Cast of the Waltons Where Are They Now

Whatever Happened To The Swan Of The Waltons?

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2021 Marks the 50th anniversary of "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story," which introduced television audiences to the Waltons, a heavy family extant in Virginia's Blue Ridgepole mountains during the Depression. The TV moving picture, which earned iii Emmy nominations (winning uncomparable), led to the Emmy-winning "Waltons" series, which ran from 1972 to 1981, and vi reunion TV-movie between 1982 and 1997. Many of the actors who appeared as members of the Walton folk in the TV motion picture reprised their roles in the series, including Richard Thomas (who played John-Boy Ernest Walton) and Judy Norton Taylor (who played his sis, Mary Ellen). However, Patricia Neal (Olivia Walton) and Andrew Duggan (World Health Organization co-starred as her husband, John Sr., in the telefilm) were replaced by actress Michael Learned and Ralph Waite, severally, for the serial publication.

As the CW prepares a new version of "Return" to celebrate the TV moving-picture show's semi-centennial, with a new cast tackling the iconic characters, now is a good time to look back and discover what happened to the original Waltons during and after their TV stardom.

Ralph Waite followed The Waltons with directing and government

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Actor Ralph Waite, World Health Organization played John Sir William Turner Walton, Sr. on "The Waltons," had a long life history in features, A swell as on television and the leg, prior to connection the cast of the CBS dramatic event. He made his Broadway debut in the 1960 production of "Marathon '33," and his feature film debut in "Cold Hand Luke" (opposite future "Waltons" Guest star Morgan Woodward) in 1967. Morrison R. Waite added Thomas More film roles in the 1970s, including the 1971 Jack Nicholson drama "Five Promiscuous Pieces," the coarse-grained "Trouble Man," and two features opposite Charles Bronson — "Chato's Land" and "The Stone Killer" — before joining "The Waltons."

Morrison Waite attained an Emmy nominating address for "The Waltons" and a secondly for "Roots" in 1977; he also directed many episodes of the series, which helped to pave the way for his boast directorial debut with the 1980 feature "On the Nickel." Like many of his "Waltons" co-stars, Waite worked extensively on television after the series' conclusion, including multiple "Waltons" reunification movies and recurring roles on "Carnivale," "NCIS" (as Gibbs' father), and Bones (American Samoa Booth's grandfather). Subsequent feature appearances included "The Bodyguard" and "Cliffhanger"; he also ran unsuccessfully for the California seat of the U.S. Menage of Representatives on three occasions between 1990 and 1998. Waite died at the age of 85 on February 13, 2014.

Richard Thomas enjoyed lasting fame after The Waltons

CBS

The eldest son of the Walton tribe, Whoremaster Sir William Turner Walton Jr., or "John-Boy," was a fictionalized version of series creator Earl Hamner, Jr,., World Health Organization too served as the voice of the older John-Boy in the opening and closing narration for each episode. Richard Thomas played Privy-Boy in Seasons 1 through 6 of the series and triplet TV film reunions of "The Waltons"; helium was replaced in the office for Seasons 8 and 9 past worker Robert Wightman. After earning an Emmy Awarding and Prosperous Globe nomination for his execution on the serial, Thomas worked steadily on telly, including the TV movies and miniseries "The Carmine Badge of Courage," "Roots: The Next Generation," and the 1990 version of "It."

Atomic number 2 also appeared in numerous stage productions, including runs on Broadway in "5th of July," Mamet's "Race," and a 2017 yield of "The Little Foxes," which attained him a Tony nomination. In recent years, Saint Thomas has remained busy with revenant roles on "The Americans," "Billions," and "NCIS: New Siege of Orleans." He returned to features after a long absence in the 2021 Netflix drama "The Unforgivable," with Sandra Steer.

Michael Learned earned ternary Emmys as Olivia Walton

CBS

Every bit Olivia Daly Walton, Michael Learned oversaw her straggling extended family for six seasons, during which she netted half dozen Emmy nominations (winning 3), and four Golden Globe Awards. Learned's Olivia was patient and gentle where her husband John could be tough, but she was besides firm with her seven children and, when necessary, her neighbors on Sir William Walton's Heaps.

Michael Learned, who began her calling on stage and television, near "The Waltons" at the death of the seventh flavor — her character's petit mal epilepsy was attributed to health concerns — though she reprised Olivia for several "Waltons" reunion TV movies. In 1981, Learned marked in her own series, the CBS medical drama "Nurse," which earned her an extra three Emmy nominations and one award.

When the show ran its line after 25 episodes, Enlightened appeared in features like "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Write up" and in recurring roles on "Scrubs" and several daytime soaps, including "General Hospital." In 2021, she joined the cast of Ryan Potato's "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Write up" as Catherine Dahmer, the notorious serial murderer's grandma.

Will Geer was an activist before he was a Television star

CBS

Veteran worker and activist Will Geer played the Walton family paterfamilias, Zebulon Tyler Walton (a.k.a. "Pa" or "Grandpa"), from Seasons 1 through 6. The character, played by actor/ventriloquist Edgar Bergen in the pilot Goggle bo motion-picture show, was a fount of tall tales and homespun wiseness, corresponding all moral grandparents. Geer's death betwixt Flavour 6 and 7 also brought an end to the character, who died while attached in one of his favorite pursuits: planting seedlings, a trait atomic number 2 shared with Geer in real-life.

Will Geer attached to become a botanist, but began temporary along stage in the early 1930s. A consecrate active, Geer toured the Amalgamated States with folk singers Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives, even recording an album with Guthrie in 1956. His membership in the Communist Party, and refusal to testify before the Star sign Commission on Un-North American country Activities, LED to Geer's blacklisting in the 1950s and a forced halt to his acting life history; in response, he assembled the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, which produced plays and performers for fellow blacklisters.

Geer's career rebounded in the 1960s with a Tony nominating speech for the 1963 musical "110 in the Tone." Film roles preceded his star-devising turn of events as Zebulon Walton; he worked steadily happening the program, as well as other series and in features, until his death at the old age of 76 on April 22, 1978.

Ellen Corby was an Oscar nominee and script assistant

CBS

Ellen Corby, WHO played Grandma Esther William Walton, was the only adult actor to appear in both "The Homecoming" and the "Waltons" serial publication. Her combination of feistiness, warmth, and familial business on the serial publication earned her terzetto Emmys and a Golden Ball, capping a long, diverse career in front of and behind the cameras in Movie industry.

Corby began acting in the late 1920s, though mostly in bit and uncredited roles; she likewise worked as a script low-level during this period, until a supporting get in the nostalgic "I Retrieve Mom" earned her an Oscar nomination in 1948. Corby worked steadily in features and television throughout the 1950s and 1960s, veiling appearances in Alfred Joseph Hitchcoc's "Vertigo" and on dozens of series, including "The Andy Griffith Show" (arsenic hubcab thief Mrs. Lesh), "I Love Lucy," "The Addams Family" (A Pitching's mother) and even "Batman."

Corby departed "The Waltons" in 1976 following a debilitative stroke which badly impacted some her speech and mobility. She returned briefly in 1977 and eventually rejoined the cast, albeit as a recurring character, for the remainder of the series and in five of the six reunion movies. Corby died at the age of 87 along April 14, 1999.

Jon Walmsley turned from temporary to music

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After relocating from his native England to the US Government, actor/musician Jon Walmsley worked as a voice-over performing artist, nigh notably as the representative of Christopher Robin in the Oscar-winning animated Walter Elias Disney featurette "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustering Day" in 1969. Three years subsequently, he coupled the cast of "The Waltons" as Jason, the second oldest son in the family. The part gave Walmsey the opportunity to showcase his talents as some a musician and songwriter in numerous episodes.

Walmsley reunited with his "Waltons" TV family for several Tv set movies, but devoted most of his energies to his career as a musician. A longtime member of Richard Marx's band, Walmsley likewise played with few of the biggest name calling in shake, soda pop, and country, including the Who's Roger Daltrey, Brian Setzer, the Doobie Brothers, and country legend Ousel Haggard.

Walmsley also worked extensively as a academic term musician for multiple television series, playing tracks featured happening programs like "7th Heaven" (happening which helium also guest-appeared as a ring member), "Beverly Hills 90210" and "The Secret Life of the American Teenager."

Mary Beth McDonough is likewise an author

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One of a fistful of "Waltons" actors World Health Organization appeared on the full serial publication and all six "Waltons" movies, Mary Beth McDonough played Erin Sir William Walton, the second-oldest daughter of the family. To the highest degree of Erin's storylines orbited just about her romances, which invariably came to an abrupt remainder. The character eventually found her way as an supporter plant manager at a defense company during World State of war II.

McDonough — who has besides performed under the names Mary Elizabeth McDonough and Madonn McDonough — began her career as Erin Walton along "The Homecoming" and remained with "The Waltons" during its entire network run. After the serial publication had run its course, she appeared in a handful of features, including the oddball horror movie "Mortuary" and the thriller "Funland," written past Bonny and Terry Turner of "That '70s Show" fame. She was later a guest champion happening series care "ER" and "The West Wing," while also reprising Erin for the "Waltons" reunion movies.

McDonough enjoyed a recurring role on "The New Adventures of Old Christine" in the 2000s and also fenced in some books, including 2018's "Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane." The Hallmark Transfer adapted the story into a made-for-TV feature that same year, cast McDonough in a small use.

Kami Colter traded acting for education

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The youngest member of the Waltons tribe, Elizabeth Walton shared her brother John-Boy's affinity for writing and literature, as well as a romanticist mottle similar to her sister Erin. Kami Cotler was cast as Elizabeth in "The Homecoming" and played her for the show's entire network prevail, too A in sixer of the reunion TV movies.

Cotler appeared in a smattering of projects preceding to "The Waltons," including a short-lived sitcom called "Maine and the Chimp" which matched  Ted Bessell from "That Girl" with a chimpanzee. When "The Waltons" ran its course of study. Cotler's interest in acting waned; as she aforementioned in a 2017 interview, "Nearly of the things I auditioned for were not healed written, and I wasn't terribly eager to get those jobs."

Education rather became her primary interest. After earning her degree from the University of California, Berkeley, Cotler taught at schools in Virginia before returning to California to teach. She has also served atomic number 3 the Director of Strategical Initiatives for the Environmental Charter Schools.

Joe Conley juggled real property and The Waltons

CBS

Holding down the trading post, post office, and auto fix-it shop on Walton's Mountain was agreeable Ike Godsey, played by warhorse character thespian Joe Conley. Many of the plotlines in the 172 episodes that featured Ike adjusted happening his marriage to Corabeth Walton (Ronnie Claire Edwards), second gear cousin to Whoremaster Sr. and as introverted and mulish A Ike is outgoing and generous.

Conley began acting as a child on radio, but paused his career for college and military serve in the Korean War, during which he was injured. He returned to playing with a small role in the 1950 film "The Sound of Vehemence," and would work steady along television receiver while likewise supportive himself through his own real estate agencies. Conley was prepared to regress happening his second vocation when he was vomit as Ike in 1972.

He remained with the serial until its conclusion in 1981, and helium returned to his lucrative real estate work while also ray-teaming with his "Waltons" castmates in the reunion movies. Conley also made occasional appearances outside the "Waltons" universe, most notably in "Ramble Away" in 2000. Conley died of complications from dementia at the age of 85 on July 7, 2013.

Ronnie Claire Edwards was eccentric Corabeth Walton

Warner Bros. TV

On the surface, Ronnie Claire Edwards' Corabeth Walton is a world-class pill: tight-fisted with money, given to putting on airs around her drawn-out family, and deeply bizarre. However, Corabeth's personality quirks are the result of a long clock time spent in isolation while caring for her sickly parents; one time on her have, information technology takes Corabeth a while to learn the rhythms of life on Walton's Mountain, only with the help of her family and particularly husband Ike Godsey, she becomes a well-loved figure.

Ronnie Claire Edwards, who played Corabeth from 1975 to 1981, appears to have been as outgoing As Corabeth was introverted (at first). In her early years, she traveled with a carnival throughout her indigenous OK equally a knife throwster's assistant and also performed at mining camps. Edwards's performing calling began along the New York stage in the early 1960s; television and films, including "The Waltons" and a revenant stint on "Artful Women," followed from the 1970s through the early 2000s.

Edwards retired from acting in 2007 and began restoring homes in Los Angeles and Dallas, Texas. She too wrote single plays, likewise As an autobiography and cookbook. Edwards died at the age of 83 along June 14, 2016.

Peggy Rea handled motherly duties in Seasons 8 and 9

CBS

With the exit of Richard Thomas and Michael Learned in Seasons 6 and 7, and Ralph Morrison R. Waite shriveled to a recurring graphic symbol in Season 9, the Ernest Walton children were in need of a parental count on. Enter Rose Sir Richard Burton, a cousin-german of Olivia's, who arrives on Ernest Walton's Mountain in require of a place to live with her children after fleeing an abusive husband. Rosebush and her kids eventually get in the Waltons' home, and she finds a more lasting relationship in an old flame (played aside William Schallert), World Health Organization settles down with her.

Peggy Rea played Rose Sir Richard Burton in Seasons 8 and 9, arsenic well as one TV movie. She began her vocation on stage before moving into television in the 1950s; roles on "I Love Lucy" led to recurring appearances connected "Gunsmoke," "All in the Category," and in 1979, a stint on "The Dukes of Hazzard" as Political boss Hogg's wife, Lulu.

Rea remained acrobatic on TV well into the 1990s, through recurring roles on "Step Aside Step" and "Beautify Under Burn down." She died at the eld of 89 from complications of heart failure happening February 5, 2011.

Fancy quality actor Tom Bower broke Madonn Ellen's heart

CBS

Character actor Tom Bower played what was arguably one of the most shameful personas along "The Waltons": Dr. Curtis Willard, who captured the heart of eldest Walton daughter Mary Ellen (played aside Judy Norton Taylor) in Season 5. The span marries and has a son, John, before Curtis joins the military. Tragedy appeared to strike in Season 7 when William Curtis is declared a casualty during the attack on Ivory Harbor, only Mary Ellen disclosed in Season 9 that her husband was still viable but deeply traumatized from his war experiences. The couple single, and Mary Ellen married an old flame in the second reunion moving picture.

Arbor — who also played a stunt pilot on "The Waltons" before signing on as Dr. Willard — has been a familiar face to TV viewers since the early 1970s. He married the cast of "The Waltons" in 1975 and remained with the series until 1978, but also worked at a breathless clip before, during, and after his run on the program. His list of credits — which continues growing to this Clarence Shepard Day Jr. — includes appearances in TV series ranging from "The Bionic Woman" and "Murder, She Wrote," to "Monk" and "Shaft of light Donovan." Though he has less feature credits, they do include some major hits like "Cash in one's chips Hard 2" and more recently,  "El Camino: A Breaking Bad Story."

A pre-fame Privy Ritter guested as Reverend Fordwick

CBS

The Man of the cloth Matthew Fordwick arrives in Season 1 of "The Waltons" to serve as the first Baptist government minister on Walton's Mountain. A recent seminary graduate, Fordwick takes a hardline approach to his role and his flock, whom atomic number 2 regards as sinners — until He gets incidentally pissed during a visit with his cousins, the Baldwin sisters. From there, Fordwick adopts a more kind feeler, which helps him meet and sooner or later conjoin Rosmarinus officinalis Huntsman, the section schoolteacher.

John Ritter played the Sublime Fordwick from Seasons 1 through 5 of "The Waltons." Atomic number 2 departed the series in Season 6 to take the role that would elevate him to stardom: Jack Tripper on "Trey's Company." He would remain a small screen out preferent for the next two decades, thanks to series like "Hooperman," "Hearts Afire" (which webbed him an Emmy and Golden Globe nominating speech) and "8 Caudate Rules for Geological dating My Teenage Girl." He would as wel appear in much movies as "Bad Santa Claus," "Slingshot Brand," "Shin Large" and the first two "Problem Child" flicks.

Ritter fell ill happening the set of "8 Simple Rules" and was rushed to a infirmary in Burbank, Golden State. Complications from an arteria dissection led to his death on September 11, 2003 at the age of 54.

Western vet Daniel Morgan Robert Woodward was Gramps's ornery cousin Boone

CBS

Not every member of the Waltons clan was as grand-hearted every bit John-Boy, Olivia, and the others. Case in point: Zeb's first cousin, Boone Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton (played past Morgan Bob Woodward), a loud cuss who seemed to attract trouble like a attractor. He first appears in the two-part Temper 3 episode "The Conflict," where atomic number 2 enflames already heated tensions between mountain kinfolk and the politics over a road project. Boone returns in Season 7's "The Moonshiner," in which Jason defends him after an arrest for making illegal liquor. Neither situation ingratiates him with the Walton family.

C. Vann Woodward, a Texas native, trained equally an Opera vocalist but moved into acting after a onetime classmate, Fess Parker of "Davy Crockett" fame, got him a part in the 1956 Walt Disney film "The Corking Locomotive Chase." TV Westerns were his primary quill showcase  — he appeared in countless episodes of "Gunsmoke," "Wagon Train," and "Manna from heaven" — only C. Vann Woodward also wrong-side-out up in two episodes of "Star Trek," donned heavy makeup to play a lizard warrior in "Battle Beyond the Stars," and panic-stricken viewers equally the sunglass-eating away boss in "Unemotional Mitt Luke." Helium also recurred more times on "Dallas" as Marvin "Kindling" Anderson, an advisor to the Ewings.

Woodward capped his career as an elderly ordination Orcinus orca along a 1995 episode of "The X-Files." A staple fiber of Western-related events for the next decade, he died at the age of 93 at his home in Paso Robles, California, on February 22, 2019.

Cast of the Waltons Where Are They Now

Source: https://www.looper.com/662650/whatever-happened-to-the-cast-of-the-waltons/

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