Ellen Corby, 87, Grandmother In 'The Waltons' Series on TV (Published 1999) (2024)

FAQs

Who played grandma on The Waltons? ›

Ellen Corby died in 1999, but she is remembered as Grandma Walton on the hit television show, The Waltons. Her work on the show earned her three Emmy awards. Yet her career almost ended in 1976 after a stroke that left her with aphasia.

She left the show November 10, 1976, owing to a massive stroke she had suffered at home, which impaired her speech and severely limited her mobility and function. She returned to the series during the final episode of the 1977–78 season, with her character depicted as also recovering from a stroke.

Ellen Corby, who played the grandmother on the television series ''The Waltons,'' died on Wednesday at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, Calif. She was 87, a hospital spokesman said.

The Waltons - Season 6 Episode 26: Grandma Comes Home - Metacritic.

On April 14, 1999, Ellen died at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. She was 87 years old.

Ellen Corby played Grandma on The Waltons. Like many grandparents in real life, she and her on-screen husband were big parts of the family. So, when she fell ill on the show, it impacted everyone. In the episode, “The Long Night,” she was in the hospital after suffering a stroke.

In the final seasons of The Waltons, it's revealed that Curt is still alive and living off of Walton's Mountain, in a relationship with another woman, pretending not to know of Mary Ellen or John Curtis's existence.

The location of the Walton's house, barn and mill was filmed on the backlot at The Burbank studios. Visible from certain angles Walton's Mountain could be see through the trees. Drucilla's pond was part of the Jungle set.

Grandpa Zeb (Will Greer) has died and everyone is mourning.

She has seven living children: John Walton Jr., Jason Walton, Mary Ellen Walton, Erin Esther Walton, Benjamin Walton II, James Robert Walton, and Elizabeth Tyler Walton. An eighth child, Jim-Bob's twin brother Joseph Zebulon Walton, died at birth. Olivia also suffered a miscarriage in season two.

Who is the oldest Walton girl? ›

Mary Ellen, the oldest daughter is a strong-willed and hot-headed tom boy.

Kami Cotler (born June 17, 1965) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as young Elizabeth Walton, which she played in the series The Waltons, and the television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971) which inspired it, as well as a number of later Waltons reunion productions.

After the end of the sixth season, she agreed to appear for one more season on the condition that she would not have to work the full nine months. After the seventh season she left the show. Her character's abrupt disappearance was explained by Olivia developing tuberculosis and entering a sanatorium in Arizona.

April 14, 1999, Motion Picture & Television Fund, Los Angeles, CA

Ellen Corby / Died

The Revel

The Waltons / Final episode

Francis Corby

Ellen Corby / Spouse (m. 1934–1944)

The real life John-Boy, Earl Hamner Jr., who created 'The Waltons,' dies at age 92.

The final episode, titled “The Revel,” aired on June 4, 1981. In the episode, John-Boy goes to New York to pursue his writing career but arrives to find that his manuscript has been rejected. His publisher's secretary gives him enough money to return home and advises him to start a new book. He returned home dejected.

John Curtis Willard is the son of Mary Ellen and Curt Willard and the first Walton Grandchild. He appears in 52 episodes of the series. Michael and Marshall Reed are twins who played the role of John Curtis from Season 6 to 9. David Friedman played John Curtis in the first 3 movie specials.

Why did Grandpa leave The Waltons? ›

The character experienced a heart attack in the show after years of bad dieting and his wife worried about his heart health. It was meant to be a wake-up call for the character. But production faced the difficult decision of killing off Geer's Grandpa after the actor passed away off-screen.

The tot made an appearance in the 1982 spinoff film Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain. In the fourth TV film, A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion, Ginny did not appear at all. Instead, Ben and Cindy's characters made a brief mention that Ginny had died two years prior.

Then Curt was killed at Pearl Harbor in the 1978 season, and Mary Ellen found new love with Arlington Wescott “Jonesy” Jones (Richard Gililand) while taking premed courses. The romance was threatened when Curt was discovered not to have died after all, but the two decided their marriage had ended and divorced.

After Meeting Dr. Spencer, and quickly becoming Engaged to Marry, Mary Ellen started a job working for Dr. Curtis Willard, a new to town and Mysterious, sharply edged Doctor. Tom Bower (who played Curt), told us at last year's Waltons reunion in California, that he was "killed" off because he wanted more money.

The Hamner House (Earl's childhood home) was sold on January 12, 2023. It is now a private residence and no longer included in the tour of the B&B.

The show aired from 1971-1981 and won an Emmy in 1974. The original house that served as the backdrop to Hamner's childhood was built in the early 20th century in the village of Schuyler in Nelson County, where it still stands today.

It was Boatwright University, a real college known today as the University of Richmond. The "Walton House" was located in Warner Brothers studios in Burbank.

Corby, who played “Grandma Walton” on the CBS family drama, impressed her costars with her stamina and willingness to keep working. Corby suffered her stroke in November 1976, which was just a few seasons into “The Waltons” stay on CBS.

The three most prominent living members (Jim, Rob, and Alice Walton) have consistently been in the top twenty of the Forbes 400 list since 2001, as were John ( d. 2005) and Helen (d. 2007) prior to their deaths. Christy Walton took her husband John's place in the ranking after his death.

Episode Info

Mary Ellen diagnoses Grandma's abdominal pains as flu, but the elderly woman must be rushed to the hospital.

Who is the dad of the Walton twins? ›

The Carousel is Cindy Walton's personal quest to find who her real parents are after she finds out that she was adopted.

One fan asked about the age inconsistencies on “The Waltons.” “When we first did 'The Homecoming', the sequence was John-Boy was the oldest, then Jason, then Mary Ellen, I was the oldest daughter.

That was the question on the minds of many Euphoria fans who have Googled Javon "Wanna" Walton, the 15-year-old actor who played Fezco's little bro on the most recent second season of the HBO series, and discovered that the teen has a twin brother, Jaden Walton.

Meet Lukas Walton, the fiercely private heir to the Walmart empire who has donated millions from his fortune to find solutions to environmental problems. Lukas Walton is the grandson of Sam Walton, the American businessman who created the Walmart empire.

On the screen, the Waltons were obviously a large, tight family. That same spirit carried behind-the-scenes, as well. For the young stars who played the seven children of John and Olivia, their costars became like siblings.

In "A Day For Thanks on Walton's Mountain" in 1982, Ben and Cindy had two children, Virginia and Charlie.

She is the wife of John, daughter-in-law of Esther & Zebulon and the mother of John-Boy, Jason, Mary-Ellen, Ben, Erin Walton, Jim-Bob and Elizabeth. She lost a total of three babies: daughter Anne, Jim-Bob's twin brother Joseph, and an unborn baby who was posthumously named Joy.

This is the story of the Waltons. The show takes place during the Depression and then during World War II. John & Olivia had eight kids, three girls and five boys. One of the boys died at birth; he was a twin to Jim-Bob.

Learned has been married to John Doherty since 1988 and they still reside in California. And while she left “The Waltons” in 1979 before the series came to end in 1981, she still considers her beloved castmates as her “second family.” She is also aware of the lasting impact “The Waltons” has had over the years.

Who went blind in The Waltons? ›

Mary's meningoencephalitis likely caused optic neuritis, or inflammation of her optic nerves, which resulted in her vision loss.

On his way to the Walton's house he finds John Curtis on the side of the road and he returns him to a frightened Rose. After dinner Stanley asks Rose to marry him with the family present. The all jump up for joy and congratulate the couple. Stanley gives Rose the trophy they won at the Elk Spring Dance.

Forest Lawn, Los Angeles, CA

Ellen Corby / Place of burial

Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills is one of the six Forest Lawn cemeteries in Southern California. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, California 90068, in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Wikipedia

Walmart doubled its sales in 1995 three years after the death of founder Sam Walton. Company management had taken a risk in doing so, electing to borrow the funds needed to open more and more superstores.

However, there were two actors that decided to “adopt” each other into their own real-life families. Ellen Corby, who played Grandma Walton and Jon Walmsley who played Jason on the show, became very close while acting together.

The Waltons ran on CBS from 1972 to 1981. The cast was four years into filming when Corby suffered a stroke that impaired her movement and speech. She took off from the show for over a season for medical reasons and returned in the 1977-1978 season, bringing her stroke into the storyline.

Recap. John Boy and Daisy get together one evening after her performing at the theatre, and John Boy asks Daisy then to marry him. Although hesitant at first, she accepts.

Fans of The Waltons likely noticed that John-Boy, played by Richard Thomas, was using a cane during the show's fifth season. The use of the cane was an effort by the actor to hide an injury he suffered in an accident that could have cost him his life.

John Curtis Willard is the son of Mary Ellen and Curt Willard and the first Walton Grandchild. Mary Ellen marries Dr. Curtis Willard and they have 1 child, John Curtis, before he is lost and presumed dead after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Mamie and Emily Baldwin created many great moments on The Waltons. They brought a quirky yet refined charm to the show.

Was The Waltons filmed in a real house? ›

The Walton's made use of many period appropriate buildings, sets and locations. Being a domestic, family based drama much of the action was staged in and around the Walton family home. While the interiors were filmed on Stage 26 of the former Burbank studios, the house exterior was filmed on the jungle set.

Virginia Walton was only ever depicted on screen as a baby (in the show's final two seasons) and a toddler in the 1982 reunion special Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain. However, fans came to know that she had died at the age of 17, int he fourth TV film, A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion.

Mary Ellen marries Dr. Curtis Willard and they have 1 child, John Curtis, before he is lost and presumed dead after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Eventually she remarries Arlington Westcott Jones "Jonesy" and together they have 2 children, Clay and Katie.

They find Jim-Bob's birth record but they also discover that Jim-Bob had a twin, Joseph Zebulon Walton who died at birth. Esther learns from Ike and Flossie Brimmer that Jim-Bob is asking questions concerning he birth.

Olivia Daly Walton. Olivia, also known as Liv, Livie, or Mama, (pilot, Patricia Neal; series, Michael Learned) is John Walton's soft-spoken, patient, loving wife, who complements his tough-skinned, opinionated nature.

Although Becker appeared in eight episodes of The Waltons and came back for the reunion movies, Drew and Elizabeth never tied the knot on the series.

Although three of the older family members — Grandma Walton (Ellen Corby), Grandpa Walton (Will Geer) and dad John (Ralph Waite) — have passed away in real life, the seven Walton children are alive and well, and even grandparents themselves!