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If you watched television in the 1970s, Johnny Whitaker feels like an old friend. In addition to charming primetime viewers on Family Affair as adorable Jody, Johnny starred in kid-friendly fare including Saturday morning’s Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and the 1973 musical Tom Sawyer. “The best part of being a child actor was meeting President Johnson,” Johnny, 64, tells Closer. “The worst was that I couldn’t play baseball or go to a regular school.”
Like so many former child actors, Johnny endured a rough transition into adulthood. “[The Brady Bunch’s] Christopher Knight says that Hollywood loves its puppies, but once they become dogs, they don’t want anything to do with them,” Johnny says. “Unfortunately, that’s quite true.” Today, he’s a certified drug counselor, who’s proud to have been sober for 26 years. Johnny is currently working on his first memoir.
What do you consider your big break?
Probably [1966’s] The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming, because that’s where I met Brian Keith. He wanted me to come and audition for the role of the next-door neighbor in his new series. Family Affair was [conceived] for a 16-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy, and a six-yearold girl, but at my audition, Anissa [Jones] and I looked so much like twins, they changed it. That was my big break.
Do you have a favorite episode of Family Affair?
This story is from the July 29, 2024 edition of Closer US.
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This story is from the July 29, 2024 edition of Closer US.
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