{"id":4529,"date":"2024-03-28T09:59:27","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T13:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/?p=4529"},"modified":"2024-03-28T13:10:12","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T17:10:12","slug":"family-affair-child-star-looks-to-god-after-surviving-alcoholism-and-drug-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/03\/family-affair-child-star-looks-to-god-after-surviving-alcoholism-and-drug-addiction.html","title":{"rendered":"‘Family Affair’ Child Star Looks to God After Surviving Alcoholism and Drug Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
s_bukley \/ Shutterstock.com | Inset: Public Domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For over 20 years, Johnny Whitaker has been conducting 12-step meetings at a local county jail, and the actor calls it a blessing. The 64-year-old told Fox News Digital, “Once a month, I go in to share my experience, as well as offer strength and hope. I do it through my ministry. I want to tell these guys that there is hope. They can get clean and sober. They can get out of the revolving door that they find themselves in.”<\/p>\n

The former child star rose to fame in the sitcom “Family Affair,” which aired from 1966 until 1971. His other hit series, “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters,” is now available to stream on The Sid and Marty Kroft Channel. The producing pair were known for their imaginative children’s programming. Marty’s daughter, Deanna Krofft Pope, told Fox News Digital, “Johnny was already famous when he became part of the Sid and Marty Krofft family. He was not only great in the role of Johnny Stuart in the original ‘Sigmund and the Sea Monsters,’ but when he returned in a cameo in our reboot, he was so good that we ended up writing him in for reoccurring appearances. And, of course, the fans loved it.”<\/p>\n

“Family Affair” was centered on a swinging bachelor (Brian Keith) who is given custody of his late brother’s three children. Whitaker said he still has fond memories\u00a0of bringing the series to life. Unfortunately, life wasn’t always kind to the show’s co-stars. Jones, who played Buffy, died of a drug overdose in 1976. She was 18. Whitaker alleged, “My agent claims that she was kind of out of it when she last saw her, possibly high or very depressed. I remember my agent said, ‘You need to contact her. She looks really bad.’ I did my best, but I was a young teen and getting ready for a new family variety show. I did try to contact her. Even after her passing, I tried to contact her family. And then her brother died a few years later from an overdose.”<\/p>\n