Dodie.......UGH
I can't stand her at all. That woman is WAY to old to have a daughter that young(if you can even call her a daughter). He hair cut is way to butch, and that weird puppet she carries around. PLEASE, just keep her off the show!
shareFirst of all, I cannot believe some of the truly cruel comments made here about the child actress Dawn Lynn, who was a little girl when she portrayed the character of "Dodie Harper Douglas" in "My Three Sons." While I concur those seasons of "My Three Sons" that included Lynn's character were also my least favorite years of the series, I am also not going to hang the responsibility of the series' decline on the shoulders of a poor little six or seven year-old child.
As others here have also accurately noted, "My Three Sons" underwent an evolution in its dozen years on television, from a cleverly written and creatively filmed (in black and white), Disney-influenced sitcom to being (along with the later years of "The Andy Griffith Show," as well "Family Affair," also produced by Don Fedderson) one of TV's pioneers in the genre of "dramedy," about an expanding brood beyond the all-male household led by a widower, as when the series began in 1960.
As to Dawn Lynn's physical appearance, some may be interested to know Lynn was the real-life sister of teen pop idol Leif Garrett, who many pre-adolescent and adolescent girls (and some boys) found to be quite attractive. And, if one looks at earlier photographs of Garrett, one may definitely notice the familial resemblance between Garrett and his sister, Dawn Lynn. In fact, the brother and sister appeared together in a Season Three episode of "Wonder Woman" titled "My Teenage Idol is Missing," wherein Garrett has a dual role as twin brothers, Lynn portraying an obsessed teen fan of Garrett's pop idol character. Garrett had earlier appeared in an episode of Fedderson's "Family Affair" series, portraying a friend of "Jody Davis" (Johnny Whitaker).
The parents of Dawn Lynn and Leif Garrett, whose real family surname is "Nervik," were also both actors. "Dawn Lynn" is actually a combination of her given name and a variation of her middle name, "Lyn." The actual name of "Leif Garrett" is Leif Per Nervik. Dawn Lynn was actually Dawn Lyn Nervik.
But not all children, female or male, celebrities or not, are photogenically attractive. In a way it was positive of the producers of "My Three Sons" to cast a child who appeared more natural, with tomboyish clothes and a bad haircut, as real children may appear as such. And I'm sure all of us may remember awkward phases of our lives and have photographs of ourselves we would not be especially happy for the world to see when we had become adults.
Furthermore, many little girls, women too, wore pants, and did not always appear as little princesses, which may also appear a bit freaky when done to an extreme. I seem to recall even "Marcia Brady (considered an attractive TV character by most) didn't always appear wearing dresses, sometimes dressed in bluejeans and/or pants. I know most of the girls I knew in high school wore mostly jeans by the 1970s, and girls who wore dresses on an average day would have been considered non-average. But certainly not most girls who wore jeans would be considered "butch" or lesbian. Today many girls and women still wear jeans, and, even sloppier (in my opinion), dress in sweatpants in public.
Dawn Lynn also appeared, as a paraplegic hospital patient, in a memorable Season Five episode of the Jack Webb-produced series "Emergency!" titled "Involvement." One may see Lynn had clearly evolved into quite a talented actress in that dramatic episode. Even with that assignment, one may see a "My Three Sons" connection, as actress Ronne Troup, who portrayed "Polly Williams Douglas," wife of Stanley Livingston's "Chip Douglas," was the real-life daughter of "Emergency!" regular (and noted jazz musician and songwriter) Bobby Troup ("Dr. Joe Early"), as well stepdaughter of his "Emergency!" co-star (and wife), actress and singer Julie London. No doubt Ronne Troup remembered or kept in contact with Dawn Lynn when she was still looking for acting gigs into the later 1970s.