While Johnny Whitaker rose to fame as the freckle-faced redheaded tyke Jody Davis on the classic '60s sitcom Family Affair, his years as a child actor featured several notable feature film roles, too....alongside some very talented co-stars.
In a recent interview shared on TikTok this week, Whitaker, 65, chatted with Scott D. Stewart about his career, calling his time as a young star "really nice."
"It was a really positive experience," Whitaker said, adding, "I didn't have a lot of the problems that some of the kids have...later on in life, things got a little bad, and I got into drugs and alcohol, but I'm 26 years clean and sober, I'm a drug and alcohol counselor and behavioral health professional."
@scottdstewartWhat was it like to be a child star? #johnnywhitaker #familyaffair #jodiefoster #childstar #childstar
♬ original sound - Scott D StewartWhitaker went on to share a sweet memory involving Academy Award-winning actress Jodie Foster, his co-star in both Napoleon & Samantha (1972) and a musical version of Tom Sawyer (1973), which included an historic kiss between the two stars.
"Well, Jodie Foster and I studied French together, and then I gave her her first onscreen kiss, but it wasn't a French kiss," Whitaker revealed, going on to joke that "she doesn't answer my calls today, I guess there was something wrong with the kiss."
Earlier this summer, during an appearance at the MidSouth Nostalgia Festival in June, Whitaker reminisced about the making of Tom Sawyer, noting that he "wasn't supposed to do the film."
“I was a Boy Scout and planned to attend Boy Scout Camp," Whitaker said, per Remind Magazine.
"The problem was the start of the film was the third day of camp; and I did not want to miss it," he continued. "The producers made the agreement that I would go to camp for four days, then fly to Missouri on the 5th day. I’d only miss one day of camp. I gratefully agreed. It was very embarrassing. They sent a helicopter to the camp and flew me to LAX."
During the same interview, Whitaker opened up about the loss of his Family Affair co-star, Anissa Jones, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 18 in 1976.
“Anissa’s death really shook me up," he said. "I was a good Mormon boy and decided to get out of show business. I went on a mission to Portugal. When I came home, I tried to get back in the business; but the business doesn’t like when you leave it. It doesn’t mind leaving you, but if you leave it, you don’t recover easily.”
Related: Rarely-Seen '60s Child Star, 71, Thrills Fans With 'Awesome' Reunion Photo
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