18. Patricia Neal was cast as Olivia Walton in the pilot. She was unable to continue with her role, due to her past health problems, so the role was ultimately given to Michael Learned.
19. Olivia Walton was an Alcoholic.
Learned states that at the time she was cast in The Waltons, she had “hit rock bottom”. At age 32, she realized she was an alcoholic. Taking herself to ex-husband Peter Donat’s cabin on the California coast to “get sober” and that her time there was the beginning of a spiritual journey. Her sobriety began in 1977.
20. This wasn’t the first time that Ralph Waite and Richard Thomas played father and son. The two worked together three years earlier in the film Last Summer (1969). Thomas played the role of “Peter” and Waite (uncredited) played his father.
21. In the closing scene of the series’ final episode The Waltons: The Revel (1981), the remaining Walton’s family members and the Godsey’s gathered at the Baldwin sisters’ mansion for a party.
As the sisters thanked their guests for coming, the viewer can see that several unnamed guests have joined the crowd. These are none other than series creator Earl Hamner Jr. and other long-running cast and crew members, giving the scene a wrap party look.
22. The Walton’s pets, (animal and name) were: Blue the mule, Chance the cow, Reckless the dog, Rover the peacock, Lance the deer, Myrtle the goat, Calico the cat, Molly the horse… and somewhere along the line, Jim Bob gave Grandma a canary, Chirpee! (But there were others…)
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