Who Were the Better Actors?

[katetroy]

Among the kids, who were the better actors? The acting was inconsistent among the kids with the exception of John-Boy, but Mary Ellen was the best perhaps. Erin was quite bad. Elizabeth was good as a child, and then not so good as an adult. Ben was decent, even good at times . Jason not so good. Jim-Bob decent.

[Marilyn]

Oh boy, are we opposite! I thought Mary Ellen was not so good most of the time and Jim Bob was good all the time. I was especially impressed with how believable he was the first couple of years when he was so young. Looking at all of them, they all had outstanding moments in the series.

[JeriJet]

Jan 20, 2014 23:56:54 GMT -5 katetroy said:

Among the kids, who were the better actors? The acting was inconsistent among the kids with the exception of John-Boy, but Mary Ellen was the best perhaps. Erin was quite bad. Elizabeth was good as a child, and then not so good as an adult. Ben was decent, even good at times . Jason not so good. Jim-Bob decent.

Right on!  In every case.... except I'd give a bit more credit to Jon Walmsley, I think....

[Deleted]

Jan 20, 2014 23:56:54 GMT -5 katetroy said:

Among the kids, who were the better actors? The acting was inconsistent among the kids with the exception of John-Boy, but Mary Ellen was the best perhaps. Erin was quite bad. Elizabeth was good as a child, and then not so good as an adult. Ben was decent, even good at times . Jason not so good. Jim-Bob decent.

I totally agree on your assessment of all the kids.
Yeah, I disliked Mary Ellen in the first couple of years, but she played her part (rude, annoying, irritating) well.

And like Marilyn said, they all had their moments as well.

[Deleted]

This is a hard question to answer. We all have our favorites and our opinions about what makes acting believable. I think all of the kids seemed very prepared and natural with their roles.  The girls always had a lot of drama and they boys just seemed to be playing themselves.

Sometimes it just depends how close the character is to the actor's personality. 

[Uncle Coaster]

Yeah, it is tough to say. I liked them all. However, I agree that Jim Bob and Jason were consistently good. I thought Mary Ellen was the best in the early years.

[april]

It seems to me, they were better younger. Perhaps, they weren't as aware of themselves or the fame so they weren't as

natural. The early years they were very natural children. I loved when they teased each other, so much like a real family.

I'd also have to say, I have changed who liked from when I watched as a kid.  Mary Ellen, I thought annoying but now

I like.   Cora Beth, I really didn't like  then but now appreciate her acting abilities. 

I thought Jim Bob was consistent and had a lot of layers to him, Jason's role not used as it should have been.   Ben and Erin's roles could have been explored more.

[patriciaanne]

I think the kids were a great ensemble and they worked really well together. I can't imagine any of them being replaced. When you consider the talent they were working with (Richard Thomas and the parents/grandparents) and the fact they could hold their own among them, I think that's quite an accomplishment. I do think it was tougher for them as they got older because they were really stretching into dramatic areas for which they had very little life experience to draw upon. I'm sure Judy Norton hadn't had a baby yet or been married, for example, when she was playing that role in the show.

[Deleted]

Jan 21, 2014 16:41:49 GMT -5 april said:

It seems to me, they were better younger. Perhaps, they weren't as aware of themselves or the fame so they weren't as

natural. The early years they were very natural children. I loved when they teased each other, so much like a real family.

I'd also have to say, I have changed who liked from when I watched as a kid.  Mary Ellen, I thought annoying but now

I like.   Cora Beth, I really didn't like  then but now appreciate her acting abilities. 

I thought Jim Bob was consistent and had a lot of layers to him, Jason's role not used as it should have been.   Ben and Erin's roles could have been explored more.

I hear ya. I found Mary Ellen annoying (mostly the first few seasons) and CoraBeth terribly annoying in every episode she was in, but I also think these two were among the best actors on the show, because they did their job, they irritated you. The role of CoraBeth was played so well by Ronnie Claire.

My point is (am I really making a point?) that you don't have to like a character that the actor/actress is portraying in deciding whether they are a good actor or not.

[JeriJet]

Jan 21, 2014 18:59:06 GMT -5 patriciaanne said:

I think the kids were a great ensemble and they worked really well together. I can't imagine any of them being replaced. When you consider the talent they were working with (Richard Thomas and the parents/grandparents) and the fact they could hold their own among them, I think that's quite an accomplishment. I do think it was tougher for them as they got older because they were really stretching into dramatic areas for which they had very little life experience to draw upon. I'm sure Judy Norton hadn't had a baby yet or been married, for example, when she was playing that role in the show.

Just to let you know -- Judy's first marriage was in 1976, when she was 19 and four years into the series.... Doug Taylor -- a musician she met at a Scientology workshop.... I'll have to check back and see if there were any children of that marriage -- but I don't think so.... She has been married three times, although some sites only report 2, so I think the first was quite short.... huh -- just thought -- she kept on with the name Taylor for quite a while, so maybe there was a child, which might correspond with the timing of her pregnancy on The Waltons....

[patriciaanne]

Jan 21, 2014 20:42:52 GMT -5 JeriJet said:

Jan 21, 2014 18:59:06 GMT -5 patriciaanne said:

I think the kids were a great ensemble and they worked really well together. I can't imagine any of them being replaced. When you consider the talent they were working with (Richard Thomas and the parents/grandparents) and the fact they could hold their own among them, I think that's quite an accomplishment. I do think it was tougher for them as they got older because they were really stretching into dramatic areas for which they had very little life experience to draw upon. I'm sure Judy Norton hadn't had a baby yet or been married, for example, when she was playing that role in the show.

Just to let you know -- Judy's first marriage was in 1976, when she was 19 and four years into the series.... Doug Taylor -- a musician she met at a Scientology workshop.... I'll have to check back and see if there were any children of that marriage -- but I don't think so.... She has been married three times, although some sites only report 2, so I think the first was quite short.... huh -- just thought -- she kept on with the name Taylor for quite a while, so maybe there was a child, which might correspond with the timing of her pregnancy on The Waltons....


Wow...I had no idea!!

[awesomemixtape10]

Are we allowed to talk about this ?

Mary Ellen was pretty good in The Homecoming and the early seasons.
Jason was pretty good towards the middle and the end of the series.
Jim-Bob was a pretty natural actor.
Ben was pretty decent the whole series.

[Brenda]

Jan 21, 2014 20:38:54 GMT -5 @dowsee said:

I hear ya. I found Mary Ellen annoying (mostly the first few seasons) and CoraBeth terribly annoying in every episode she was in, but I also think these two were among the best actors on the show, because they did their job, they irritated you. The role of CoraBeth was played so well by Ronnie Claire.

My point is (am I really making a point?) that you don't have to like a character that the actor/actress is portraying in deciding whether they are a good actor or not.

I agree. The first time I read this thread, I typed out a long response, but I never did post it because I realized I was talking about the characters, not the actors.

I think the fact that we are calling them Jason, Mary Ellen, Ben, Erin, Jim Bob, and Elizabeth instead of Jon, Judy, Eric, Mary, David, and Kami, tells us that they were all pretty good actors. I don't think any of them had much experience before The Waltons, so they were actually doing on the job training in a way. I think the fact that they were surrounded by good actors and were on a show that had good writing helped them to develop their acting skills over the years.

Each of them had episodes which allowed them to shine. I thought Jon Walmsley was especially good in The Gift, and Judy Norton was at her best in The Homecoming.

I think Mary McDonough did a good job of portraying the "middle sister" who didn't quite know what her place was in the family or in the world. She had the Jan Brady "Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!" syndrome, and she played it well.

Eric Scott was in a similar position playing the middle brother who followed two very talented older brothers and had a cute younger brother. I think Eric's character, unlike Mary's, was very strong. Eric was able to show that Ben was very practical and hard-working, and had a business mind as well, and he didn't need to live in the shadow of his brothers.

I thought David Harper was especially good in "The Secret" episode, the one where he found out he had a twin brother who died at birth. The scene where he went into the house and walked straight to Olivia and gave her a big hug gets to me every time. Another good JimBob scene was in "Day of Infamy" when he delivered the telegram to Mary Ellen and told her what was in it. I think in both cases, some actors would have been tempted to over-dramatize these very emotional moments. David Harper did it very convincingly. 

Kami was really young (maybe 6?) when the series started. It was obvious in those early seasons that she had a natural talent for acting, plus she was really cute.

[literary]

Excellent topic of conversation.

And agreed with Jon's portrayal in The Gift.
Mighty fine.

literary

[benwaltonsgirl]

Jon Walmsey had really brought emotion to the show especially towards the end. David Harper was really good and he should have gotten into acting after the Waltons. As the series progressed Judy Norton really brought something to the show. It was hard to tell with Kami Cotler with her being so young. Eric Scott played his part well. The only one I really felt was not so great was Mary McDonough. She seemed bland or maybe it was because her part was.