The Real Reason Michael Learned Left The Waltons - Looper (2024)

FAQs

Why did Michael learn it leave The Waltons? ›

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.

Learned reportedly decided to quit thinking she had enough money to sustain herself and her children but it proved otherwise in the future as she herself confessed. Michael Learned's exit from The Waltons was announced through tuberculosis of her character, Olivia Walton and her subsequent stay at the sanatorium.

Rose Burton is a recurring character in The Waltons. She first appears in Season 8 as a cousin of Olivia. She has two grandchildren, Jeffrey and Serena, and all three of them move into the household to help when Olivia becomes ill.

Olivia is leaving Walton's Mountain, hustled off with tuberculosis to an Arizona sanatorium while her family somehow forges a path between unbearable grief and unbearable stoicism.

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.

The series was based upon the book "Spencer's Mountain" by Earl Hamner Jr., who also narrated each show. While the television series took place on a fictional "Walton's Mountain," in Virginia, and the book on "Spencer's Mountain" in Wyoming, both are actually based on Hamner's hometown of Schuyler, VA.

The love stories carried over behind the scenes. Ma and Pa Walton — Ralph Waite and Michael Learned — quietly fell on love on set. And remember Jason and Toni, who we just mentioned in the prior paragraph? Well, actors Jon Walmsley and Lisa Harrison tied the knot in real life in 1979!

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.

Elizabeth breaks both legs in a fall from a log pile. When she comes home from the hospital, the family must adjust to her injuries and devise ways to help her walk again, something the Doctors aren't sure she'll be able to do.

Why did Ralph Waite leave The Waltons in season 9? ›

Ralph Waite was fired from his role due to budgetary issues. The show had become more expensive as Waite aged, and at the same time the ratings started to decline.

He fractured his ankle filming a motorcycle scene for September 30, 1955 (1977).

14 April 1999

Ellen Corby / Date of death

Ellen Corby (Grandma) 1999 age 87 natural causes in Woodland Hills, CA. Dorothy Stickney (Miss Emily) 1998 age 101 at her home in NYC. Cleavon Little (Hawthorne Dooley) 1992 age 53 of colon cancer in Sherman Oaks, CA. Woodrow Parfrey (Ike Godsey) 1984 at age 61 of a heart attack in LA.

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.

Even though John-Curtis was a well-known character in “The Waltons,” he did not appear in the special reunion productions. According to Judy Norton, her television son's absence from the show's reunion movies had to do with finances and not storylines.

He then finds a career in television where he serves as a news anchor. He meets Janet Gilchrist who is an editor for Harper's magazine. The two are married on Walton's Mountain.

In addition to the Walton characters, other roles, such as the “recipe-making” Baldwin sisters and General Store owner, Ike Godsey were also inspired by real people.

All of the Waltons were based on real people — Hamner's family, his grandfather and grandmother, his father and mother, and his brothers and sisters, of whom there were seven in the show but eight in real life.

Where was The Waltons actually filmed? ›

“Many of the places mentioned on the series actually do exist in Schuyler.” While filmed on location in California, the fictional Walton family would have been at home in the tiny town of about 300 residents 40 minutes southwest of Charlottesville, Va., in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

He marries the schoolteacher, Rosemary Hunter, in season four.

Grandpa Zeb (Will Greer) has died and everyone is mourning. Neighbor Flossie Brimmer has also died. Mary Ellen and Erin move to Charlottesville into an apartment to be on their own.

In The Waltons episode "The Revelation," John-Boy proposes to his girlfriend Daisy, and when she said yes, it was a real moment on the show. But by the episode's end, Daisy has called off the wedding, and the next time we see her, Daisy is just an old flame to John-Boy, never to be rekindled.

The sixth and last movie is "A Walton Easter". The plot this time is centered around John-Boy's wife, Janet, who is expecting to give birth--to (surprise!) twins. (airdate: March 31, 1997).

The CW announced a new movie, “The Waltons' Thanksgiving,” which will debut in the fourth quarter of 2022. A follow-up to 2021's “The Waltons' Homecoming,” the special will feature Bellamy Young, Logan Shroyer and Richard Thomas reprising their roles with Teddy Sears newly joining the cast.

Initially, the mother of seven moves to Washington D.C. to be with her eldest son John-Boy, who's injured while reporting on the war in Europe. But later in the series, it's revealed that Olivia is being treated for tuberculosis at a sanatorium in Arizona.

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.

Rose Burton is John's cousin and she comes to stay with the Walton's in "The Kinfolk" (s8-ep3).

Episode 208 The Whirlwind After accepting a proposal of marriage from Jonesy, Mary Ellen learns that Curt might well be alive.

Did the Hamner family really own a mountain? ›

People have been asking for more than four decades if "the family is real" and "is there a 'real' Walton's Mountain?" The answer is yes. Though the names might be different Earl Hamner based the show on his memories of growing up in rural Virginia with his family during the depression.

In The Waltons "An Easter Story" written by John McGreevey, Olivia Walton becomes ill after church and it was determined that she had polio.

Learned previously admitted that their on-screen chemistry was the real deal. In 2019, it was reported that Learned and Waite “were in love” off-screen. However, the pair did not pursue a romance. “I loved him very much,” she explained.

Harper, who first found fame as Jim Bob Walton, now works as an art dealer in Los Angeles. He was cast as a child actor but have up acting after his success in the Waltons, and subsequent jobs have included driving for co-star Eric Scott's transport company.

Todd Bridges played a similar role in the The Wisdom of Solomon (1977) that aired earlier in 1977. This episode was another commentary on race relations of the time. Bridges played the son of poor, black Mississippi sharecroppers. He wants to go to school and get an education, but his parents are against it.

Richard Earl Thomas (born June 13, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for his leading role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama series The Waltons for which he won an Emmy Award. He also received another Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe Award nominations, for that role.

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.

When Corby had a stroke in 1976, she missed a season and a half of the TV show. The show depicted Grandma having aphasia due to the stroke which limited her communication. Corby also had to prove to CBS that she could continue to work, which she did. Corby died in 1999 but her costars still remember her to this day.

Her character's abrupt disappearance was explained by Olivia developing tuberculosis and entering a sanatorium in Arizona. She made occasional guest appearances until the show's cancelation and later appeared in four of the six Waltons reunion movies made during the 1980s and 1990s.

In "A Day For Thanks on Walton's Mountain" in 1982, Ben and Cindy had two children, Virginia and Charlie. Cindy was pregnant with Charlie in "A Wedding on Walton's Mountain". In "Reunion" they were still mourning the death of Virginia...with no mention of Charlie at all!

Did Jim Bob Walton become a pilot? ›

The character Jim Bob had one ambition: to learn to fly an airplane. While he was medically unfit for the Air Corps, in the final movies he had indeed become a pilot, flying crop dusting and charter flights. The only sibling on the series who had his own room in the house was John-Boy.

John Walton, co-host of the radio show Walton & Johnson, has died. Steve Johnson, his co-host, confirmed Walton's death in a blog post Tuesday morning. "His medical issues were too numerous to overcome," Johnson wrote. "He had been receiving treatment over the last month but continued to suffer.

Wal-Mart heir and philanthropist John T. Walton died Monday in Wyoming, when the experimental, ultra-light aircraft he was piloting crashed, the Associated Press reports.

During the end voice over , John boy states that Erin's marriage is as strong today as it was when they got married , but in A Walton Thanksgiving reunion , she is divorced and states that it was because she found out Paul was cheating on her .

Learned previously admitted that their on-screen chemistry was the real deal. In 2019, it was reported that Learned and Waite “were in love” off-screen. However, the pair did not pursue a romance. “I loved him very much,” she explained.

Famously, the cast members of “The Waltons” really got along with one another. And, they even became like a family to one another. As part of this shared respect and love, the actors have said they did not feel the need to compete with one another while appearing on the beloved show.

But later in the series, it's revealed that Olivia is being treated for tuberculosis at a sanatorium in Arizona. Michael went on to co-star in four of the six reunion movies — confirming that Olivia does survive her illness — but the Emmy winner was MIA for all of Season 9.

Michael Learned starred on the beloved '70s TV series The Waltons, a historical family drama that lasted nine seasons roughly spanning the decade.

Typically an Orange Squeeze is made with rum, ice, and fresh squeezed oranges in a blender. First acknowledgement of Grandma's "illness," which was introduced into the storyline after Ellen Corby suffered a major stroke in November 1976.

She met and married her first husband, actor Peter Donat, at the age of 17. She appeared in Shakespeare Festivals in Canada and the U.S., while raising her family. At the time she was cast as Olivia for the new TV series, The Waltons, she was mostly unknown by U.S. audiences.

How do The Waltons end? ›

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.

Even though John-Curtis was a well-known character in “The Waltons,” he did not appear in the special reunion productions. According to Judy Norton, her television son's absence from the show's reunion movies had to do with finances and not storylines.

Popularly known as The Waltons House, the Hamner House is the childhood home of Earl Hamner, Jr., novelist and creator of the TV series, The Waltons and was listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2004. The Walton Hamner House is open seven days a week and guided tours begin every half hour from 10am until 4pm.

Michael Learned didn't like TV acting

However, after the Season 8 episode "The Waiting," the character wasn't seen again for the rest of the series.