Jane Wyatt: 1910-2006

Actress Jane Wyatt, seen in this August 1957 file photo, died Friday, Oct. 20, 2006, in her Bel Air, Calif., home. She was 96. Wyatt was one of TV's favorite moms, playing opposite Robert Young for six years on "Father Knows Best."

The cast of "Father Knows Best" pose in this undated file photo. Clockwise from top left are Elinor Donahue, Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Billy Gray, and Lauren Chapin. The classic TV sitcom chronicled the life and times of the Anderson family in the Midwestern town of Springfield. It was on TV for six years in the 1950s.

Actors Robert Young and Jane Wyatt pose together in 1958 while holding the Emmy Awards they won for their work on the television series "Father Knows Best." Wyatt, a New Jersey native, worked on Broadway and in films before scoring a role in the TV series. Among her film credits was a co-starring role in Frank Capra's 1937 film "Lost Horizon."

Actress Jane Wyatt fixes the hair ribbon for actress Natalie Wood in Hollywood, Calif., in this Oct. 26, 1949, file photo. Wyatt saw her film offers decline in the 1950s after she was outspoken in her opposition to Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

Actress Jane Wyatt, left, thanks the audience after receiving the lifetime achievement award during the Catholics in Media Awards ceremony Nov. 7, 2004, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Descended from the van Renssalaers, one of the earliest Dutch families in New York, Wyatt was born into the family of a prominent Wall Street investment broker. She attended the Chapin School and Barnard College.

Actor Roddy McDowall gives Jane Wyatt a kiss after the funeral of actor Robert Young July 27,1998, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif. Young played Wyatt's TV husband. Edgar Bethune Ward, her own husband and the father of her two sons, died on the day before what would have been their 65th wedding anniversary.