‘My Three Sons’ Star Dawn Lyn Makes Rare, First Public Appearance After Brain Coma
It’s been a long and difficult struggle for My Three Sons actress Dawn Lyn, who after undergoing a non-malignant brain surgery in October of 2022 fell victim of bacterial meningitis. She made her first public appearance since at the Hollywood Show in Burbank, California, on Friday, Sept. 6, 2025.
The star, and sister to Leif Garrett, fell ill just days after the surgery and remained comatose in the ICU for a month before regaining consciousness. She’s been in and out of the hospital for the past three years.
When she took the stage at the Hollywood Show in Burbank, California, fans showered her with their love and support.
“I love you very much,” the 62-year-old Dawn Lyn told the audience. “I also love the show.”
Dawn’s husband, W. John Reese, was also in attendance and gave a brief update on her health. “She went in for some routine surgery at Cedar Sinai,” he says. “We won’t go into any of the gory details, but the surgery went fine and then four days later it didn’t. So Dawn has been struggling for the last three years and she’s made an amazing comeback and we are so happy. This is her first public appearance since her plight in the hospital. So we are really happy.”
Credit: ReMIND Staff
The last time Dawn was at the Hollywood Show was in April of 2022.
“In October 2022, it should have been a routine surgery but something went wrong and it introduced bacteria into her brain. This is what the result was. But she came close to checking out like three times, but she made it back and this is her first show, her first appearances anywhere,” John said. “This is her first time not going to a hospital that she’s left the facility she’s in now. So this is a big day for her.”
My Three Sons aired for 12 seasons from 1960-72. Joining Dawn on stage were cast members Stanley Livingston (who played Chip Douglas), Barry Livingston (Ernie Douglas) and Tina Cole (Katie Miller Douglas).
Dawn was one of the later cast additions to the series — she appeared in the final few seasons of the show, as the daughter of Steve’s second wife.
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“Barry’s actually the fourth son. The original three sons were Stan. He was on the show for all 12 years of the series and he was the youngest then, he was Chip,” moderator Stu Shostak of Stu’s Show explained. “The middle son was Don Grady, who was Robbie; and the oldest son was Tim Considine [who was Mike]. I’m not trying to be morbid or anything, but these are the last of the regular cast members, the last surviving cast members. So we’re making TV history today. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
John later shared how Dawn’s TV mom Beverly Garland, who played Beverly Harper Douglas — the woman who finally married Steve Douglas (Fred MacMurray), actually attended their wedding.
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“We’ve been together almost 28 years and we’ve been married for about 19 years,” John says about his marriage to Dawn. “Her mom was unable to attend the wedding, so Beverly stepped in and acted like her mom for the wedding. We got married before Palm Sunday in 2006 and Beverly showed up and I introduced her to everybody and she brought along her husband at the time, a long time husband, she was just a very just wonderful woman.”
— Contributing reporting from Karen Ruud
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