Who was the actor who played Grandpa on the Waltons?
Jump to navigation Jump to search. American actor. Will Geer. Geer (with Ellen Corby) as Grandpa in The Waltons. Born. William Aughe Ghere. ( 1902-03-09) March 9, 1902. Frankfort, Indiana, U.S.
How old is Grandma Walton?
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Denny Jackson. Ellen Hansen (aka Ellen Corby aka Grandma Walton) was born June 3, 1911 (or 1913), in Racine, WI. She grew up in Philadelphia, PA, and left for Hollywood in the early 1930s to become an actress, which she became only after working as a script assistant for twelve years.
Who was Zebulon Walton in the Waltons?
His best known role was his last, Zebulon Walton, grandpa in the long-running television series The Waltons (1972).
Who is Bob Geer from ‘the Waltons’?
The Waltons were only a small part of Geer’s impactful life. He also was a political activist and performed with folk singers Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives in the 1930s during the Great Depression. He literally lived through the time depicted in The Waltons when he was a young man. Geer also was a communist.
Was actor Will Geer ever married?
Herta WareWill Geer / Spouse (m. 1934–1954)Herta Ware was an American actress and activist. Wikipedia
How old was Will Geer when he died?
76 years (1902–1978)Will Geer / Age at death
Is Will Geer still alive?
April 22, 1978Will Geer / Date of death
What all movies did Will Geer play in?
Jeremiah Johnson1972Comanche Territory1950Bandolero!1968A Stitch in Crime1973The Billion Dollar Hobo1977The Kid from Texas1950Will Geer/Appears in
How did The Waltons end?
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.
How many of The Waltons have died?
Andrew Duggan (John Walton) 1988 at age 64 of throat cancer in Westwood, CA. Edgar Bergen (Grandpa) 1978 age 75 of a heart attack in Las Vegas, NV. Ellen Corby (Grandma) 1999 age 87 natural causes in Woodland Hills, CA. Dorothy Stickney (Miss Emily) 1998 age 101 at her home in NYC.
Did any of The Waltons date each other?
Costars Allen and Thomas developed their deep romance during filming. In fact, it was likely due to their relationship that, months later, The Waltons cast Allen to play John-Boy's romantic interest in "The Love Story," an episode that aired late in the first season.
Why did Olivia leave The Waltons?
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.
Did Grandma Walton adopt Jason?
Ellen Corby ''adopted'' Jon Walmsley as her grandson In interviews throughout the Seventies, both Walmsley and Corby confirmed that they had "adopted" one another as family. "Jon has no grandparents," Corby explained to the Florence Morning News in 1974.
Did the grandma on The Waltons have a stroke in real life?
Personal life Corby in 1969 trained as a teacher of transcendental meditation. She had a stroke in November 1976 from which she recovered and returned to her role on The Waltons in March 1978.
Did Grandma Walton died on the show?
April 14, 1999Ellen Corby / Date of death
Where is Will Geer buried?
Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, Topanga, CAWill Geer / Place of burialThe Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, named for the English botanist John Parkinson's herbal, Theatrum Botanicum, is an open-air theater founded in Topanga Canyon, near The Getty Villa by Will Geer in 1973. Wikipedia
Who died first on The Waltons?
If you were watching The Waltons when it originally aired back in the '70s, you probably remember hearing the news that Will Geer — the man who played Grandpa Zebulon Walton — had died. Will passed away from respiratory failure on April 22, 1978, shortly after filming Season 6 of The Waltons.
Did the grandma on The Waltons have a stroke in real life?
Personal life Corby in 1969 trained as a teacher of transcendental meditation. She had a stroke in November 1976 from which she recovered and returned to her role on The Waltons in March 1978.
Did any of The Waltons date each other?
Costars Allen and Thomas developed their deep romance during filming. In fact, it was likely due to their relationship that, months later, The Waltons cast Allen to play John-Boy's romantic interest in "The Love Story," an episode that aired late in the first season.
How old was Will Geer on The Waltons?
76 years (1902–1978)Will Geer / Age at death
Who played Grandpa and Grandma on The Waltons?
Will Geer and Ellen Corby as Grandpa and Grandma Walton from the television program The Waltons. | Source: Wikimedia Commons. At the age of 76, Will died of respiratory arrest following a respiratory ailment on April 22, 1978, at Midway Hospital in Los Angeles.
Who is Will Geer?
Life and Sudden Death of 'The Waltons' Grandpa Will Geer. Actor, activist, and loyal friend, Will Geer had more in common with his on-screen persona of television’s patriarch in “The Waltons” than met the eye. “He was a ‘Renaissance man'—he was a historian of the theater, and virtually all the performing arts.
When did Will Geer win an Emmy?
The actor’s Emmy award in 1975 for his performance in “ The Waltons ” put his annual earnings well within the six-figure range, but his success never went to his head. Friends of the Geer’s found Will to be as gruff and sentimental in private as the crusty patriarch he portrayed in “The Waltons.”. Known to help out aspiring actors, Will often gave ...
Did Will and the Waltons have private lives?
However, Will’s co- star’s on " The Waltons" had private lives that didn’t mirror their onscreen roles at all. The other cast members lived far from perfect lives that included disease, addiction, and family dramas.
Who is Will's daughter?
Will’s daughter, Ellen, followed in her acting father’s footsteps and made several appearances on “The Waltons.”. After his death, she worked hard on keeping her father’s dream alive and remained involved with his theatre company, Theatricum Botanicum. Since under the family’s care, the company produces 4 plays each season.
Will Geer founded Topanga Canyon?
Will Geer, born March 9, founded Topanga Canyon’s “Theatricum Botanicum”—a performance space to intro youths to Shakespeare and the California Dream.
Who played Grandpa Walton on The Waltons?
Bette Rogge interviews Will Geer who played Grandpa Walton on the TV series "The Waltons.". If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. Videos you watch may be added to the TV's watch history and influence TV recommendations.
Who is Zebulon Tyler Walton?
Grandpa Walton. Zebulon Tyler Walton is a spry and wily character who loves to jeer his wife Esther. He has passed the torch onto his son John but pulls his share of the work load to help his son's lumber business. Grandpa maintain's the garden but is always quick to grab a fishing pole or take a nap after a hard day's work.
Who played Grandpa Walton in The Waltons?
Eventually, he began working in the industry again, first sporadically and then more regularly. In 1972, he was cast as Zebulon Walton. If you want to watch Will Geer as Grandpa Walton, all nine seasons of The Waltons are available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.
Who is the grandfather in The Waltons?
And some of us wished we were included in the goodnight ritual featured on every single episode of The Waltons. One of the most memorable characters of The Waltons was Grandpa Zebulon Walton.
How did Will Geer die?
Will passed away from respiratory failure on April 22, 1978, shortly after filming Season 6 of The Waltons.
Who was the patriarch of the Waltons?
Article continues below advertisement. One of the most memorable characters of The Waltons was Grandpa Zebulon Walton. As the patriarch of the family, Grandpa was a central figure in the lives of each of the Waltons, and he was heavily featured in many episodes of the show as well. Sadly, he disappeared from the show in Season 7.
Will Geer befriend Woody Guthrie?
In addition to befriending and performing with Woody Guthrie, Will was a dedicated social activist who was active in labor organizing and other movements in the ‘30s and ‘40s.
How many brothers and sisters are there in the Walton family?
Behind the characters in his books and TV's Walton family are the Hamners of Virginia: eight brothers and sisters, a mother still living, and a father - recently deceased - whose salty memory lives exuberantly in family talk and in Earl's writings.
Is the Waltons real?
The answer to the first question is an emphatic "yes.". The Waltons - real name, Hamners - are very real people. But the answer to the second question is a little more complicated. John-Boy, the poet-writer-biographer of the Walton family, has performed the same function for the Hamners.
Who is the grandfather in The Waltons?
The Walton family elder, Grandpa Walton (Pilot, Edgar Bergen; seasons 1–6, Will Geer ), husband of Esther Walton (née Morgan), and father of Benjamin Walton, who was killed in World War I, John Walton, Sr., and an unknown Walton child (early in the first season, Zeb is showing John Boy military medals stored in a trunk, and mentions that they belonged to John Boy's Uncle "Matt" (S1E5). It can be logically assumed that since the medals are in Zeb's possession, rather than Olivia's parents, that this is the name of the third child, and that since they are military in nature, like Ben the elder, he never made it home from the great war.) Referred to as "Zeb" to friends, "Zeb" or "old man" by his wife Esther (who in turn is lovingly referred to as "old woman" or “old girl”), "Pa" by his son John, "Grandpa" by Olivia and the rest of the family, and "the Grandfather" in show credits, likes to spend his time working with John in the sawmill, fishing, and playing with and teaching his grandkids. As hardworking as son John, Grandpa is much more easygoing in general and has a mischievous yet wise and vibrant personality. An example of this was in one episode, when one of his grandchildren tried smoking and he caught them, and got them to stop the same way his father taught him: he had the boys smoke cigarettes, one after another, until they were sick. Grandma, John Sr., and Olivia didn't approve of his methods. He especially cherishes his wife (and vice versa), although he can often be found alone relaxing with the Baldwin sisters, happily sipping their "Recipe" (moonshine). He also tends to distrust his wife's Baptist church, although he has a deep love and respect for God. He served in the Spanish–American War (although he dramatized his involvement by telling tall tales to his grandchild despite Esther's indignation at the very idea) and is an amateur botanist like Will Geer himself. He has the habit of making ornate prayers at the dinner table and sometimes ends them with "a women " in respect to "a men ", and dislikes the use of the phrase, "The Civil War", preferring "The War Between the States ". Esther often complained about his rotund figure and tried to get him to diet, worrying about his heart. This was exemplified in the episode "The Birthday"; as he was about to turn 73, he suffered a major heart attack and was bedridden for weeks on end. He often joked that he would live to 100, but in the end, he suffered a second and final heart attack three years later, missing his goal by about a quarter of a century.
Who is Jim Bob in The Waltons?
James Robert ( David W. Harper ), better known as Jim-Bob, is the youngest Walton boy. He and Joseph Zebulon were born on January 13, 1924 but only he survived- (his twin was stillborn). Jim-Bob is the only Walton child who was born in a hospital, rather than at home. As a teenager, he passes his older brother Ben in height. He is particularly close to his younger sister Elizabeth. He is fascinated by airplanes and aspires to become a pilot; however, increasingly poor eyesight forces him to give up this dream. Due to his passion for the Air Corps, Jim-Bob is compelled to get a tattoo of their insignia, which he later regrets. He eventually becomes a mechanic and opens his own business just opposite Ike's general store. As he grows up, he scraps together the parts to build his own car, which tends to break down from its ramshackle construction. After being unable to decide what color to make it, he paints it yellow when Elizabeth teasingly suggests such. Following an incident at a bar where he and Jodie get involved in a wreck by joyriding while still in the throes of post-war glee, he sells the vehicle to compensate for the damages and plans to build another. Jim-Bob has several girlfriends throughout the series, including Ike and Corabeth's adopted daughter (and Elizabeth's friend and adoptive cousin) Aimee Godsey and a foreign woman who feigned pregnancy to trick him into marrying her and just as quickly was sent out of his life (though John-Boy wonders if Jim-Bob is still seeing her in secret and not telling the rest of his family), but he never truly settles down with anybody to the knowledge of his family. Instead, he becomes a portly hermit living in an airplane hangar right next to an adjacent airfield where he sometimes offers to fly people around and routinely works on planes. Jim-Bob's birthdate is another example of timeline error in the series: Trying to enlist in the military after the Pearl Harbor attack, he's told that he's too young. If his birthdate was January 1923, he would have been going-on-19 in December 1941. Later he is shown graduating as valedictorian of the Class of 1944 in episode 188 "The Valedictorian." However, in the season three episode "The Runaway," he mentions that his birth date is June 13, 1924.
Who played Verdie Grant in The Waltons?
Verdie Grant ( Lynn Hamilton ), is a middle-aged African-American widow (née Harris), with two adult sons and three daughters, the youngest of whom, Claire, is graduating from college in Richmond, and later suffers a failed marriage for her education. She has been illiterate most of her life, a fact which her fierce pride and mistrust based on bad experience with a white-dominated society has caused her to hide. But she decides to ask John-Boy to secretly teach her to read and write. After resolution of a misunderstanding caused by Elizabeth unknowingly revealing her secret to Miss Hunter, she completes her lessons and becomes a close friend of the Waltons, appearing in a total of 17 episodes. During later seasons, she marries Harley Foster ( Hal Williams ), an itinerant laborer (who it is later revealed was on the run trying to avoid conviction for a murder which he had not committed) and becomes stepmother to Harley's young son. The other of her sons, Josh, was an orphan who wandered onto Walton's mountain and the Fosters fell in love with and adopted. After her father died before she could ask him about his past, Verdie discovered an ornamental necklace among his belongings, sparking a desire to learn more about her heritage and ancestry, despite her husband's warnings not to pry into the ugliness of a bygone time. Because of the flood that hit the mountains years ago, she nearly lost the trail of her ancestry when records about her grandparents were nearly all destroyed. Verdie discovered they were both plague victims and her grandfather's involvement with slavery. Her search finally led her to the Unwin estate, where she found out that family once owned hers as slaves and the ornament belonged to her great-grandfather Seth Edu, who was renamed Randolph Harris and brought over from Africa. Verdie resolved to one day trace her family back to its roots, and if she couldn't, she would have her children take over in her place.
Who plays Elizabeth in The Waltons?
Elizabeth ( Kami Cotler) is the youngest child of John and Olivia Walton. She was born in fall 1927 and age 6 when the series began. By the end of season five, John-Boy refers to Elizabeth as 12 and small for her age. She has her 13th birthday in season seven's Halloween episode. She is free-spirited and outspoken, but sensitive, and in later seasons she's shown to share John-Boy's love of reading and knack for writing. Her best friend is her cousin, Aimee Godsey. As a teenager, Elizabeth often babysits her nieces and nephews. Later she travels in Europe and gets into a relationship that dissolves right as she plans to get married; she joins the Peace Corps in one of the sequel movies. Tony Becker portrays her boyfriend Drew, who goes through a failed marriage in spite of not getting together with Elizabeth when she goes off to Europe, leading them to rekindle their original romantic feelings like they really wanted to; in the final sequel movie, she and Drew get engaged.
Who was the first person to die in Walton's Mountain?
G.W. became the very first resident of Walton's Mountain to die as a result of wartime activities, and the first recurring regular character to be killed off. Erin fondly remembers him in part two of "The Empty Nest", remarking that her now-deceased grandpa is up in Heaven with G.W. and now both will be watching over her.
Who plays Miss Hunter in The Waltons?
Miss Hunter ( Mariclare Costello) is Walton's Mountain's schoolteacher, teaching all ages from first grade through high school. As such, she teaches nearly all the county's children, including all of the Waltons. She is one of the first people to encourage John-Boy to pursue his writing, suggesting he submit his essays to various competitions, and helping him prepare for college. She later marries Rev. Matthew Fordwick. Together, they have a daughter named Mary Margret after Mary Ellen.
Who is Uncle Ben?
Uncle Ben Walton was the red-haired, idea-filled older son of Zebulon Tyler Walton and Esther Walton. He is mentioned in "The Awakening" (season 2, episode 15), in which three children of Zeb and Esther are mentioned, and "The Hero" (season 5, episode 18) when the younger Ben made a memorial bench for Uncle Ben for Honor Day.
Who played Tyler Walton in The Waltons?
Geer acted on stage in New York and eastern theatres, and in California for film. He is best-known as an actor for his later portrayal of Grandpa Zebulon Tyler Walton in the 1970s TV series The Waltons .
Who was Will Geer?
Relatives. Willow Geer (granddaughter) Will Geer (born William Aughe Ghere, March 9, 1902 – April 22, 1978) was an American actor, musician, and social activist, who was active in labor organizing and other movements in New York and Southern California in the 1930s and 1940s. In California he befriended rising singer Woody Guthrie.
What was the name of the movie that Geer played in?
From 1948 to 1951, he appeared in more than a dozen movies, including Winchester '73 (as Wyatt Earp ), Broken Arrow, Comanche Territory (all 1950) and Bright Victory (1951). Geer became a member of the Communist Party of the United States in 1934. Geer was also influential in introducing Harry Hay to organizing in the Communist Party.
What was Will Geer's death?
As Will Geer was dying on April 22, 1978 of respiratory failure at the age of 76, his family sang Woody Guthrie's " This Land Is Your Land " and recited poems by Robert Frost at his deathbed. Geer's remains were cremated; his ashes are buried at the Theatricum Botanicum in the Shakespeare Garden in Topanga Canyon, California.
What season did Geer die in?
When Geer died, shortly after completing the sixth season of The Waltons, the death of his character was written into the show's script. His final episode, the last episode of the 1977–1978 season, depicted his being reunited with his onscreen wife Esther (played by Ellen Corby; she had been absent for the entire season, due to a stroke). Geer's character was mourned onscreen during the first episode of the 1978–1979 season, titled "The Empty Nest".
Where did Geer play in the 1960s?
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Geer played several seasons at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut. In addition, he created a second Shakespeare Garden on the theater's grounds.
Where was Geer born?
Geer was born in Frankfort, Indiana, the son of Katherine (née Aughe), a teacher, and Roy Aaron Ghere, a postal worker. His father left the family when he was 11 years old. He was deeply influenced by his grandfather, who taught him the botanical names of the plants in his native state. Geer started out to become a botanist, studying the subject and obtaining a master's degree at the University of Chicago. While at Chicago, he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
