Jane Wyatt, a veteran actress of the stage and screen who was immortalized by Frank Capra as the delicate, ageless Shangri-La beauty in Lost Horizon (1937) and won three Emmy Awards and everlasting fame as Margaret Anderson in the long running series Father's Knows Best (1954-60), died on October 20 of natural causes at her Bel-Air home. She was 96.

She was born on August 12, 1910, in Campgaw, New Jersey. Her father was an investment banker and her mother was a playwright. She took theater classes at Barnard College (a Liberal Arts college for women that was affiliated with Columbia University) before joining the Berkshire Playhouse in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Eventually, she found her way to Broadway and made a splash in 1933 when she starred in George S. Kaufman's hit play Dinner at Eight.

The following year she was signed by Universal and made her screen debut in James Whale's One More River (1934). Her next film had her as a fine Estella in an early screen adaptation in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (also 1934). Wyatt never really achieved stardom on the silver screen since she divided her time so much between Broadway and Hollywood. Her most memorable screen part came as the beautiful Sondra Bizet opposite Ronald Colman in the glorious fantasy Lost Horizon (1937). Yet as captivating and charming as her performance was, Wyatt didn't capitalize on it, and she spent the next few years making middling comedies and dramas save for some stunning exceptions: None But the Lonely Heart (1944) with Cary Grant; Gentleman's Agreement (1947) alongside Gregory Peck and Boomerang! (1947) co-starring Dana Andrews; the latter two were both directed by Elia Kazan.

Wyatt's career took a downward turn when she admirably joined Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Huston, Gene Kelly and other Hollywood celebrities in September 1947 to protest the bully-boy tactics of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) that was harassing Hollywood at the time. Sadly, Wyatt found herself blacklisted from major parts, although she found work in some excellent "B" noirs, namely Pitfall (1948) with Dick Powell and a superb performance as a frightened wife in The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950) with Lee. J. Cobb, but good movie roles were becoming few and far between.

If her film parts dried up, at least television came to her salvation. With her strong stage training, she was a natural to appear in several live television dramas that were in abundance in the early '50s: Robert Montgomery Presents, The Ford Television Theatre and Schlitz Playhouse of Stars were just a few of the live television anthologies in which she starred. Eventually Wyatt would make television her home when she was cast as Margaret Anderson together with Robert Young as Jim Anderson in Father Knows Best. Warm, familiar and as dependable as a Swiss watch, the Andersons were everything Middle America admired in loving parents. Wyatt as the stalwart mother made an indelible impression on the psyche on almost every television fan of the "Golden Era."

Afterwards, Wyatt's schedule slowed down, but for cult television fans, she'll be remembered as Spock's human mother in Star Trek. She also guest starred in such sitcoms as Love American Style, The Love Boat and Happy Days and had a recurring role in St. Elsewhere before making a final film appearance as Spock's mother again in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). She is survived by her sons Christopher and Michael; three grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

by Michael T. Toole