Kathy Garver

Kathy Garver
Kathy Garver at the Golden Halo Awards 2014 in Hollywood, California
Born
Kathleen Marie Garver

(1945-12-13) December 13, 1945 (age 80)
Long Beach, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Occupations
  • Actress
  • producer
  • speaker
  • author
Years active1952–present
Spouse
David Travis
​
​
(m. 1981; died 2025)​
Children1
WebsiteOfficial website

Kathy Garver (born Kathleen Marie Garver; December 13, 1945) is an American actress best known for portraying Catherine "Cissy" Davis on the popular 1960s CBS sitcom Family Affair. Before that, she was cast by Cecil B. DeMille in the film The Ten Commandments (1956) and later provided the voice of Firestar in the animated television series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–83).

Garver authored The Family Affair Cookbook (2009), Surviving Cissy: My Family Affair of Life in Hollywood (2015), X Child Stars: Where are They Now? (2016), The Family Affair Scrapbook, and the newest book Romancing with the Stars: Inspiring Hollywood Love Stories which launched on Valentine’s Day of 2026.

Early life and child career

Garver was born in Long Beach, California, the daughter of Rosemary (Schmoker) and Hayes Garver. She was raised Roman Catholic and attended a Catholic primary school. Garver recalled that her mother began getting her into acting from a young age: "I started singing and dancing at the Meglin Studios in Hollywood, at three years old, as was Shirley Temple, who was also discovered there. I think my mom had the vision of her little daughter as Shirley Temple." When she was nine, she was cast in I'll Cry Tomorrow, but her most famous movie role was one of the young slaves in The Ten Commandments. Garver was cast as an extra in The Ten Commandments, but during filming director Cecil B. DeMille noticed her and wrote her into the movie.

During the 1950s Garver did voice work on radio dramas, including Whispering Streets and Heartbeat Theater. In 1969, Garver released a Christmas song called "Lem, the Orphan Reindeer" on the Aquarian label, distributed by Bell Records. The song was written by Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, and E. Justin, and arranged by Jimmie Haskell.

Career

Garver (bottom left) with her co-stars of Family Affair, Brian Keith (center), Sebastian Cabot (back), Johnny Whitaker, and Anissa Jones

In 1966, while studying at UCLA, she auditioned for, and won, the role of "Cissy" Davis, the eldest of the three siblings on Family Affair. Garver had been a fan of series star Brian Keith since she was ten years old and had guest-starred on his earlier CBS series about the Cold War, Crusader. She had also previously worked with co-producer Don Fedderson on The Millionaire. While working on Family Affair Garver began dating her on-screen boyfriend Greg Fedderson, but otherwise did not socialize much with the rest of the cast, since they were all either much older or much younger than she. Family Affair ran for five seasons.

In 1969, Garver appeared as Laura Hayden in The Big Valley season 4 episode "The Royal Road". In 1971, Garver appeared as Paula in the Adam 12 episode of "Pickup".

Garver appeared in such movies as Princess Diaries, Unleashed, and Helen's Last Love, and as guest star in such TV films as Hercules Saves Christmas and FBI Murders. Her stage plays include Voice of the Turtle, Vanities, Under the Yum Yum Tree, Sunday in New York, Star Spangled Girl, Romeo and Juliet with musicals My Fair Lady, River Song: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Summer Magic.[citation needed]

Garver provided the voices of Firestar, Storm and other female guest characters on the Saturday morning cartoon Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. In the 1990s Spider-Man cartoon series, she played the voice of Miss America.

Garver was the voice of Alice Mitchell in the Dennis the Menace cartoon special Mayday for Mother and Pepper in Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos. Her other voice roles included the television series Fonz and the Happy Days Gang; The Tom & Jerry Kids Show; Droopy, Master Detective; The New Yogi Bear Show; The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show; The All-New Super Friends Hour and the cartoon special Marvin: Baby of the Year. In addition to her television work, Garver has lent her voice talents to numerous commercials, toys, and audiobooks.

Her voice has been heard in the films Apollo 13, Ransom, Backdraft and Jingle All the Way.

Garver appeared in the Christmas episode of the 2002–2003 Family Affair WB series, which was a remake of the original.

Garver has produced, narrated, written lyrics, and composed the music for eight audio Beatrix Potter tales and eight Mother Goose-based audiotapes for Smarty Pants, Inc. She has recorded books for Brilliance Audio, Dove, Audible, and Listen and Live.

From 2008-2012 she co-hosted the Comcast television talk show Backstage! With Barry & Kathy.

Garver's stage performances include productions of Absolutely Dead and Dinner at Five, the latter written and directed by Lloyd J. Schwartz.

As a paid speaker, Garver gives presentations on "The Power of Perseverance" among other topics.[citation needed]

Film

Television (Selected Series & Guest Spots)

Other Notable (Voice, Recent, etc.)

Personal life

Garver's husband, David Travis, died of cancer on August 30, 2025. They lived in Hillsborough, California. As of January 2026 Ms Garver is living in Bell Canyon, California with her son, Reid, and daughter-in-law plus dogs Cubby and Jacqueline Chanel.

Appearances and books

On June 26, 2008, she attended the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony when Brian Keith was awarded a star posthumously; Garver gave a speech on his behalf.

In 2009, Garver co-authored, with Geoffrey Mark, The Family Affair Cookbook. In September 2015, she published her autobiography, Surviving Cissy: My Family Affair Of Life In Hollywood.

She is also a spokesperson for Clear Captions telephone systems for people with hearing loss.

Awards and honors

In 1995, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California Walk of Stars was dedicated to Garver. Garver has won two Audie Awards, one for her narration of The World's Shortest Stories, the other in 2004 for her direction of Amy Tan in The Opposite of Fate read by the author. In 2010, Garver was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award for her role in Family Affair.

Miss Garver received the Emerald Award from the Southern California Council and then in 2013 bestowed on Ms Garver the highly esteemed Golden Life time achievement award

On November 7, 2025, Garver was announced as a nominee for a Grammy Award in the Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording category for her reading of Elvis, Rocky and Me: The Carol Connors Story. This was her first Grammy nomination. Garver atteded the awards presentation ceremony in February 2026 but did not win, although she did receive a certificate and a Tiffany medallion from The Recording Academy.

Kathy Garver was got a Lifetime Achievement Award on March 15, 2026 at Charmaine Blake's 'Night of Stars' Oscars Gala.

References

  1. ↑ Pilato, Herbie J. (2014). Glamour, Gidgets, and the Girl Next Door: Television's Iconic Women from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Lanham, MD: Taylor Trade Publishing. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-58979-969-1.
  2. ↑ King, Susan (2 September 2015). "'Family Affair's' Kathy Garver looks back on childhood stardom in new autobiography". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  3. ↑ Hayes, Anthony C. (2 October 2016). "Family Affair actress looks at X Child Stars: Where Are They Now?". The Baltimore Post-Examiner. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  4. ↑ Homepage; Affair, Family; Spider-Man; Archive, Appearances Whittier Comic Fest June 22, 2025 Book Signings Upcoming Past; Videos, Demos Photos Audio; Resume, Bio & Resume Biography; Representatives, Contact Contact By Email; Oct 2014, Press Release Playbill: Tom Sawyer Musical "River Song" Broadway World: Tom Sawyer Musical RIVER SONG LA Beat Jan 2015 Book deals; Merchandise, Buy. "Family Affair Scrapbook". Kathy Garver. Retrieved 10 March 2026. {{cite web}}: |first7= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ Homepage; Affair, Family; Spider-Man; Archive, Appearances Whittier Comic Fest June 22, 2025 Book Signings Upcoming Past; Videos, Demos Photos Audio; Resume, Bio & Resume Biography; Representatives, Contact Contact By Email; Oct 2014, Press Release Playbill: Tom Sawyer Musical "River Song" Broadway World: Tom Sawyer Musical RIVER SONG LA Beat Jan 2015 Book deals; Merchandise, Buy. "Romancing with the Stars: Inspiring Hollywood Love Stories (Collector's Edition Hard Cover Book)". Kathy Garver. Retrieved 10 March 2026. {{cite web}}: |first7= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "Senior in Action – Kathy Garver". Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  7. ↑ Parker, Melissa (4 February 2009). "Exclusive Interview with Kathy Garver of Family Affair". I went to a Catholic school until the sixth grade and then my mother put us all in public school so we could find out real world was like. But, we remained religious and spiritual since then.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Clancy, Shaun (August 2020). "From Family Affair, Firestar, and Beyond: An Interview with Kathy Garver". RetroFan (10): 19–23.
  9. 1 2 Garver, Kathy (2015). Surviving Cissy: My Family Affair of Life in Hollywood. Lanham, MD: Taylor Trade Publishing. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-63076-115-8.
  10. ↑ Bihun, Ashley (13 January 2023). "Family Affair's Kathy Garver talks about her illustrious career with Paul Lisnek" (MP3). WGN Radio 720 - Chicago's Very Own. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  11. ↑ "Kathy Garver". GalaxyFest. 2014. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014.
  12. ↑ Markstein, Don (2010). "Miss America". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. [Miss America] made an appearance in a 1997 episode of Spider-Man's animated TV show...There, her voice was done by Kathy Garver.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  13. ↑ Nahmod, David Alex (10 September 2009). "Kathy Garver's charmed life after playing Cissy on classic sitcom 'Family Affair'". The Bay Area Reporter.
  14. ↑ Puglisi, Jackie (7 March 2017). "Play is a classic whodunit". The Winchester Star. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  15. ↑ Jones, Peter (8 November 2017). "'Dinner at Five' a family affair for Kathy Garver". The Villager. Denver, Colorado. Retrieved 22 December 2017.[permanent dead link]
  16. ↑ Barnes, Mike (11 September 2025). "David Travis, Home Video Executive and Husband of Actress Kathy Garver, Dies at 79". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 13 September 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  17. ↑ "Kathy Garver". People. 28 November 1994. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014.
  18. ↑ Garver, Kathy (16 January 2026). "Facebook Post".
  19. ↑ Larsen, Jennifer (31 July 2008). "Brian Keith's star added to Hollywood's Walk of Fame". Ritzville.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014.
  20. ↑ Garver, Kathy; Mark, Geoffrey (4 July 2009). The Family Affair Cookbook (Hardcover ed.). BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-5939-3458-3.
  21. ↑ "Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated" (PDF). Palm Springs Walk of Stars. 2012. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012.
  22. ↑ "31st Annual Young Artist Awards". Young Artist Awards. 11 April 2010. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  23. ↑ GarySohmers (31 December 2015). "Kathy Garver Comes to Northeast Comic Con". NorthEast ComicCon & Collectibles Extravaganza. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
  24. ↑ Johnson, Megan. "'Family Affair' star Kathy Garver is 80 and stunning on the red carpet 55 years after the series ended". Parade. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  25. ↑ Johnson, Megan. "'Family Affair' Child Star Kathy Garver Is 80 and Gorgeous in Green as She Celebrates the Oscars". Parade. Retrieved 17 September 2026.

21 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/david-travis-dead-kathy-garver-home-video-executive-1236368161/