Surviving Cissy: My Family Affair of Life in Hollywood

Kathy Garver’s career as an actress began when she was 5 and still continues. She first appeared in “The Ten Commandments” and has been on TV, in movies, on stage, and done voice work regularly since. She made the difficult transition from child actress to adult actress and not only survived but thrived. Kathy Garver is a nice person. And this may be what makes her autobiography somewhat unique, refreshing, and inspiring. With a loving and supportive family, a strong faith, a good work ethic, and by treating her co-workers (after all, acting is a job) with respect and even affection, her story is the antithesis of what we have come to expect of the show biz bio. This is a “tell all” but if you are looking for drug addiction, alcohol abuse, scrapes with the law, hotel brawls with the concierge, juicy tidbits about other actors, and endless sexual escapades, you are looking in the wrong place. In many ways, Kathy’s life is probably more the typical story of thousands of actors and actresses that love their craft, strive to be better at it and are able to spend their lives doing what they love.Like perhaps 1000s of her professional colleagues, Kathy had her “moment in the sun” with one role that the vast majority of people identify her with, in this case Cissy, the oldest sister, on the much, and justly, loved “Family Affair” with Brian Keith, Sebastian Cabot, Anissa Jones, and Johnny Whitaker, and Kathy devotes a number of pages to that series, its impact on her life, and her relationship with everyone involved. One of the best sections in the book, is her reflections on Anissa Jones, who tried to escape celebrity in anonymity, instead found demons in drugs, and ended up alone and dead at age 18. This tale could have been preachy, scandalous, maudlin, and/or exploitive. Instead it is sensitive, tragic, and contains Kathy’s own regret of perhaps not doing all she could to help. Kathy also writes of her affection and respect for Brian Keith, both as friend and actor, and her sadness of his descent into suicide.So, if this celebrity “tell all” is not riddled with tabloid stories, why read it? Because it is a good solid story of a good solid actress, the people that have touched her life, the lives she has impacted both personally and through her work, and to demonstrate that professional actors do not have to constantly grab the headlines or live “train wreck” lives to succeed. Kathy Garver’s “Surviving Cissy” is not about surviving drugs, alcohol, sexual abuse, or prison;, it is about surviving success without letting it destroy who she is. And this may be one of the most difficult things to survive. “Surviving Cissy” is well worth the time.(In the interest of full disclosure, let me say I know Kathy Garver. I had the privilege of being on stage with her in one of the theatrical events she writes about and have had a hand (albeit small) in another play she writes about. )

I’ll tell you what: I’m really glad I read this book before looking at the negative customer reviews. If I’d read those reviews first, I wouldn’t have bought the book and, thus, would’ve missed out on a really interesting read. I appreciate the fact that Kathy resisted the urge to spew dirt about her costars but, instead, remembered them with warm fondness and honesty. It’s great, too, that she tells us a bit about the many people who have come into her life. Not only does this book tell us about people, but also about the entertainment industry and its many facets. What an education we get! Thank you, Kathy, for taking the time out of your very busy life to write this fine book.

"Family Affair" remains one of my childhood's fondest memories. It spoke to my heart & has remained there ever since. In recent years, I've had the great pleasure of meeting "Cissy" & "Jody," now all grown-up. Kathy and her co-star, Johnnie Whitaker are warm, kind, caring individuals, both of whom would indeed make "Uncle Bill" & "Mr. French" very proud! I enjoyed "Surviving Cissy" & commend Kathy for her efforts! Bravo!

Actress Cathy Garver tells some interesting anecdotes about being a child actress in Hollywood. Starting with movies like "Night of the Hunter," "The Ten Commandments" and "The Bad Seed," she moved right away into TV work. She has a lot to say about her biggest role, Cissy on "Family Affair," but most of it is good. Her life after it was canceled was considerably rougher. An interesting read.

“Cissy” hasn’t had an especially renowned acting career and her life has been a pretty typical one. It is actually nice to read an autobiography that isn’t filled with slander against former lovers or co-workers! That said, you probably will only enjoy this book if you really, really liked Family Affair.

Very very detailed. Got bogged down with the small details of each person mentioned to the extent it was distracting and sometimes got off track. Enjoyed the section related to Family Affair. A bit more editing may have helped this book flow better. Was nice to remember Family Affair with fondness!

Kathy Garver takes us on her journey from a beautiful child star to a beautiful adult star and person.I never realized the multitudes of talents her resume possesses. We've probably have seen and heard (animation) her but never realized that was Kathy.She had some roadblocks in life but showed just how strong a women she is by pile driving through them instead of succumbing.I would have liked more anecdotes and recollections from her "Family Affair" days but what she wrote was nice. (Maybe in her follow-up book).It's nice to see a child star not get "eaten up" by Hollywood. This star ate up Hollywood.

I like Kathy Garver, I always have. Family Affair was so important to me as a child, it is still true. That said, the book was very good but I feel she choce not to share many stories about Brian/Anissa especially. I adore Anissa I was hoping to garner behind the scenes stories as well as her relationship with Kathy beyond the show. She said the same things about Brian and Anissa tha she has repeated forever in interviews. It dissapointed me, but I still like the book. I guess Kathy was unwilling to share her detailed memories of Anissa and Brian. The things we keep...

This appears to be another of those Hollywood tell nothings. Her life was on rails and everything that happened, turned out to be for the good even if it didn't seem that way at first. The book should come with an ampule of Novolin Toronto insulin. A tiresome book which I wish I could unread.