TVSquad

Earlier this week we told you that actress Jane Wyatt had passed away at the age of 96, and now Time magazine's Richard Corliss writes a beautiful, long appreciation of the actress.

Most TV fans only seem to think of her as the mom on Father Knows Best, and even then, as Corliss points out, many of them are confusing her with the actress who married Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman. But she had an amazing depth to her body of work that not only spanned several decades in the movies, but an impressive stage resume as welll, including Clifford Odets' Night Music, Dinner At Eight, The Fatal Alibi (from Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and Lillian Hellman's The Autumn Garden, where her costar was James Lipton from Inside The Actor's Studio(!)

But this isn't just a rattling off of her credits. Corliss had a personal connection to Wyatt after meeting her in 1987, where they got into a discussion of politics and race. It's well worth reading.

Although Jane Wyatt was in one of the most classic films of all-time, 1937's Lost Horizon, she will always be remembered as Robert Young's wife on Father Knows Best, which ran from 1954 to 1960.

Wyatt starred in many films in her seven decades of work, including Great Expectations, Gentleman's Agreement, See How They Run, Amelia Earhart, Superdome, and Tom Sawyer. She made tons of guest appearances on TV shows over the years, including Star Trek, St. Elsewhere, Alias Smith and Jones, Love, American Style, Marcus Welby, Studio One, Alfred Hitchcock, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Hotel, and The Young Indiana Chronicles.

Wyatt died Friday of natural causes in Bel-Air, California. Except for a documentary in 1997, her last role was in the 1996 film Simisola.