The Waltons After 'The Waltons': Catching Up With the Cast (2024)

FAQs

Did the cast of Waltons get along? ›

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 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.

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.

Michael Learned didn't like TV acting

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.

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. “And we loved each other as much as anybody could love anybody.

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.

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.

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.

Kathy tells Jim-Bob that she is expecting their baby. He doesn't take the news well and she attempts to return to Norfolk. Jim-Bob goes after her and brings her back with news that they are getting married.

Who did John-Boy Walton marry? ›

He meets Janet Gilchrist who is an editor for Harper's magazine. The two are married on Walton's Mountain.

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 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.

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.

"I hope that you'll remember this house as I do," Earl Hamner narrates in the closing moments of the final episode of The Waltons.

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.

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.

She told Fox News at one point the actors who played Ma and Pa Walton actually developed strong romantic feelings for one another. "We had a deep love for each other that we would have ruined if we had taken that extra step, and we didn't," Learned said. "We never did.

Grandma Walton was part of a close-knit Virginia family in the drama from writer Earl Hamner Jr. A stroke in 1977 forced Ms. Corby to curtail her work on the series. She was seen only occasionally and made her last appearance in 1979, although she was part of the 1997 special ''A Waltons Easter.

April 14, 1999

Ellen Corby / Date of death

What was the episode with grandpa died on The Waltons? ›

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.

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.

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.

Outside of acting, Thomas is a happily married family man in his hometown of New York. He has a son, Montana, with his wife Georgiana Bischoff and four children from his first marriage to Alma Gonzales -- Richard Francisco, Pilar, Barbara, and Gwyneth.

Walton married Helen Robson on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1943. They had four children: Samuel Robson (Rob) born in 1944, John Thomas (1946–2005), James Carr (Jim) born in 1948, and Alice Louise born in 1949. Walton supported various charitable causes.

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.

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 cast may be new, but the story remains the same. In fact, one very familiar face was invited back to Waltons Mountain to narrate it. Hamner Jr. passed in 2016, after leaving an indelible impression in pop culture, so producers had to find a replacement.

Wightman replaced Richard Thomas in the role of John-Boy Walton in the TV series The Waltons.

I just couldn't do it anymore…,” Learned added. “And also, I felt a lot of the times I was sitting around for 14 hours saying, 'More coffee John. ' The fact is, I was bored. And I thought I had enough money, which wasn't true.”

How many children did Olivia and John Walton have? ›

John and Olivia Walton are the proud parents of three girls and five boys: John-Boy, Jason, Mary Ellen, Erin, Ben, twins Jim-Bob & Joseph, and Elizabeth; Joseph died at birth. Grandma and Grandpa Walton (Esther and Zeb) are John's parents are also an integral part of the family.

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. She talks to John and tells him it is time for him to tell him about the circ*mstances.

Later while the family relaxes in the living room Olivia senses that something is wrong. She loses the baby and John explains to the children that maybe that is nature's way of saying that maybe the conditions weren't right for a healthy baby and that the birth wasn't meant to be.

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 .

For the young stars who played the seven children of John and Olivia, their costars became like siblings. After all, they grew up and worked together for nearly a decade.

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.

Matthew Fordwick made quite the impression when he first arrived as the new minister on Walton's Mountain in "The Sinner" (s1-ep7) but he quickly became a trusted member of the community and eventually married the local school teacher Rosemary Hunter. He appears in 19 episodes from Season 1 to 5.

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.

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.

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.

Why did Leslie Winston leave The Waltons? ›

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.

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.

87 years (1911–1999)

Ellen Corby / Age at death

The erstwhile Ben Walton went into business. He helped run a company called Chase Messenger which offered messenger service to "all of Southern California."

Kathy tells Jim-Bob that she is expecting their baby. He doesn't take the news well and she attempts to return to Norfolk. Jim-Bob goes after her and brings her back with news that they are getting married.

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.

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.