One of the iconic episodes of The Waltonssees the family’s house burn down. Everyone in the family survives, and it was a responsible stunt sequence on the Warner Brothers lot. However, some of the cast members didn’t escape that episode of the classic TV show without a few close encounters with the blaze.
The Waltons stars Michael Learned, Richard Thomas, Eric Scott, Judy Norton and Kami Cotler reunited on Jan. 7 for Stars in the House to raise money for The Actors Fund. They discussed the fire episode, and all the battle scars they endured for it.
Eric Scott called ‘The Waltons’ fire ‘a free for all’
Scott was a kid on The Waltons. The setup for the fake TV fire intrigued him initially.
“They brought in pipes that had flames that would come out, almost like a fireplace,” Scott said. “They put them around all the frames of the doors. I remember they had to take our nightshirts and get fire retardant.”
They must not have used enough safety fluid on Learned’s costume.
Scott said there was only so much the fire department could control the fire.
“We had no safety,” Scott said. “The fire department told us stay here, don’t do this, don’t do that but you know what, it was a free for all.”
‘The Waltons’ cast suffered for their art
Cotler remembered watching her Waltons sisters try to escape the fire.
“When the fire scene was filmed from the girl’s bedroom, Elizabeth doesn’t get out of bed if I remember this correctly,” Cotler said. “So I was sitting in the bed and I watched Mary and Judy get up and run out. They were told there’ll be fire along this wall so hug that wall. My memory is that you went out the door and there was fire on both sides. I remember your backs arching as you felt the heat coming from the other wall.”
Cotler also remembered the entire Waltons cast experiencing after effects of the fire.
“Didn’t everybody have headaches and coughs afterwards because we inhaled a lot of smoke,” Cotler asked?
Her co-stars confirmed. Meanwhile, the Waltons fire became a major spectacle on the studio lot.
“I remember there being all these visitors because people around the lot knew we were going to be filming this exterior fire sequence that evening,” Norton said. “Behind almost like a roped off area, there were like dozens of people, visitors standing, watching this happen. It was like where did all these people come from? We’re on a lot.”
Kami Cotler and Richard Thomas felt the psychological impact
Cotler was the youngest actor in the scene. She recalled losing herself in the moment.
“It’s the only time I ever cried for real on screen,” Cotler said. “It was that moment where Ralph [Waite] comes out of the house carrying Mary, Erin, in his arms. Just for that long it was real, just for a beat and I began to honestly completely weep.”
Thomas agreed there was little acting when they watched the Waltons house burn.
“I remember standing there in the driveway, all of us watching our home go up in flames,” Thomas said. “There was no imaginative leap at all. It was absolutely immediate. There was no gap between what I was looking at and my feelings for the home and for everybody. It was very strong, very, very strong.”
The New York Daily News reported John Orr as the arsonist. Prior to anyone knowing of his crimes, Orr was the chief arson investigator for the Glendale Fire Department. It was estimated that he started around 2,000 fires, which resulted in the deaths of four people.
Studios that destroyed the farmhouse used in the TV series The Waltons was set by an arsonist, according to Burbank, Calif., fire officials. Burn patterns indicated that a flammable substance was splashed around a chicken coop on the set and inside the house, an arson investigator said Wednesday.
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.
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.
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 .
Episode 146 The Ordeal (1) Ben and Jim-Bob feel guilty after Elizabeth breaks her legs in a fall from a log pile they stacked improperly. Once out of hospital, the Waltons adjust to Elizabeth's injuries and devise ways to help her learn to walk again.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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!
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.
Breckenridge. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Almost all of Erin's romances are ill-fated: the object of her affections either dies or proves to have poor character. Eventually she meets and marries Paul Northridge; they have three children: Susan, Amanda, and Peter.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The new owners, Carole Johnson of Ukiah, California, Ray Castro of New Jersey, and Kirstin DeMaio of Michigan, plan to open it up for tours. The Waltons Hamner House opens Friday and tickets will be available at the Walton Mountain Museum across the street.
Open weekends in April thru December: Saturdays 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM and Sundays 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Group tours other times: Call 434-263-8400 www.oakland-museum.org.
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.
The inn features five bedrooms and five bathrooms. There is the grandparents' room, the parents' room, the writer's room (meaning John Boy's), the boys' room and the girls' room.
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.
“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.
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.
In the foothills of the lovely old Blue Ridge Mountains… … Lies the small town of Schulyer, Virginia, home of the Hamner family – the real-life family on which the Waltons were based. The mountain town of Schuyler is home to about 400 residents, and there the two-story Hamner family home still stands.
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.
The New York Daily News reported John Orr as the arsonist. Prior to anyone knowing of his crimes, Orr was the chief arson investigator for the Glendale Fire Department. It was estimated that he started around 2,000 fires, which resulted in the deaths of four people.
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.
The house will have a similar porch and first floor as the home portrayed in the popular '70s TV show, said Ray Castro, who co-owns the Waltons Hamner House with Carole Johnson, both long-time fans of the show.
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.
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.
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 Waltons Hamner House is open seven days a week and guided tours begin every half hour from 10am until 4pm.
Episode 146 The Ordeal (1) Ben and Jim-Bob feel guilty after Elizabeth breaks her legs in a fall from a log pile they stacked improperly. Once out of hospital, the Waltons adjust to Elizabeth's injuries and devise ways to help her learn to walk again.
Come, visit the 'real' home of it's creator, author Earl Hamner Jr., the 'real' John-Boy Walton. 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.
Consequently, it should come as no surprise that the Walton's Mountain Museum is located right here in Schuyler, VA. In fact, the museum is housed in Earl Hamner, Jr.'s old high school! Visiting the Walton's Mountain Museum is a special experience that blends both history and nostalgia with just a touch of Hollywood.
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 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 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!
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.
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.
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