John-Boy Walton, aka John Walton Jr., was the main character of the classic series. As told from his perspective, the beginning and end of each episode were narrated as though they were written in a journal. The oldest son of the Walton family, John-Boy was really the cornerstone of the family, taking charge of the family whenever needed.
Richard Thomas played John-Boy for the first six seasons of the show. Thereafter he was replaced by Robert Wightman, but the show would end after the ninth season. However, after the fifth season, John-Boy’s role in the show had already been reduced significantly, playing only a minor role in the series.
Today, Richard Thomas is no longer a boy. He’s a husband and father of five children. Currently, he resides in New York City. In his 70s now, he’s still working as an actor today. After winning an Emmy for his role on The Waltons, he’s continued to enjoy a flourishing television career.
He would appear in numerous series over the years, but many of them were guest roles. However, in the 1990s, he starred in the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s novel It which was moderately successful. Starting in 2013, he would have a regular role on the critically acclaimed series The Americans. And in 2022, he appeared Ozark for 9 episodes in the show’s final season.
Jason Walton was the second-oldest Walton boy who was just a couple of years younger than his older brother John-Boy whom he always looks up to. The two brothers were always close and grew closer as the show progressed. The musician in the family, John ends up studying music and names his five kids all after musicians.
John Walmsley played the character for all nine seasons, although his role in the show was reduced dramatically in later seasons. Additionally, the British American actor had also lent his voice to Disney’s Winnie the Pooh cartoons, providing the voice of Christopher Robin in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
In addition to his appearance in the original series, he also appeared on the Walton’s Thanksgiving reunion special as well as two additional reunion films: A Walton Wedding and A Walton Easter. In recent years, he’s acted in television series like 7th Heaven and even It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
John Walmsley, himself, is also a musician and songwriter. In the late ‘80s he toured with Richard Marx and has since been performing as a musician and composer for a number of different television works including 7th Heaven, 8 Simple Rules, and Secret Life of the American Teenager.
Mary Ellen Walton was the eldest daughter of the Walton family. Ambitious and adventurous, she was a girl who knew exactly who she was. She was often teased by her brothers and didn’t get along well with other kids but that never stopped her from pursuing her dreams. She ends up becoming a nurse and falling in love with a doctor.
Judy Norton was the actress who played this beloved character. Born in Santa Monica, California, in 1958 the actress was a mere child when she started out on The Waltons. Since the age of 13, she’s been involved in the Church of Scientology and even became a minister in the Church.
She married in 1976 when she was just 18 years old but divorced two years later, but even then, she never had quite shed her child image. It wasn’t after finishing The Waltons that she ended up posing for Playboy in 1985 that she became an adult in the public eye.
Since her role in The Waltons, she’s had numerous bit roles in television and film, and has been writing and directing. She’s also spent her time singing and in athletics as an avid skydiver and horse rider. She is currently married to Robert Graves and has two children
The second daughter on the Waltons, Erin Walton was close with her sister Mary Ellen, and would often be seen hanging out together on the show. Kind, yet flirtatious and outgoing, she was often the center of attention, particularly from men, having had numerous love interests on the show.
Erin was played by Mary Beth McDonough for the entirety of the The Waltons series’ run. She also appeared in the several television films about the family as well. Just after her run on the show, she appeared in her first feature film called Lovely But Deadly; although it was a film in which she had only a minor role.
Mary Beth McDonough would end up starring in numerous films over the years, in addition to reunion episodes of The Waltons. However, her first big return to television was for the series Boston Legal for which she guest-starred, as well as the Hallmark film Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane – based on a book she wrote!
McDonough married Rob Wickstrom in 1988 but divorced in 1996. She wouldn’t remarry until 2011 – to a man named Don. She has three children to this day but at the age of 61 is unlikely to have more. She suffers from lupus erythematosus, and interestingly claims it was because of leaking silicone from her breast implants.
Ben Walton was the brother who always had a scheme. The fourth child of the family, Ben was named after John’s brother who died in WWI. Essentially the screw-up of the family, his father or John-Boy always had to get him out of a situation, and they continue to do so out of love.
Eric Scott played Ben Walton in the television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story and the subsequent series The Waltons. He was the only actor to have played the character during the run of the series. The character is last seen with his wife and the birth of their second child.
Eric Scott has not done much work beyond his role as Ben Walton and the numerous TV films about the family. Today he owns a parcel delivery service called Chase Messengers which is headquartered in Encino, California. As for his family, he seems to be doing quite well.
Eric Scott has been married three times: to Karey Louis, Theresa Fargo, and Cynthia Ullman Wolfen – whom he’s been married to since 2000. He had his first child in 1992, and his second wife Theresa died of myelomonocytic leukemia soon after. Following that loss, he had two more children, Emma and Jeremy, with his third wife Cynthia.
Jim-Bob Walton, aka James Robert Walton, was the youngest boy in the family and the sixth child of the bunch. What you may not remember is that he had a twin but his brother died at birth. Jim-Bob was an aspiring pilot and eventually later joins the air force. Truly the dreamer of the family, he was always looking to the future.
David W. Harper was born in Texas in 1961 and began pursuing acting when he was not even 10 years old. He appeared in the original television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story before he appeared as Jim-Bob in the series. He stayed in the role throughout the show’s nine-season run and reprised the role for subsequent television films.
David W. Harper never found much work beyond his role as Jim-Bob and is not active in show business. He does try to participate in cast reunions, however, as well as functions such as conventions and fairs centering around the show. Having said that, he is no longer working as an actor.
Today, Harper has tried working a number of odd jobs and went to school to study business. While he’s not as successful as some of his other castmates, this is the way of things in terms of television actors and child actors in general. Eventually, their luck just runs out. And to our knowledge, he’s not married either.
Elizabeth Walton was the youngest daughter in the family. She starts off as a young child and grows over the course of the series, much like Jim-Bob. As the most outspoken member of the family, she was also the most sensitive and also shared John Boy’s love of writing.
Kami Colter was just 6 years old when she started off on The Waltons. She played Elizabeth in the TV film, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, followed by the series and then the TV reunion films. By the time she attended University of California, Berkeley, Colter took a break from acting to earn a degree in Social Sciences.
Kami Colter got her first teaching job at a small school in Virginia and then moved back to California in 2001 to teach 9th grade at Environmental Charter High School. In 2004, she became co-director of Ocean Charter School until 2007, when she started her own educational consulting business.
She became the founding Principal of Environmental Charter Middle School in Los Angeles County and continues working as a educator to this day. She is married now and has two children. She was last seen in a cast reunion in 2010 that aired on INSP.
John Walton Sr., the father of the family, was a protective, loving father who is honest and hardworking. While the rest of his family attends church, John is not quite as religious and can usually be found staying at home, holding down the fort. Relatively laid back, he’s not as rigid as he looked on the surface.
Ralph Waite played John Walton Sr. in the series as well as all of the reunion films but did not play him in The Homecoming. The actor who originally played the character was Andrew Duggan. Before starring in the Waltons, Waite had already been a movie star, having appeared in such classic films as Cool Hand Luke and Five Easy Pieces.
Since his role in The Waltons, Ralph Waite had continued acting in numerous films and television shows. In 1992, he appeared in the Kevin Costner romantic drama, The Bodyguard. But most recently, he had a recurring role on NCIS as the father of Jethro Gibbs and played Seeley Booth’s grandfather on Bones.
In addition to his acting roles, he had been politically active. In 1990, he made a run for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 37th district but lost to Al McCandless. He ran again in 1998 for District 44 and District 39, losing to Mary Bono in both elections. Ralph Waite died on February 13th, 2014, at the age of 85.
Olivia Walton was a caring and compassionate mother that had an immense love for her family. Even having lost three children, she never lost her faith as a deeply religious woman. She is protective of her children and shows her disapproval towards her boys talking about volunteering in WWII.
Originally played by Patricia Neal in The Homecoming, Olivia Walton was played by actress Michael Learned in the series. Born in Connecticut, she moved around as a child and attended Arts Educational School, which is now Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire, England. It was there she discovered acting.
Her first major role was that of Olivia Walton, who she played for seven seasons. For her role, she was nominated for a total of six times and won three times. She would win a fourth Emmy in 1982 for her role in the hospital drama Nurse. Currently, she is tied with Tyne Daly with the record for winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series four times.
She would end up starring in the Walton reunion films and numerous television series over the years, including the soap operas General Hospital and The Young and the Restless. More recently, however, she appeared in the Netflix series Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, starring as the infamous criminal's grandmother. Learned has been married four times and is currently married to John Doherty and has three children.
Patricia Neal, who originally played Olivia Walton, was a major film actress of the 1950s. She earned numerous accolades over the years, including Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two British Academy Film Awards. She was nominated for an Emmy a total of three times.
Her most famous roles were in The Day the Earth Stood Still, A Face in the Crowd and Breakfast at Tiffany's, but it was for her role in Hud that she won an Academy Award. She had won a Golden Globe for her performance in television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story for her role as Olivia Walton.
Despite the acclaim, the producers felt in her current health, Patricia Neal would not have been able to commit to a series from week to week, so she was recast with Michael Learned. Neal was a chain-smoker and had suffered from three cerebral aneurysms while she was pregnant. As a result, she was in a coma for three weeks.
Neal was married to writer Roald Dahl from 1953 to 1983, but their marriage ended in divorce. They had five children together. In 1978, the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center was named by Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in her honor. Patricia Neal died in 2010 due to lung cancer. She was 84 years old.
Esther Walton was the grandmother of the Walton family. The mother of John Sr. and wife of Zebulon, she was a tough, independent woman who was deep in faith and exceedingly strict. She appeared throughout the series as well as the television film The Homecoming but only appeared in a few of the reunion specials.
Ellen Corby was the only actress to play Esther Walton. For her role in the show, she won three Emmy awards. On top of her role in the show, she was nominated for an Academy Award back in 1948 for her role as Aunt Trina in I Remember Mama. Additionally, she had bit parts in classic films like Babes in Toyland and It’s A Wonderful Life.
Ellen Corby was married once, to Francis Corby, a director and cinematographer. They divorced in 1944, however and had no children. In 1954, she met Stella Luchetta who became her lifelong friend and partner. She was a teacher in Transcendental Meditation.
Ellen Corby was a woman who suffered from medical problems and even suffered a stroke during the filming of The Waltons in 1976. She returned to the role in 1978. Her final role was in the reunion special A Walton Easter. As her health declined, she eventually died in 1999 at the age of 87.
Grandpa Zebulon Walton was the patriarch of the family. The father of John and husband of Esther, he was devoted to his family and their business, working in the mill with his son. He was down to earth but a hard worker. He was active and loved to tell stories. His character died in the sixth season of the show.
Will Greer played Zebulon Walton for the series but in the original Homecoming special, he was played by Edgar Bergen. Greer was not only an actor but a musician and social activist – a friend of Woodie Guthrie. In the ‘50s, he was even blacklisted after refusing to name names to congress regarding members of the Communist party.
Will Greer played Zebulon until April 1978, when he died due to respiratory failure. His death was written into the show rather than replacing the actor. The cast had fond memories with the actor and nobody could replace him. Flashbacks of the character were shown in later episodes after his death so the spirit of the character was kept alive.
Greer married actress Herta Ware in 1934 and had three children with her, including actress Ellen Greer. He also had a daughter from another marriage. Nevertheless, he met a gay rights activist in 1934 and the two fell in love. After his death, his ashes were buried at Theatricum Botanicum in the Shakespeare Garden in Topanga Canyon, California.
Ike Godsey was a central character in The Waltons even though he wasn’t a part of the family. He ran the General Store in town and ends up marrying Corabeth Walton. In the television film The Homecoming, he is played by Woodrow Parfrey, but in the series, he is played by Joe Conley.
Joe Conley never had a huge film or television career. Most of his roles were small, and he is most easily remembered for his role as Ike Godsey in The Waltons. Born in Buffalo, New York, interestingly, he started acting after serving in Korea and at the same time, ran three real estate agencies in the San Fernando Valley.
Joe Conley’s on-screen wife may have been Ronnie Claire Edwards, but his real-life wife was Jacqueline Stakes, with whom he had two children and later divorced. He ended up marrying Louise Ann Teechen next and stayed with her for the rest of his life. He had two more children with her.
In 2009, Joe Conley published an autobiography titled Ike Godsey of Walton’s Mountain. The book is a collection of heartwarming tales about the making of The Waltons as well as some of the struggles he faced in his life. Joe Conley died in July 2013 at the age of 85 from complications of dementia.
Ronnie Claire Edwards played the bossy busybody Corabeth Walton who ends up marrying Ike Godsey. She dresses beyond her means and acts the part too. She first appears in the show’s third season and becomes a recurring character until the show’s final season. She adopts a daughter after learning she cannot have children.
Ronnie Claire Edwards was best-known for her role on The Waltons but appeared in other shows such as Designing Women and Boone. In 1985, she co-starred on the series Sara along with Geena Davis. While she would appear in numerous film and television projects in her career, her most notable role would always be Corabeth.
Ronnie Claire Edwards appeared in some of the Waltons reunion shows with the last being A Walton Wedding in 1994. That same year, she also appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Later, in 2008, she appeared on Antiques Roadshow getting an appraisal for a chair owned by P.T. Barnum.
At the end of her life, she restored an old church in Dallas from 1911 and made it her home, after she had sold her mansion to Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. She died from chronic COPD in 2016 at the age of 83. She had married twice in her life, but married for the last time in 1961 – to Robert K. Sands.
Earl Hamner Jr. was the creator of The Waltons and also served as the show’s narrator. In addition to the Walton’s, he also created the series Falcon Crest. Also part of his resume was the novel Spencer's Mountain and the film version of the same name. He also wrote the screen[lay for the animated film Charlotte’s Web.
The talented writer was born in 1923 as the oldest of eight children in his family. His experience in a large family, undoubtedly served as inspiration for his book The Homecoming and the television film version and series that inspired it - The Waltons. In his sophomore year in college he was drafted in the army during WWII.
Earl Hamner Jr.’s last television project was The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story - a story separate from that of the Waltons. It aired in 1983. He would continue, however, to write novels including Lassie: A Christmas Story.
He also wrote multiple non-fiction books, including a memoir called The Avocado Drive Zoo in 1999 and Good Night, John Boy – about the making of The Waltons in 2002. Earl Hamner Jr. died in Los Angeles in March 2016. He was 92 at the time and was suffering from bladder cancer.
