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By Matthew Robinson
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The child actress Lauren Chapin, who played Kitten on the sitcom Father Knows Best, has died at 80, her family said.
"After a long hard fought battle over the past 5 years, the time has come. My mother Lauren Chapin passed away from her battle with cancer tonight," her son Matthew Chapin wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
"I'm at a complete loss for words right now. Please keep my sister and family in your thoughts and prayers as we go through this incredibly tough time."
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Chapin appeared in nearly 200 episodes of Father Knows Best between 1954 and 1960.
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What To Know
Chapin was born in 1945 in Los Angeles, and her first acting role was in the 1954 film A Star Is Born opposite Judy Garland.
She also featured in the radio comedy program The Bob Hope Show in 1954 and the variety show The Ed Sullivan Show in 1958.
But Chapin was best known for her role as Kathy "Kitten" Anderson in Father Knows Best, which depicted the lives of a middle-class family living in the town of Springfield.
The show aired on television for six seasons and 203 episodes. Chapin earned five Junior Emmy awards for best child actress for her performance in the series.
Chapin's two older brothers, Billy and Michael Chapin, were also child stars, performing in a variety of films in the1940s and 1950s, including The Night of the Hunter and It's a Wonderful Life.
Outside of her early acting success, Chapin alleged in a 1989 interview on Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee that she was the victim of sexual abuse from her father and a family friend.
"It was very difficult to understand how Kathy Anderson could be loved and protected and Lauren Chapin lived a whole different kind of life," she said. "I didn't understand how God could let me suffer through. What had I ever done to deserve this."
What People Are Saying
Educator and author Priscilla Rahn paid tribute to Chapin on X: "Her journey was one of extraordinary strength. Even during her illness, she continued to uplift others, offering comfort, prayer, and unwavering encouragement. Those who knew Lauren personally remember her radiant smile, compassionate heart, and unshakable devotion to her family. She was a loving mother, grandmother, a loyal friend, and a woman whose life reflected both perseverance and profound faith.
"While the world remembers her as a cherished television icon, I remember her as someone even greater — a godly mom whose love was fierce and faithful to the very end. Lauren’s legacy lives on not only in television history but in the countless lives she touched through her ministry, testimony, and personal kindness."
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