1958-03-11)March 11, 1958 Lafayette, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | August 28, 1976(1976-08-28) (aged 18) Oceanside, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Combined drug intoxication |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, student |
| Years active | 1966–1971 |
Mary Anissa Jones/əˈniːsə/[a] (March 11, 1958 – August 28, 1976) was an Americanchild actress known for her role as Buffy Davis on theCBSsitcomFamily Affair, which ran from 1966 to 1971. She died from adrug overdose when she was 18.[1]
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Jones was born inWest Lafayette, Indiana, in 1958 and was raised inCharleston, West Virginia, until the age of 5. Her maternal grandparents wereLebanese and Jones' middle name is used by Lebanese Maronites instead of Agnes,[2][3] because it derives from Persian Anahid, Anahit or Anaïs,[4] meaning immaculate.[5] Her parents were divorced before her acting career began in 1965.[6]
At the time of her birth, Jones' father, John Paul Jones, was an engineering graduate and faculty board member atPurdue University, where her mother, Mary Paula Jones (née Tweel), was a zoology student. Soon after the 1960 birth of Anissa's brother John Paul Jones Jr. (called "Paul" by the family), the family moved toPlaya Del Rey,California, where John Paul Sr. took a job in aerospace engineering and Anissa attended Paseo del Rey Elementary School, then Orville Wright Junior High School.[7]
In 1964, when she was 6, Jones' first TV appearance was in acommercial. Two years later, 8-year-old Jones, who was small for her age, was cast as 6-year-old Ava Elizabeth "Buffy" Patterson-Davis on theCBS sitcomFamily Affair (1966). In the sitcom, Buffy, her twin brother Jody (Johnny Whitaker), and older sister Cissy (Kathy Garver) are sent to live with their Uncle Bill (Brian Keith) and hisvalet Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot) a year after the children's parents die in a car accident[8] (the DVD collection notes mistakenly state "plane accident"). In 1969, at the height of her juvenile pop cultural celebrity and ofFamily Affair's television ratings success, Jones made her only film appearance with a small role inThe Trouble with Girls, which starredElvis Presley.[9] She also made one crossover appearance as Buffy on the short-lived seriesTo Rome with Love in 1970. Jones was 12 whenFamily Affair ended in 1971; she did not work in film or TV thereafter.
Shortly before noon on August 28, 1976, after partying in the beach town ofOceanside, California, with her new boyfriend and others the night before, Jones, 18, was found dead in an upstairs bedroom of a house belonging to the father of a 14-year-old friend.[9] Others at the party ranged in age from 12 to 22, as police later determined.[10] Thecoroner's report listed Jones' death as a drug overdose, later ruled accidental.[9][11]
Jones was given a small, private service. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered over thePacific Ocean.[11] She left $63,000 in cash and more than $100,000 in savings bonds when she died ($163,000 1976 dollars equivalent to roughly $910,000 in 2025 dollars).[12]
Dr. Don Carlos Moshos had prescribedSeconal, abarbiturate, to Jones; an investigation about his professional practices had already begun as a separate unrelated matter prior to Jones' death. Occupants in the same building as Moshos' office had reported the unusual activity of patients waiting in long lines outside of his practice.[13] According to aTorrance Police Department report, Moshos was writing over 100 prescriptions per day. AKABC local news team visited his office and found it filled with young people, some of whom had been waiting over three hours to be seen by Moshos. Wayne Staz, the reporter who initiated the visit, alleged that prescriptions could be obtained with $5.00 and "simply showing identification".[14]
Six days after Jones' death, Moshos was arrested at his office inTorrance and charged with illegally prescribing Seconal to Jones,[15] 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 (1½ grains), quantity (50), and the recipient's last name (Jones). Moshos was charged with 11 offenses,[16] but was admitted to a hospital on December 6 with hepatitis (while also suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and advancing senility) and died on December 27, 1976, four months after Jones.[17] 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 ($439,300 adjusted).
On March 15, 1984, Jones' brother, Paul, died of a drug overdose. He was 24.[9]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966–71 | Family Affair | Ava Elizabeth "Buffy" Patterson-Davis | Main role; 138 episodes |
| 1967 | Dateline: Hollywood | Herself | Guest |
| 1967 | The Hollywood Palace | Herself | Co-host; S5, EP15 (aired December 26, 1967) |
| 1968 | Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In | Herself | S1, EP8; 3 cameos (aired March 11, 1968) |
| 1969 | The Mike Douglas Show | Herself | Guest (aired March 6, 1969) |
| 1969 | The Merv Griffin Show | Herself | Guest (aired March 4, 1969) |
| 1969 | The Trouble with Girls | Carol Bix | An Elvis Presley motion picture |
| 1969 | The Mike Douglas Show | Herself | Co-host; "Kids' Week" (aired December 22, 1969) |
| 1970 | To Rome With Love | Ava Elizabeth "Buffy" Patterson-Davis | Episode: "Roman Affair" |
| 1970 | The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon | Herself | Guest |
| 1971 | The Dick Cavett Show | Herself | Guest (aired February 25, 1971) |
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