Father's Day and Remembering the Waltons

Despite their struggles, the Waltons were an enviable family to a viewer who was an only child. While the series was based on the family of writer Earl Hamner--portrayed by initially by Richard Thomas and later by Robert Wightman as "John Boy Walton"--it's impossible around Father's Day each year not to have strong memories of the father figure, John Walton, Sr. It is the role for which actor Ralph Waite is best known.

Where to See It Today

The Waltons aired on CBS for nine seasons, from September 14, 1972 through June 4, 1981, according to TV Series Finale. In addition to Waite and Thomas, Michael Learned playing mom Olivia Walton, Will Geer as Grandpa and Ellen Corby as Grandma became as familiar as members of our own families. A number of child actors who made up the Waltons brood still make appearances at Waltons' fan reunions.

Episodes of the series currently appear on the Hallmark channel and the Inspiration Network (INSP). The setting of the series was Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. The Hamner home was actually located in Schuyler, about 20 miles south of Charlottesville and the site of the Walton's Mountain Museum. Earl Hamner served as the narrator for each episode, most of which were filmed in California.

The Father Figure

Viewers who fell in love with the series when it first aired as well as those catching it for the first time will remember Ralph Waite's character as the father of the family and an individual with very identifiable traits.

Family--including the heritage that had brought his ancestors to the land they eventually called Walton's Mountain--was the most important thing in John Walton, Sr.'s life. Through most of the series, he went through a constant struggle to support the 11-member Walton crew during the Great Depression.

As the children grew up, all four boys went off to war. John Walton, Sr. overcame one setback after another: one son a prisoner of war, a wife who developed tuberculosis and went away for treatment, the death of his parents (we never saw hers) and an odd set of circumstances surrounding the husband of daughter Mary Ellen Walton Willard.

Like fathers today, he watched the dream of a special house he wanted to build on the mountain slip through his fingers. He went back to school, not for an MBA but a high school diploma of sorts.

Though he had a temper, the script linked it primarily to righteous anger, and he always calmed down enough to listen. He also managed to have more conversation than most of our own fathers and a genuine yen for his wife.

While John Walton, Sr. was not a churchgoer--a continual annoyance to his Baptist wife--he appreciated being in nature, where he felt closest to God.

In short, Papa Walton seemed like the perfect dad.

Who is Ralph Waite?

Now in his 80s, actor Ralph Waite had several careers before being tapped for the role of John Walton, Sr. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister who left organized religion five decades ago but returned to it in recent years, according to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A).

Waite, who lives in Palm Desert, California, attended Bucknell University after being in the Marine Corps from 1946 to 1948. He graduated from Yale University Divinity School with a master's degree prior to his ordination.

Before being bitten by the acting bug, he worked in the publishing industry in New York. Waite didn't even try acting until he was 33, when he sat in on an acting class. He claims his favorite stage role was King Lear. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress several times in the 1990s.

According to rockfish-river.com, Waite had a problem with alcohol when he took on the role of John Walton, Sr. Part of his motivation to overcome it was the role he played and the desire to set a good example for the children in the cast.

In 2004, Waite's role of John Walton, Sr. was ranked third by TV Guide in its list of the 50 greatest TV dads of all time, IMDb reveals. It seems like the perfect Father's Day gift for an actor.

These days, you can also see him on the NCIS set--once again as a father.

Sources:

http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/the-waltons/

http://www.pcusa.org/news/2010/8/6/waltons-star-ralph-waite-finds-home-church/

http://www.rockfish-river.com/en/john-walton.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0906627/bio