|
|
Post by dfnmeows44 on Sept 16, 2011 7:37:17 GMT -5
Dear Voltage888,
Where did you get the idea that Ben left school before graduating? The Diploma was on the other day and it fortifies the fact that Ben did graduate from high school. The inspector said that Ben's forms and
records were in good order, This means Ben had a high school diploma, even though his graduation ceremony
was not shown as an episode. Also om The Move Mr Brunson, Cindy's father who was later killed in The
Carousel, told Ben he could go to various engineering schools--MIT , Cal Tech, and others,,,,He would have
had to have a high school diploma for that first,
Also, does 888 mean that your birthday is August 8--that is the birthday of Erin the cat in 1996.
Or perhaps you turned 23 last month?
|
|
|
|
Post by PLP927 on Sept 16, 2011 8:02:58 GMT -5
OK, here is the letter of which they talk about who is older (in blue). And, in red this is from another letter, it is finally confirmed that Erin IS OLDER than BEN.
From Kim:
Who is older…Mary Ellen, Erin or Ben?: I think the order the children come in is: John-Boy, Jason, Mary-Ellen, Ben, Erin, Jim-Bob, Elizabeth. I believe Ben is older than Erin because in the episode where Mary-Ellen goes off to nursing school, John is making a suitcase for her together with the boys. At one point, Ben says something about being next in line to go to college after John-Boy, Jason and Mary-Ellen. That's why I assume he's older than Erin. But I can be wrong of course.
Also, do you know what Ben and Erin want to become in life? John-Boy wants to be a writer, Jason a musician, ME a nurse, Jim-Bob a pilot but I have no idea about Ben and Erin.
KAREN'S COMMENT: Well there's one opinion from Kim and below there's a different one from Marie. Read on:
From Marie:
Who is older…Mary Ellen, Erin or Ben?: About the birth order of the Walton children: The credits list Mary Ellen, Jason, Erin, Ben, Jim-Bob, and Elizabeth in that order until the seventh season. Then Jason and Mary Ellen switch. I wonder why? When Mary Ellen goes to nursing school in The Nurse (fourth season), Jason already has made his decision to study music in The Choice ( third season). Erin graduates in The Career Girl (fifth season). The Go-Getter, which ran six episodes after The Career Girl in the same season, is set in the spring of 1938. Ben quits working for John Boy and The Blue Ridge Chronicles. He gets a job selling cars at Jarvis'. Is he out of school? I don't remember his graduation though in The Move Ben tells his father-in-law that he was third in his class (but there were only six in it). This isn't much help. Maybe Ralph can put it to rest?
Referring back to Digest 23, I didn't know Richard Thomas' middle name was Earl. Ralph has a very interesting article on his web page called "The Two John-Boys - Earl Hamner and Richard Thomas." Does anyone know Ike Godsey's middle name? I heard it in The Furlough. His full name is Isaac Aloysius Godsey and he was born September 24, 1901. Aloysius is pronounced al - ah - WISH - iss.
Thanks, Arthur, for the article written by Joseph N. Bell in 1974. We can never read enough about the Waltons!
KAREN'S COMMENT: Well there you have it. I had always thought that Ben was older than Erin too, so I agree with Kim. Do we ever see or hear about Ben graduating? It just seems as though he leaves school and goes to work. He always seemed to want to be a business man. Kim, have you see The Career Girl yet when Erin graduates? You'll see in that episode that nobody seems to have any idea what Erin wants to do with her life. Marie, maybe Ben was working part time for the people you mention, or perhaps as a summer job. Who knows? Interesting point about the credits though!
-------------------------------------------
Hi Karen,
I was watching "The Nurse", the one where Mary Ellen is applying for nursing school but can't take the test. In one of the beginning scenes where the boys are with John in the mill, talking about how Mary Ellen is going off to nursing school, Ben comments "Yeah, and I'm next in line!" However, on the trivia quiz on your web site, it says that Erin is the next eldest of the children. Did anyone else pick up on this? I wonder if it was an error in the script or if Eric Scott threw that in on his own. Well, just thought I'd make a comment on that. Good night everyone,
Greta
KAREN'S COMMENT: It's a good question Greta and one that has puzzled many of us. My thoughts are that Ben was originally meant to be older than Erin, but later Erin took over that 4th child spot for some reason. As you've commented, there are indications that Ben is older than Erin, however when we talked about this a long time ago, there were so many arguments that finally Earl himself was asked about the children's birth order. He said that yes, Erin was meant to be older than Ben. As the children became older it seemed to become far less important to them who was older than the other, except perhaps with Jim Bob and Elizabeth. It is confusing.
|
|
|
|
Post by kazk on Sept 16, 2011 22:52:02 GMT -5
OK, here is the letter of which they talk about who is older (in blue). And, in red this is from another letter, it is finally confirmed that Erin IS OLDER than BEN. plp927: Thank you so much for searching through the Digest archives for those letters.  Cheers, Karen |
|
|
|
Post by tweetyandsnow on Sept 16, 2011 23:59:17 GMT -5
Hi, where may i write to Eric Scott,Jon,Kami,John Boy,David,Lesli Winston (played Ben wife)? I'm a faithful loyal fan of all the Waltons. Thanks,Terri Marie Howard
|
|
|
|
Post by JeriJet on Sept 17, 2011 6:47:29 GMT -5
Hi, where may i write to Eric Scott,Jon,Kami,John Boy,David,Lesli Winston (played Ben wife)? I'm a faithful loyal fan of all the Waltons. Thanks,Terri Marie Howard Go to the first page of this forum (you may have to reload) and scroll down to "Information Board"..... |
|
|
|
Post by PLP927 on Sept 17, 2011 20:27:01 GMT -5
kazk - You're welcome!! Now, are you the one who 'does' the WaltonsDigest??
|
|
|
|
Post by PLP927 on Oct 20, 2011 22:08:38 GMT -5
I think the reason why Erin looked older than Ben towards the end was because she was so much taller and acted more mature than Ben. I can't remember, but I thought Ben was out of school before Erin was. I guess that may not matter because he could have left before he graduated. I still think it is strange that they casted someone to play the fifth child who three years older than the fourth child. Maybe the casting department was confused too on the order.
I'm pretty sure all 7 kids graduated from High School but, was it only John Boy (journalism/writing), Jason (music), Mary Ellen (nursing/doctor), and Elizabeth (botany) who went on to college??
I know, Erin went to finishing school (The Career Girl - S. 5; E. 17) and Ben was talking about possibly going to college but never did (The Move - S. 9; E. 7).
|
|
|
|
Post by dfnmeows44 on Oct 21, 2011 7:34:31 GMT -5
I do not know where Voltage888 got the idea that Ben left school before graduating. Although they did not have a specific graduation episode for Ben, we recall on The Diploma that the Army Lieutenant who came by
the Waltons said that Ben's file was in perfect order. That means he graduated. Also in The Move Cindy's
father, before he was killed a couple episodes later in The Carousel, said that Ben could go to MIT or Caltech. These both require high school diplomas
Sorry PLP927 I did not see your post as it was on the second page.
|
|
|
|
Post by JeriJet on Oct 21, 2011 14:04:07 GMT -5
Season 6, Episode 3 -- Ben has just graduated high school.....
|
|
|
|
Post by dfnmeows44 on Oct 21, 2011 16:58:36 GMT -5
If you saw a Bonanza episode on TVLAND today, I believe it was from 1967, you may have seen Dean
Jaeger who guest starred on The Waltons Founders Day episode as well as someone who looked very much
like Eric Scott(Ben's ) older brother----whoever it was looked very much like Ben did in about the 4th or
5th season. Do we know if Eric has a brother say 8-9 years older?
|
|
|
|
Post by JeriJet on Oct 22, 2011 10:16:08 GMT -5
dfn -- do you remember the name of the character? You MAY mean Mitch Vogel, who played the recurring role Jamie Cartwright -- he had red hair, freckles, etc. -- He was in the same episode with Dean Jagger in 1971, but I don't think he looked much like Eric Scott.....
Every time I think of Dean Jagger, I think of "White Christmas" -- the wonderful Bing Crosby movie....
|
|
|
|
Post by dfnmeows44 on Oct 22, 2011 12:57:41 GMT -5
Dear Jeri Jet,
You are probably right----this was not from 1967 but from 1971 and that would have made Mitch Vogel a
guest star on the Bonanza series. I was thinking of a 1967 episode where Dean Jagger 'may' have appeared but there was an appearance by Jennifer Jones' son on an October 29,1967 Bonanza episode and Dean Jagger may have also been there at that time.
|
|
|
|
Post by Beverly Nault on Oct 22, 2011 17:50:00 GMT -5
Actually, it was confusing, and we even addressed it in the book. I'm not sure if there's really a real answer, Mary likes to say for a while they were even twins and then birth order got switched...but that's not really what happened.
|
|
kaleigh
Typesetter
"Old fool, young fool"
Posts: 71
|
Post by kaleigh on Oct 22, 2011 22:11:12 GMT -5
Actually, it was confusing, and we even addressed it in the book. I'm not sure if there's really a real answer, Mary likes to say for a while they were even twins and then birth order got switched...but that's not really what happened. I think in the early seasons Ben was older, but then Mary McDonough probably grew taller and looked older than Eric Scott, so they probably started writing her as older in the episodes thinking no-one would notice! (But us Walton's fans notice everything)!!!  |
|
|
|
Post by JeriJet on Oct 23, 2011 7:55:35 GMT -5
Dear Jeri Jet, You are probably right----this was not from 1967 but from 1971 and that would have made Mitch Vogel a guest star on the Bonanza series. I was thinking of a 1967 episode where Dean Jagger 'may' have appeared but there was an appearance by Jennifer Jones' son on an October 29,1967 Bonanza episode and Dean Jagger may have also been there at that time. You're confusing me, dfn..... re 10/29/67 episode "The Gentle Ones" -- Jagger was not in it.... no cast member named Scott .... and I don't understand connection you're making to Robert Walker Jr. .... Where are we going with this? I thought it would be easy to check this episode regarding a brother of Eric Scott, but unfortunately don't see a way..... |
|
