Kathleen Marie Garver is an American actress most remembered for having portrayed the teenaged orphan, 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 after that, she 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), and X Child Stars: Where are They Now? (2016).
Garver was born in Long Beach, California, the daughter of Rosemary (Schmoker) and Hayes Garver.[citation needed] 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.

Return to Kathy Garver Autograph Profile