Jane Wyatt
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- August 12, 1910
- Died
- October 20, 2006 (aged 96)
- Birthplace
- Campgaw, New Jersey, USA
Biography
From Wikipedia Jane Wyatt (August 12, 1910 – October 20, 2006) was an American actress best known for her role as the housewife and mother on the NBC and CBS television comedy series, Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science fiction television series Star Trek. Wyatt was a three-time Emmy Award-winner. Jane Waddington Wyatt was born on August 12, 1910 in Mahwah, New Jersey, but raised in Manhattan. Her father, Christopher Billopp Wyatt, Jr., was a Wall Street investment banker, and her mother, the former Euphemia Van Rensselaer Waddington, was a drama critic for the Catholic World. Both of her parents were Roman Catholic converts. She made her film debut in 1934 in One More River. In arguably her most famous role, she co-starred as Ronald Colman's character's love interest in Frank Capra's Columbia Pictures film Lost Horizon (1937). Other film appearances included Gentleman's Agreement with Gregory Peck, None but the Lonely Heart with Cary Grant, Boomerang with Dana Andrews, and Our Very Own. Her film career suffered because of her outspoken opposition to Senator Joseph McCarthy, the chief figure in the anti-Communist investigations of that era, and was temporarily derailed for having assisted in hosting a performance by the Bolshoi Ballet during the Second World War, even though it was at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Wyatt returned to her roots on the New York stage for a time and appeared in such plays as Lillian Hellman's The Autumn Garden, opposite Fredric March. For many people, Wyatt is best remembered as Margaret Anderson on Father Knows Best, which aired from 1954 to 1960. She played opposite Robert Young as the devoted wife and mother of the Anderson family in the Midwestern town of Springfield. This role won Wyatt three Emmy Awards for best actress in a comedy series. After Father Knows Best, Wyatt guest starred in several other series. On June 13, 1962, she was cast in the lead in "The Heather Mahoney Story" on NBC's Wagon Train. In 1963, she portrayed Kitty McMullen in "Don't Forget to Say Goodbye" on the ABC drama, Going My Way, with Gene Kelly and Leo G. Carroll, a series about the Catholic priesthood in New York City. In 1965, Wyatt was cast as Anne White in "The Monkey's Paw – A Retelling" on CBS's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Wyatt was married to investment broker Edgar Bethune Ward from November 9, 1935, until his death on November 8, 2000, just one day short of the couple's 65th wedding anniversary. The couple reportedly met in the late 1920s when both were weekend houseguests of Franklin D. Roosevelt at Hyde Park, New York. Ward later converted to the Catholic faith of his wife. Wyatt suffered a mild stroke in the 1990s, but recovered well. She remained in relatively good health for the rest of her life Jane Wyatt died on October 20, 2006 of natural causes at her home in Bel-Air, California, aged 96. She was interred at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, next to her husband.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Frank Capra's American Dream
Movie · as Self
The Silent Feminists: America's First Women Directors
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Amityville: The Evil Escapes
Movie · as Alice Leacock
Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist
Movie · as Self
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Movie · as Amanda
Missing Children: A Mother's Story
Movie · as Judge Eloise Walker
St. Elsewhere
TV · as Katherine Auschlander · 7 eps
Hotel
TV · as Agnes Simpson · 1 ep
A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story
Movie · as Eleanor's Mother
Superdome
Movie · as Fay Bonelli
The Millionaire
Movie · as Mrs. Mathews
The Nativity
Movie · as Anna
Fantasy Island
TV · as Mildred Grayson · 1 ep
The Father Knows Best Reunion
Movie · as Margaret Anderson
Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas
Movie · as Margaret Anderson
The Love Boat
TV · as Laurette Ferot, Margaret Anderson, Margaret Wallingford, Marcy Banes · 1 ep
Amelia Earhart
Movie · as Amy Earhart
Treasure of Matecumbe
Movie · as Aunt Effie
Tom Sawyer
Movie · as Aunt Polly
Katherine
Movie · as Emily Alman
You'll Never See Me Again
Movie · as Mary Alden
Neighbors
Movie · as Mary Robinson
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
TV · as Margaret Wilson · 1 ep
Weekend of Terror
Movie · as Sister Frances
Love, American Style
TV · as Mother · 1 ep
Marcus Welby, M.D.
TV · as Edwina · 1 ep
Star Trek
TV · as Amanda · 1 ep
CBS Playhouse
TV · as Ned's Mother · 1 ep
Never Too Late
Movie · as Grace Kimbrough
See How They Run
Movie · as Augusta Flanders
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
TV · as Anne White · 1 ep
The Two Little Bears
Movie · as Anne Davis
Alcoa Premiere
TV · 1 ep
Play of the Week
TV · 1 ep
The Bell Telephone Hour
TV · 2 eps
Interlude
Movie · as Pure Stubbins
Wagon Train
TV · as Heather Mahoney · 1 ep
Father Knows Best
TV · as Margaret Anderson · 203 eps
The United States Steel Hour
TV · 1 ep
The Motorola Television Hour
TV · 2 eps
Criminal Lawyer
Movie · as Maggie Powell
House by the River
Movie · as Marjorie Byrne
The Man Who Cheated Himself
Movie · as Lois Frazer
Our Very Own
Movie · as Lois Macaulay
My Blue Heaven
Movie · as Janet Pringle
Your Show of Shows
TV · 1 ep
Robert Montgomery Presents
TV · 1 ep
What's My Line?
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Task Force
Movie · as Mary Morgan
Canadian Pacific
Movie · as Dr. Edith Cabot
Bad Boy
Movie · as Mrs. Maud Brown
Pitfall
Movie · as Sue Forbes
No Minor Vices
Movie · as Miss Darlington
Studio One
TV · 2 eps
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Gentleman's Agreement
Movie · as Jane
Boomerang!
Movie · as Madge Harvey
The Bachelor's Daughters
Movie · as Marta Jordan
Strange Conquest
Movie · as Dr. Mary Palmer
None But the Lonely Heart
Movie · as Aggie Hunter
The Kansan
Movie · as Eleanor Sager
Buckskin Frontier
Movie · as Vinnie Marr
The Navy Comes Through
Movie · as Myra Mallory
Army Surgeon
Movie · as Elizabeth Ainsley
Kisses for Breakfast
Movie · as Laura Anders
Weekend for Three
Movie · as Ellen 'Gretch' Craig
Hurricane Smith
Movie · as Joan Bradley
Girl from God's Country
Movie · as Anne Webster
Lost Horizon
Movie · as Sondra Bizet
The Luckiest Girl in the World
Movie · as Pat Duncan
We're Only Human
Movie · as Sally Rodgers
Great Expectations
Movie · as Estella
One More River
Movie · as Dinny Cherrell