Father Knows Best star and small screen's favorite mom Jane Wyatt passed away due to natural causes on Saturday at the age of 96, her son Christopher Ward said. The actress, who was known for her portrayal of Robert Young's understanding wife Margaret Anderson in the popular sitcom about an ideal American family, died in her sleep in her house in Bel Air, California.
The
Father Knows Best role won Wyatt three Emmys in 1958, 1959 and 1960, and became an integral part of her real life. Among her other small screen roles were
Star Trek: The Original Series,
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and several others. Active in films, TV and stage, the actress was also noted for her performance in the 1937 film
Lost Horizon, in which she played Ronald Coleman's waiflike beloved. Wyatt's other film credits include Oscar-winning Gregory Peck-starrer
Gentleman's Agreement,
None But The Lonely Heart opposite Cary Grant, Dana Andrew-starrer
Boomerang and
Great Expectations. In a career spanning 70 years, the actress made appearances in as many as 30 films, hitting her Hollywood peak in the 1930s and 1940s, before embarking on her most memorable role of Margaret Anderson in 1954.
Born on August 12, 1910, in Campgaw, New Jersey, to Wall Street investment banker Christopher Wyatt and his playwright and drama critic wife Euphemia Van Rensselaer, Wyatt was brought up in New York City. After majoring in history from Barnard College, she decided to join apprentice school at the Berkshire Playhouse in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Having worked as an understudy to Rose Hobart in Broadway production
Trade Winds, Wyatt made her stage debut in 1931 with
Give Me Yesterday. Some more stage performances later, the ethereal beauty got a chance in Hollywood with James Whale's
One More River in 1934.
Even when she was active in films, Wyatt continued to make waves on Broadway with
Night Music, and
Hope for the Best being some of her more memorable performances.
For most parts, however, Wyatt was known as Margaret Anderson, a role which became like a second identity to her. In fact, many people thought she was married to Robert Young in real life, so much so that Wyatt herself forgot she shared only a screen association with Young. “I remember once going over to the Youngs' house for a dinner party and when I walked in I fixed Bob's tie without even thinking about it,” she recalled once.
Though popular with the audiences,
Father Knows Best was often panned by critics as giving an unrealistic portrayal of the American family. Wyatt vociferously defended the show, saying that the Anderson family was what most families wanted to be. “We tried to preserve the tradition that every show had something to say. We can't have it (the show) exactly like life; it would be too boring. We all thought it was life – as we wanted it to be,” she had said. The sitcom later came back in 1977 as TV movies
The Father Knows Best Reunion and
Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas in which Wyatt played a grandmother.
The actress was married to Edgar Bethune Ward, who died in 2000 after 65 years of marriage that spawned two sons, Christopher and Michael. Besides them, Wyatt is survived by three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
