It is hard to believe that almost five decades have passed since The Waltons first premiered, but it has, in fact, been that long. The popular show was an American drama television series that revolved around a family who resided in a rural Virginia town near the Blue Ridge Mountains, as they navigated their way through the difficult times of financial depression and World War II. Created by Earl Hamner, Jr., The Waltons was based upon a book and movie both titled Spencer’s Mountain, and it garnered a huge fan base throughout its nine-season run.
The show starred actors including Eric Scott, Mary Beth McDonough, Philip Leaco*ck, and more, and having spent so much time together over the years, it is likely that they all had a great relationship. In fact, we do know that there were pranks that went on behind the scenes, and looking back, it would seem that everyone always had a good laugh. Let’s talk about The Waltons, and how two lead actors were always mooning their co-stars.
Just about everyone has at least heard of The Waltons, but in case there is anyone who is not familiar with the premise of the show, we will do a quick recap. The show was narrated by its creator, and according to Hallmark Drama, it was a family-friendly show that families looked forward to and enjoyed. Each episode told the stories of the Walton family, led by parents John and Olivia, and their children: John-Boy, Jason, Mary Ellen, Elizabeth, Jim-Bob, Erin, Ben, and Joseph (who sadly died when he was born). During its run, The Waltons won two Golden Globe Awards, plus an Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, and the actors won several awards as well. Although the show was fictional, it was loosely based on the life of Hamner, Jr., and his small-town adventures during uncertain times.
Fans of the Waltons will certainly remember some of the show’s main characters, including those played by Michael Learned, Ralph Waite, and Will Geer. The three of them played Olivia, John, and Grandpa Zebulon (Zeb), respectively, and they never failed to disappoint with their performances. According to Hollywood Reporter, Learned was credited in the show as “Miss Michael Learned” to avoid gender confusion, and her role as Olivia led to other notable roles, both onstage and in productions.
It was from his role in The Waltons that Waite rose to fame, and he loved acting so much that he continued on for decades. The actor made appearances in some modern shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and NCIS before passing away in 2014. Geer was a beloved actor, having taken over the role of the Walton family patriarch from Edgar Bergen, and played the character until his death after the completion of season 6.
2 lead actors were always mooning their co-stars
The Waltons may have been a classic family drama, but that doesn’t mean that the cast didn’t enjoy some fun when the cameras weren’t rolling. So, what did they do? MeTV reports that Waite and Geer used to moon their co-star, Learned, each and every time the chance presented itself, and they had a great time while doing it. Learned looks back on what happened, and says that her two co-stars “insisted on mooning [the cast] any chance they got.” She continued on by saying, “I saw more of their rear-ends than I ever wanted to see.” Looks like the actors insisted on entertaining each other behind the scenes and that the other co-stars look upon the memory fondly.
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.
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 announcement shocked fans, but the network's decision came after The Waltons had spent years on a gradual descent from the top of the TV ratings. The show had dipped from No. 2 in its second season, down to the nation's No. 42 show by its ninth.
Thomas left the series and his role was taken over by Robert Wightman, but Thomas returned to the role in three Waltons TV movies in the 1990s. (The first was A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion in 1993.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
By law 25% of the money went into a protected trust, accessible at 18. We each had agents, so they received 10% and taxes were withheld. The SAG contract included residuals, though things like cable, streaming and video tapes didn't exist then.
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.
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.
But, unlike some of her co-stars, Cotler did not continue acting outside of her work with the series. Instead, the now-56-year-old became an educator and has worked as both a teacher and a principal.
With Richard Thomas exiting the show, its powers that be decided not to write the character out of the series – as often happens when an actor wants to leave. Instead, show runners decided to recast the role of John-Boy Walton and carry on as if nothing had happened.
Instead, Thomas broke his ankle in two places and the movie filming was delayed by more than a year. Eventually, September 30, 1955 premiered in 1977, but between his motorcycle accident and that premiere date, Thomas bore the pain and continued appearing on The Waltons.
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.
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.
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.
Winston effectively retired as an actress in 1993, partly because of a broken elbow which incapacitated her for a year but mainly because she started a family and wished to devote her time to raising her two daughters. Her husband is Bob Yannetti, an assistant TV director.
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.
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.
'The Waltons': Tom Bower Says Curt Was Killed Off After He Asked For a Raise. One of the more iconic love stories on The Waltons was the love and eventual marriage between Judy Norton and Tom Bower's characters on the program.
Sadly she died a few days after giving birth to their daughter Ashley in 1992 after she developed leukemia during the pregnancy. Eric and his third wife Cindy. They married in 2001 and have 2 children together. ... Ben Walton.
However, after the Season 8 episode "The Waiting," the character wasn't seen again for the rest of the series. The show indicates that she's being treated for tuberculosis in Arizona, but Learned didn't return to Walton's Mountain until the reunion films. So why exactly did Olivia disappear from "The Waltons?"
According to Fame 10, Patricia Neal first was given the role of Olivia Walton on “The Waltons.” At the time, Patricia Neal had been dealing with serious health issues and was replaced by Michael Learned. Producers were unsure if she'd be able to take on the long-term role. Ralph Waite played John Walton Sr.
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.
The Walmart heirs' combined worth is more than $155 billion, according to Forbes. The family grants money and resources to support education, environmental efforts, and their home community through the Walton Family Foundation.
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.
In 1972, Earl Hamner chose the house structure which closely resembled his childhood home in Schuyler, Virginia to become the the family home for The Waltons.
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.
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.
On their honeymoon, Mary Ellen is in a car accident, where she undergoes serious internal injuries and is told she will never be able to have children. Two movies later, in "A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion," Mary Ellen is the mother of two young children.
Virginia is 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), but her eventual death at the age of 17 is mentioned in the fourth TV film, A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion.
Learned told the Daily Mail they decided not to pursue the romance as it could ruin the hit series and “get messy.” Instead, Learned insisted they cherished a close friendship that lasted until Waite's death in 2014 at age 85.
This first Walton child is known throughout the series as "John-Boy," is born in 1916, is the eldest son and child of Olivia Walton (née Daly) and John Walton Sr.
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!
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.
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.
“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.
In March of 1977, Thomas left the series and his role was taken over by Robert Wightman. However, Thomas returned to the role in three Waltons TV movies in the 1990s, including A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion in 1993. Thomas won an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series in 1973.
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.
Fans who tuned into The Waltons during season 5 noticed something different. John Boy was using a cane to help him walk around. In the show, John Boy hurt himself after he wrecked a friend's motorcycle. That didn't happen, but those injuries were very real.
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.
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 .
“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.
If you were watching The Waltons when it originally aired back in the '70s, you probably remember hearing the news that Will Geer — the man who played Grandpa Zebulon Walton — had died. Will passed away from respiratory failure on April 22, 1978, shortly after filming Season 6 of The Waltons.
Setting. The main story is set in Walton's Mountain, a fictional mountain community in the fictitious Jefferson County, Virginia. The real place upon which the stories are based is the community of Schuyler in Nelson County, Virginia.
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.
Ritter, who played Reverend Fordwick, left the show after the 1975-76 season. “The Waltons” had it put in the script that he joined the Army during World War II. He did right after Japanese airplanes attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
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