Why Did Ralph Waite Leave 'The Waltons'? (2024)

FAQs

Did Ralph Waite and Michael Learned get along? ›

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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 .

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.

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.

Why couldnt Olivia walk on The Waltons? ›

When Olivia is stricken with polio, John-Boy refuses to accept the doctor's prognosis that she may never walk again.

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.

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.

As she explained to Fox News in 2017, Michael left The Waltons in 1979 because the show had changed and she had grown bored. “There's been times when I've regretted it only in that it probably would have been better to complete the whole show,” she revealed at the time.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

Did John-Boy Walton marry Daisy? ›

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.

14 April 1999

Ellen Corby / Date of death

The actors playing Ben and Cindy Walton both happily married but still became inseparable. One of the earliest appearances of Cindy Brunson Walton comes in one of the most emotional episodes of The Waltons, an episode called "Founders' Day."

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You can purchase tickets for tours of the home at the Walton's Mountain Museum in Schuyler. Three longtime fans of the popular TV show "The Waltons" have purchased the Virginia childhood home of the show's creator in an effort to keep it open to the public.

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.

Was Ike Godsey a real person? ›

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.

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

The Revel

The Waltons / Final episode

In The Waltons fifth season episode "The First Edition," John-Boy walks with a cane, and what many fans may not realize is that the actor Richard Thomas was acting through a real injury while filming.

Two years later, Mary Jackson died shortly after her 95^th birthday in December of 2005.

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.

Earl Hamner Jr., creator of the hit CBS-TV series The Waltons, attended Richmond College during Boatwright's tenure, and named the fictional Boatwright University where the character of John-Boy Walton attended college after him.

“We've also had to make some modern conveniences — the Waltons only had one bathroom,” Johnson said, noting each room in the bed-and-breakfast will have a bathroom. In the Depression-era, wood was the exterior of the Hamner house and the home depicted on “The Waltons.”

Ike Godsey's General Store - 6597 Rockfish River Rd - Schuyler, VA - GasBuddy.com.

Although a stroke in 1976 slowed her down, Ellen still made appearances on the series. Her last TV appearance was in 1997 in the TV movie A Walton Easter (1997). On April 14, 1999, Ellen died at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. She was 87 years old.

How old was Grandma Walton when she died? ›

87 years (1911–1999)

Ellen Corby / Age at death

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.

Rea died in Toluca Lake, California, aged 89, from complications of heart failure on February 5, 2011.

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.

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.

As she explained to Fox News in 2017, Michael left The Waltons in 1979 because the show had changed and she had grown bored. “There's been times when I've regretted it only in that it probably would have been better to complete the whole show,” she revealed at the time.

He talked about his decision to leave during an interview with Studio 10. According to the news agency, Thomas had won an Emmy Award for his work on “The Waltons.” However, “in 1977 he decided to quit the series to pursue other opportunities.”

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.

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.

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

Why did Mary Ellen's husband leave The Waltons? ›

Mary Ellen's husband, Dr. Curtis Williard, was written out of the show by having him killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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.