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A Hollywood veteran star has died at the age of 80.
Lauren Chapin passed away after working as an actress for decades in such fare as the popular TV show Father Knows Best and the movie A Star Is Born.
Her son announced the sad news on social media on Tuesday evening.
'After a long hard fought battle over the past 5 years, the time has come. My mother Lauren Chapin passed away from her battle with cancer tonight,' he shared.
Her first acting role was opposite Judy Garland on the 1954 movie A Star Is Born.
And she was also in the CBS series Lux Video Theatre.
On the 1950s series Father Knows Best she played the youngest child, the precocious Kathy 'Kitten' Anderson. She was on the show from 1954 until 1960; the show lasted six seasons.
A Hollywood veteran star has died at the age of 80. Lauren Chapin passed away after working as an actress for decades in such fare as the popular TV show Father Knows Best and the movie A Star Is Born
On the 1950s series Father Knows Best she played the youngest child, the precocious Kathy 'Kitten' Anderson. She was on the show from 1954 until 1960; the show had six seasons
Her son announced the news on social media Tuesday evening. 'After a long hard fought battle over the past 5 years, the time has come. My mother Lauren Chapin passed away from her battle with cancer tonight,' he shared
Chapin was only nine-years-old when she first got the big gig.
Her costars were Robert Young, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Jane Wyatt.
Chapin was born in Los Angeles on May 23, 1945.
Her older brothers, Billy Chapin (The Night of the Hunter) and Michael Chapin (It's a Wonderful Life), were child actors as well.
She had been open about her abusive past.
The star said her mother was an alcoholic and that her father had molested her when she was very young.
By age 11, she said was a ;manic depressive personality.'
The actress also shared that she even tried to kill herself at one point.
Cast members Robert Young as Jim Anderson, Jane Wyatt as Margaret, Elinor Donahue as Betty, Billy Gray as James Jr. (Bud) and Chapin as Kathy (Kitten). Seen in 1954
Seen far left with her screen family in 1958
'It was very difficult to understand how Kathy Anderson could be loved and protected and Lauren Chapin lived a whole different kind of life,' she said during a 1989 appearance on Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee. 'I didn't understand how God could let me suffer.'
She also had a rocky love life.
The star said she got married at 16 and divorced at 18.
One of her marriages ended in an annulment after she discovered her husband was still married.
Then she said that a love interest made her work as a prostitute and turned her on to heroin. Chapin said she did the drug for seven years until she was age 25.
Chapin became sober in 1970 and went on to become a talent manager who helped Party Of Five actress Jennifer Love Hewitt get her start.
(L-R) Young, Donahue, Wyatt, Chapin and Gray attend 36th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in 1984 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California
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