What Happened to the Cast After the Show Ended?

The Waltons provided a lot of good stories thanks to creator Earl Hamner Jr.’s efforts and there was a stellar cast as well. It made stars out of Ralph Waite, Michael Learned, Richard Thomas, Judy Norton, and many others.

Add Will Geer and Ellen Corby to the mix and you have a lot of acting experience in the cast. But the original run of The Waltons ended close to 40 years ago.

So, what’s happened to the cast since then? Let’s take a look.

Ralph Waite

Ralph Waite played Jobn Walton. Before The Waltons, Waite made a name for himself in movies. He appeared on Broadway in 1960 in Marathon ’33. Then, Waite moved along to appear in Cool Hand Luke, Five Easy Pieces, Trouble Man, Chato’s Land, and The Stone Killer. He also directed some episodes of The Waltons, too. Later on in television, Waite played the father of Gibbs in NCIS. He also appeared in the movie The Bodyguard opposite Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. Waite died in 2014 at 85 years old.

Michael Learned

Michael Learned appeared as Olivia Walton. She started out being on stage and the small screen, too. But it wasn’t until Learned joined The Waltons that she received accolades. Learned left the show after six seasons, taking her three Primetime Emmy Awards with her. Later on, she appeared in the show Nurses. which ran for 25 episodes. Learned’s most recent work was in 2021. She played Jeffrey Dahmer’s grandmother in Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.