Biography
Anissa Jones was an American child actress of Lebanese heritage, best known for portraying the orphan girl Buffy Davis on the popular sitcom "Family Affair" (1966-1971). The show ran for five seasons totaling 138 episodes. After the series ended, Jones' career quickly declined. She passed away at the age of 18 from "combined drug intoxication."
Born in 1958 in West Lafayette, Indiana—a college town home to Purdue University—Jones was the daughter of engineer John Paul Jones, a Purdue faculty board member, and Mary Paula Tweel, a Lebanese-American zoology student.
Jones spent her early childhood in Charleston, West Virginia, where her family had settled. Around 1963, they moved to Playa Del Rey, California, after her father accepted an aerospace engineering position on the West Coast. Her parents' marriage deteriorated, and they divorced by 1965.
Jones began appearing in television commercials in 1964 at age six and started pursuing acting roles the following year. Her breakthrough came in 1966 when she was cast in a co-starring role on "Family Affair." Although she was eight, she played a six-year-old, aided by her unusually short stature and youthful appearance.
She became a popular child actress, making guest appearances on other TV shows, guest hosting the variety program "The Hollywood Palace," and appearing on talk shows such as "The Mike Douglas Show" and "The Merv Griffin Show." Jones made her film debut in 1969 with a minor role in the drama "The Trouble with Girls," starring Elvis Presley in one of his final acting roles. The film centered on the murder of a pharmacist in Iowa and a band manager’s attempt to capitalize on the incident.
When "Family Affair" concluded in 1971, Jones found herself without a regular role for the first time. Despite numerous auditions, she was rarely cast, and her acting career ended by age 12. By 1976, she was still living in California and had a steady boyfriend.
On August 27, 1976, Jones went out partying with friends in Oceanside, California. The next day, she was discovered dead at the home of Helen Hennessy, a close friend. An autopsy revealed she had ingested a mix of cocaine, PCP, Quaalude, and Seconal. A small vial of blue liquid found nearby could not be identified by police. Jones received a small, private funeral; her remains were cremated, and her ashes scattered over the Pacific Ocean.
Following her death, Dr. Don Carlos Moshos was arrested for illegally prescribing Seconal to Jones. He died in December 1976 while awaiting trial. In 1979, a court ordered Moshos' estate to compensate Jones’ surviving relatives. Her last surviving relative, her mother, passed away in January 2012. Though gone, Anissa Jones remains fondly remembered for her role on "Family Affair.
