Friendly Encounters: Johnny Whitaker and Josh Watko

This is a weekly series featuring friends who have met celebrities.

Once again, we feature my friend Josh Watko from JW's Wrestling Memorabilia.  Josh is a great guy who meets lots of celebrities.  His website is full of great wrestling pictures, stories, reviews and more.  It is an entertaining romp through the world of wrestling.
Despite his site being focused on wrestling, Josh has met a lot of stars outside of wrestling.  One such celebrity was Johnny Whitaker, the lovable former childhood actor best known for his role as Jody on tv's Family Affair.  Whitaker also originated the role of Scotty Baldwin on tv's General Hospital and later starred on Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.  That's a pretty impressive resume for a young actor.
Unfortunately, his acting career did not flourish after that.  Fortunately, Whitaker seems to have avoided the pitfalls often associated with young actors.
I met Whitaker years ago and he was very fan-friendly and happy to discuss any of his roles.  He seemed proud of his past and content wth his present.
Josh's site is very cool, but I would love to see him expand it to include thse non-wrestling stars.  He's got plenty of pictures and interesting stories.
Despite knowing Josh for years, I ahve never met him.  I imagine that will happen at some event sometime.  That won't stop me from featring him here though.  He just has so many great pictures.

Josh Watko and Johnny Whitaker in Pittsburgh, PA-August 2015.

Nice Guy Johnny Whitaker

Not all child stars turn out to be fodder for tabloid tv shows.  Some grow up into nice people with their feet firmly planted on the ground.
Johnny Whitaker is one of my favorite former child stars.  Whitaker first starred as Jody on tv's Family Affair and followed that with a role as Johnny on Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.  Whitaker also appeared in some movies and other episodic tv. He pretty much stopped acting in early adulthood and did some missionary work.
I have met Whitaker a few times and he is really simply genuinely nice.  He talks fondly about this time in th limelight, but he shows no signs of regret.  He seems happy and it comes off so refreshing.  I always come away from meeting him feeling good.  It's a nice mix of nostalgia nd contentment.

Johnny Whitaker and me in Rosemont, IL-Mid 1990's.

Cissy, Jody and Johngy

When I was a kid, Family Affair was one of the top-rated tv shows. Who didn't think Uncle Bill was cool? Who didn't like the three children, Cissy, Buffy and Jody? Even Mr. French was highly likable (although his brother didn't do much for me).
At a Hollywood Collectors Show, I was excited about meeting two of the three siblings. (Sadly and widely known, the third was Anissa "Buffy" Jones, who died a while back.) Kathy "Cissy" Garver and Johnny "Jody" Whitaker were awesome. These two seem to have avoided the often-publicized pitfalls of childhood celebdom.
Garver has gone on to have a solid career, filled with many guest-starring roles on tv. She has also done some voice-over work.
Whitaker went on to do a couple more tv series and had a bunch of guest-starring roles. He eventually went into missionary work.
At the convention, Garver and Whitaker seemed completely relaxed and having fun. We talked for a bit and then I got to pose with both of them. I just remember the experience as so much fun, almost like seeing old friends again! Theirs is definitely a childhood star story that has ended well.

Kathy Garver, Johnny Whitaker and me in Rosemont, IL-mid 90's.

It's A Family Affair

I grew up watching Cissy, Buffy and Jody on tv's Family Affair. At the Hollywood Collectors Show, I met 2 of the stars, Kathy (Cissy) Garver and Johnny (Jody) Whitaker. Both childhood stars could not have been any nicer. It's great to see that they look great and are doing well.

Kathy Garver, Johnny Whitaker and me at HCS in Rosemont, IL-late 1990's.