Ralph Waite (John Walton) 1928-2014

[Deleted]

Ralph Waite, who has died aged 85, worked as a social worker, Presbyterian minister, publicist and book editor before turning to acting and landing the part as patriarch of a struggling American family in the wholesome US television drama The Waltons (1972-81).

For nine series and more than 200 episodes from 1972 to 1981, as John Walton Sr – "Pa" – he was the quiet tower of strength bringing up a family of seven during the depression and second world war with his wife, Olivia (Michael Learned).

The barefoot Virginia hillfolk operated a sawmill on Walton's Mountain, in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. Their trials and tribulations, based on Earl Hamner Jr's autobiographical novel Spencer's Mountain, were seen through the eyes of the eldest son, John-Boy (played by Richard Thomas for most of the run, then Robert Wightman), a character who eventually realised his literary ambitions by having his first novel published. Waite's "Good night, John-Boy" closing line was a catchphrase for millions of fans of The Waltons around the world. The actor himself directed 16 episodes.

The run ended with John selling the mill to his entrepreneurial son Ben (Eric Scott) and moving with Olivia to Arizona, where she could recover from tuberculosis. The series was followed by six television specials – three in 1982, A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion (1993), A Walton Wedding (1995) and A Walton Easter (1997). Waite's character was voted third in a 2004 TV Guide poll of the 50 "greatest TV dads of all time". President George Bush Sr wished in 1992 that American families could be "a lot more like the Waltons, and a lot less like the Simpsons".

Waite was born in White Plains, New York, the son of a construction engineer. He described himself as "a show-off, a dreamer, a storyteller" who was never taken to a play or concert as a child.

He served in the US Marine Corps (1946-48) and graduated from Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, in 1952, before working briefly as a social worker in Westchester County, New York.

After gaining a master's degree from Yale University Divinity School, Waite became a minister with the United Church of Christ on Fishers Island and in Garden City, New York. Dissatisfied with what he saw as hypocrisy in the church, he left to become publicity director and assistant editor of religious books at Harper & Row.

Switching to acting at the suggestion of a friend, as his marriage went downhill and his drinking increased, he trained with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio and made his professional debut as the chief of police in a 1960 New York production, The Balcony. Broadway plays followed, including Blues for Mister Charlie (1964), which Waite and the cast reprised at the Aldwych theatre in London in 1966.

After his first film appearance, alongside Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke (1967), Waite appeared in dozens of big- and small-screen roles. He played Slater, the slave ship's sadistic third mate, in the television mini-series Roots (1977) and Kevin Costner's father in the film The Bodyguard (1992).

He sobered up after realising that his life was at odds with the caring father figure he portrayed in The Waltons. He then had regular roles on television as the retired lawyer Ben Walker in The Mississippi (1982-84), a corrupt billionaire in the second series of Murder One (1996), and priests in both Carnivàle (2003-05) and Days of Our Lives (2009-13).

In 1975, Waite was founder and artistic director of the experimental Los Angeles Actors' Theater. Seven years later, he married his third wife, Linda East, an interior designer. They moved to the Coachella valley in Palm Desert, California, in 2002. With his late brother Donald and other family members, Waite opened Don and Sweet Sue's Café in Cathedral City.

Political ambitions, inspired, he said, by the example of Czech playwright Václav Havel, led the actor to run unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat in 1990 and twice in 1998, when he tried to take the Palm Springs, California, a seat formerly held by the singer Sonny Bono. That campaign was hampered by a commitment to complete a run in the leading role of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman for a theatre in New Jersey.

After shunning organised religion for half a century, Waite returned to it in 2010 as a minister with the liberal Spirit of the Desert Presbyterian Fellowship. He saw it as reflecting his own progressive and political views.

Waite's first two marriages, to Beverly Hall and Kerry Shear, ended in divorce. He is survived by his third wife, her son Liam, an actor, and two of the three daughters from his first marriage.

• Ralph Harold Waite, actor, born 22 June 1928; died 13 February 2014

[Sussie of Teckelhut Acres]

Fly with the Angels my friend. Say hello to my husband when you arrive. He was a Marine too.

[magniana]

It is with deep sadness that I learned of the death of Ralph, my preferred actor in the series the Waltons and I offer my deepest condolences to his family. Ralph Good night. RIP.Please excuse my English,I am French.

[Sussie of Teckelhut Acres]

Feb 17, 2014 11:30:25 GMT -5 magniana said:

It is with deep sadness that I learned of the death of Ralph, my preferred actor in the series the Waltons and I offer my deepest condolences to his family. Ralph Good night. RIP.Please excuse my English,I am French.

I think you speak English very well. 

[Deleted]

Feb 18, 2014 11:45:23 GMT -5 Sussie of Teckelhut Acres said:

Feb 17, 2014 11:30:25 GMT -5 magniana said:

It is with deep sadness that I learned of the death of Ralph, my preferred actor in the series the Waltons and I offer my deepest condolences to his family. Ralph Good night. RIP.Please excuse my English,I am French.

I think you speak English very well. 

Agreed, your English is just fine.

C'est un plaisir de connaitre quelqu'un d'autre qui parle Francais ici (It's nice to know someone else who speaks French here)

[JeriJet]

Feb 18, 2014 12:02:48 GMT -5 @dowsee said:

Feb 18, 2014 11:45:23 GMT -5 Sussie of Teckelhut Acres said:

I think you speak English very well. 

Agreed, your English is just fine.

C'est un plaisir de connaitre quelqu'un d'autre qui parle Francais ici (It's nice to know someone else who speaks French here)

... d'accord ...

[magniana]

Bonjour.Cette série n'est pas très connue en France et c'est bien dommage, c'est un ami grec qui me l'a fait connaitre. Mais elle est tres populaire en Allemagne.Par contre, j'ai acheté les DVD et le doublage est très mauvais, moitié allemand, moitié anglais et cela surprend. Merci pour vos compliments. Je vous souhaite une bonne soirée, a bientôt sur le forum.

Goodmorning.This series is not well known in France and that's a shame,it's a Greek friend who introduced the show to me.I understand that it is very popular in Germany.Anyway,I bought the German DVDs and the dubbing is very bad,half German,half English and this surprised me.Thank you for your compliments.I wish you a good day, see you soon on the forum.

[Sussie of Teckelhut Acres]

Yes. As a matter of fact Covered Grass, a German Bluegrass band, created a song about the show. And actually came to the USA and played at the reunion at Waltons Mountain.

[ForeverWaltons]

Feb 22, 2014 12:13:28 GMT -5 Sussie of Teckelhut Acres said:

Yes. As a matter of fact Covered Grass, a German Bluegrass band, created a song about the show. And actually came to the USA and played at the reunion at Waltons Mountain.

Yes, I met them at the reunion at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, Ca. on 9/29/2012. I took pictures of them singing the song. They gave me a really nice postcard size group picture of themselves and they autographed it for me.

[thespian]

Hey Ralph,you were my second Dad while growing up and that striking physique of yours reminded me so much of my mom's only brother,my favorite uncle Elias.This alone made me grow even fonder of you.Your Greek voice sounded so natural in my ear so did the rest of our ''televised'' family in more than one way.There's no dubbing tradition in my country and I never was a big fan of it except when I studied a foreign language,even then I'd rather enjoy the real deal.Yet when I tuned in back in the early 80s our Walton family spoke Greek in every way possible,it WAS a Greek family with similar values.Heck,no Greek would leave the nest before thirty or even later on,we still won't! :)Even if we did we eventually came back and forth having family sleepovers and prolonged visits.Oh well...



Goodnight Daddy


Evan-Boy

[happyathome]

It was with deep sadness I read of the passing of Ralph. I will admit I shed a tear or two.
Karen - NZ

[sdw]

There wasn't anything about Ralph Waite death in the newest tv guide.I was hoping they had something about his death.

[Deleted]

Yesterday was one month since he passed away.
I'm still sad but over the shock.
I can't believe it has been a month already.

[Sussie of Teckelhut Acres]

Mar 14, 2014 20:44:27 GMT -5 @dowsee said:

Yesterday was one month since he passed away.
I'm still sad but over the shock.
I can't believe it has been a month already.

I will never forget the day after he passed away. I was not aware of it as I had been too busy with the farm to read any news. I saw The "We remember" photo at the top of this forum and said "WHAT??" out loud in total shock and surprise. Then I did a search on the internet to find out more. It would appear that everyone, even those who knew him very well, were in shock over his death.

[patriciaanne]

Mar 14, 2014 21:40:30 GMT -5 Sussie of Teckelhut Acres said:

Mar 14, 2014 20:44:27 GMT -5 @dowsee said:

Yesterday was one month since he passed away.
I'm still sad but over the shock.
I can't believe it has been a month already.

I will never forget the day after he passed away. I was not aware of it as I had been too busy with the farm to read any news. I saw The "We remember" photo at the top of this forum and said "WHAT??" out loud in total shock and surprise. Then I did a search on the internet to find out more. It would appear that everyone, even those who knew him very well, were in shock over his death.

I had a similar experience when I found out watching The Waltons. One minute I'm listening to Earl Hamner recount a touching anecdote about Ralph and the next thing I'm looking at his photo on the screen with two dates underneath it. I think I uttered an OMG out loud too and immediately went to the internet to confirm. It was certainly shocking. Then I came here to grieve with all of you.