Lauren Chapin, best known as Kathy “Kitten” Anderson on the 1950s sitcom Father Knows Best, has died at 80, TMZ reports. She played the youngest Anderson child throughout the show’s six-season run and returned for a 1977 reunion and Christmas special.
The series, airing from 1954–1960, followed the Anderson family and became a defining example of wholesome 1950s American television, earning multiple Emmy Awards.
Chapin began her career with an uncredited role in A Star Is Born (1954) and appeared on shows like Lux Video Theatre and General Electric Theater, as well as films including The Amorous Adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza (1976) and Scout’s Honor (1980). She returned to acting in 2016 with School Bus Diaries.
Later in life, she managed artists—including her daughter, Latin pop singer Summer Healy-Chapin—worked in retail, was active in her church, authored two books, and helped raise over $2 million for underprivileged children.