Jane Waddington Wyatt ( ; August 12, 1910 – October 20, 2006) was an American actress. She starred in a number of Hollywood films, such as Frank Capra's Lost Horizon, but is likely best known for her role as homemaker and mother Margaret Anderson on the CBS and NBC television comedy series Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science-fiction television series Star Trek. Wyatt was a three-time Emmy Award–winner.
Early life Wyatt was born on August 12, 1910, in Campgaw, a neighborhood in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and raised in Manhattan.Longo, Rosalie. "Actress Invited to Write Memoirs on Her Native Campgaw", Herald News, July 26, 2001. Accessed March 30, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Jane Wyatt would be stunned if she returned to her childhood stomping grounds in North Jersey. When she romped through the apple orchards at her familys home years back, the Campgaw native encountered more deer; town, the actress could provide members of the Franklin Lakes Historical Society with a wealth of information about life in the borough years back, particularly when the sparsely populated, countrified community served as an oasis for city dwellers trying to escape the summer heat." Her father, Christopher Billopp Wyatt, was a broker. Her mother was Euphemia Van Rensselaer Waddington, granddaughter of Henry Bell Van Rensselaer. Wyatt had two sisters and a brother.
Education While in New York City, Wyatt attended Miss Chapin's School, where she had roles as Joan of Arc and as Shylock. She later attended two years of Barnard College. After leaving Barnard, she joined the apprentice school of the Berkshire Playhouse at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where for six months she played a variety of roles.
Stage and film
One of her first jobs on Broadway was as understudy to Rose Hobart in a production of Trade Winds—a career move that cost her her listing in the New York Social Register (she later was relisted upon her marriage). Receiving favorable notices on Broadway and celebrated for her understated beauty, Wyatt made the transition from stage to screen and was placed under contract by Universal Pictures.
She made her film debut in 1934 in One More River. Inarguably her most famous film role, she co-starred as Ronald Colman's character's love interest in Frank Capra's Columbia Pictures film Lost Horizon (1937). She reflected on Lost Horizon sixty years later in St. Anthony Messenger magazine: During the war, they cut out all the pacifist parts of the film—the High Lama talking about peace in the world. All that was cut because they were trying to inspire those G.I.'s to get out there and go "bang! bang! bang!" which sort of ruined the film.
In 1939 Wyatt hadn’t yet achieved her greatest fame when she appeared at Denver's legendary Elitch Theatre as the leading lady for the summer stock season, opposite Donald Woods. Her next film appearances included Gentleman's Agreement with Gregory Peck, None but the Lonely Heart with Cary Grant, Boomerang with Dana Andrews, and Our Very Own with Farley Granger. Wyatt co-starred in the crime dramas Pitfall and House by the River, and with Randolph Scott in a Western, Canadian Pacific. She played the wife of Gary Cooper in the war story Task Force.
Her film career suffered due to her outspoken opposition to Senator Joseph McCarthy, the chief figure in the anti-Communist investigations of that era, and was temporarily derailed for having assisted in hosting a performance by the Bolshoi Ballet during the Second World War, though it was at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Wyatt returned to her roots on the New York stage for a time and appeared in such plays as Lillian Hellman's The Autumn Garden, opposite Fredric March.
Television For many people, Wyatt is best remembered as Margaret Anderson on Father Knows Best, which aired from 1954 to 1960. She played opposite Robert Young as the devoted wife and mother of the Anderson family in the small town of Springfield. This role won consecutive Emmy Awards for her in 1958, 1959 and 1960 for best actress in a comedy series. After Father Knows Best, Wyatt guest-starred in several other series.
On June 13, 1962, she was cast as the lead in "The Heather Mahoney Story" on NBC's Wagon Train. In 1963, she portrayed Kitty McMullen in "Don't Forget to Say Goodbye" on the ABC drama Going My Way, with Gene Kelly and Leo G. Carroll, a series about the Catholic priesthood in New York City. In 1964 Wyatt appeared as Mrs. Sarah Brynmar on The Virginian in the episode "The Secret of Brynmar Hall". In 1965, Wyatt was cast as Anne White in "The Monkey's Paw – A Retelling" on CBS's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Wyatt portrayed Amanda Grayson, Spock's mother and Ambassador Sarek's (Mark Lenard) wife, in the 1967 episode "Journey to Babel" of the original NBC series Star Trek and in the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Wyatt was once quoted as saying her fan mail for these two appearances in this role exceeded that of Lost Horizon.
In 1969, she made a guest appearance on Here Come the Brides, but did not have any scenes with Mark Lenard, who was starring on the show as sawmill owner Aaron Stemple. Also in 1969, Wyatt appeared as a concerned mother in the first episode of the ABC comedy anthology series Love, American Style in a segment titled "Love and the Pill."
In 1970, Wyatt guest-starred in the episode "Wedding Day?????" (the five question marks being part of the title) in the second season of the TV sitcom The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, which played on ABC (the first season having played on NBC). She portrayed Emily Williams, the mother of Mrs. Muir.
In 1976, she guest-starred in an episode of Gibbsville, and she appeared as Anna, mother of the Virgin Mary, in the 1978 television film The Nativity. Late in her career, she appeared in a recurring role in the 1980s medical drama St. Elsewhere, as Katherine Auschlander, wife of hospital administrator Dr. Daniel Auschlander (Norman Lloyd).
She was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
Personal life Wyatt was married to investment broker Edgar Bethune Ward from November 9, 1935, until his death on November 8, 2000. The couple met in the late 1920s when both were weekend houseguests of Franklin D. Roosevelt at Hyde Park, New York. They had three children.
Wyatt suffered a mild stroke in the 1990s but recovered well. She remained in relatively good health for the rest of her long life.
Death Wyatt died on October 20, 2006, at her home in Bel-Air, California, aged 96. Wyatt's family included three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Filmography Year Title Role1934 One More River Dinny Cherrell Great Expectations Estella1935 We're Only Human Sally Rogers1936 The Luckiest Girl in the World Pat Duncan1937 Lost Horizon Sondra Bizet1940 Girl from God's Country Anne Webster1941 Kisses for Breakfast Laura Anders Hurricane Smith Joan Bradley Weekend for Three Ellen1942 Army Surgeon Elizabeth "Beth" Ainsley The Navy Comes Through Myra Mallory1943 Buckskin Frontier Vinnie Marr The Kansan Eleanor Sager1944 None but the Lonely Heart Aggie Hunter1946 Strange Conquest Dr. Mary Palmer The Bachelor's Daughters Marta Jordan1947 Boomerang Madge Harvey Gentleman's Agreement Jane1948 Pitfall Sue Forbes No Minor Vices Miss Darlington1949 Bad Boy Mrs. Maud Brown Canadian Pacific Dr. Edith Cabot Task Force Mary Morgan1950 House by the River Marjorie Byrne Our Very Own Mrs. Fred (Lois) Macaulay My Blue Heaven Janet Pringle The Man Who Cheated Himself Lois Frazer1951 Criminal Lawyer Maggie Powell1957 Interlude Prue Stubbins1961 The Two Little Bears Anne Davis1965 Never Too Late Grace Kimbrough1976 Treasure of Matecumbe Aunt Effie1986 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Amanda Grayson
Television films Year Title Role1964 See How They Run Augusta Flanders1970 Weekend of Terror Sister Frances1973 You'll Never See Me Again Mary Alden1975 Katherine Emily Alman1976 Amelia Earhart Amy Earhart1978 Superdome Fay BonelliThe Nativity Anna1989 Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes Alice Leacock
Radio appearances Year Program Episode/source 1952 Family Theater Pas de Deux 1952 Hollywood Sound Stage Boomerang 1953 Theatre Guild on the Air A Square Peg
References
External links
Jane Wyatt: Representative of American Liberalism; article by Norman Markowitz, politicalaffairs.net; accessed February 2, 2014. "'Father Knows Best' mother Wyatt dead at 96", CNN.com; accessed February 2, 2014.