I need some insight

[mborotheatregirl]

I am so excited to find this site! Our community theatre is doing "The Homecoming" for Christmas. My children & I have been so blessed to be casted in this production; My oldest son is playing Clay-boy/John-boy (he is Perfect for it) and my middle son is Matt/Jason, my daughter is a townsperson, my daughter's name is Cora Elizabeth and we call her Corabeth! She is only 11 and she is always asked if she was named after Corabeth on the Waltons. Actually that was partly the reason but both her grandmothers were named Cora and she has an aunt Elizabeth.

I am playing Olivia Walton and growing up watching the Waltons I guess I never thought much about her - I always wanted to be Erin or Elizabeth.
I am working on my character research/development for this role as Olivia- I would like to hear your description/perception of her.

Also does anyone know why in The Homecoming Spencers Mountain movie and the play all the names are different with the exception of Olivia & Ike? I know it was a rights issue but why were these two names the same in both?

[Tracey]

Welcome to the forum mbrotheatregirl. You must be really excited having your family in the play for your community.

Earl Hamner's book Spencer's Mountain was bought by Warner Bros. When they decided to make a movie pilot called "The Homecoming". The fact that Hamner was required to change the name of the family from "Spencer" to "Walton" and the names of most of the lead characters since Warner Brothers owned the rights to the Spencers' names did not detract from the telling of the story. So Fielder Cook, the director of "The Homecoming" chose the name "Walton" from the signer of the Declaration of Independence, George Walton for the television show.

Here is the description of Olivia's role:

Olivia is the homemaker in the Walton household, She is also a very religious woman and finds great comfort in reading her bible. She supports her husband John in all that he does and is a very firm mother to her children, not tolerating any nonsense from them, but expecting them to all pitch in and help each other. She is mostly calm and sometimes she'll have a bad day which she'll loses her temper toward to John or the children.


Hopefully this will help you understand.

Tracey

[Brenda]

Lucky you! I would love to see that play.

Anyway, in Earl Hamner's book, Generous Women, he said this of Patricia Neal (who was married to Raold Dahl):

"She asked for only one change. I had named the mother Dorrie after my own mother whose name was Doris. Patricia asked if the name could be changed to Olivia after the daughter the Dahls had lost as a rare complication of measles encephalitis. Of course, I gladly made the change."

Let us know how your play turns out.

Brenda

[ncwaltonsfan]

Good luck with the play and welcome to the board,mborotheatregirl.

Thank you,Brenda,for the information about how Earl Hamner came up with the name Olivia for the mother on "The Waltons".

[Deleted]

"She asked for only one change. I had named the mother Dorrie after my own mother whose name was Doris. Patricia asked if the name could be changed to Olivia after the daughter the Dahls had lost as a rare complication of measles encephalitis. Of course, I gladly made the change."

If this is true, then why was the mother in Spencers Mountain named Olivia? Spencers Moutnain came out before the Homecoming.

[cync]

Dec 1, 2008 14:36:37 GMT -5 @tankeryanker said:

"She asked for only one change. I had named the mother Dorrie after my own mother whose name was Doris. Patricia asked if the name could be changed to Olivia after the daughter the Dahls had lost as a rare complication of measles encephalitis. Of course, I gladly made the change."

If this is true, then why was the mother in Spencers Mountain named Olivia? Spencers Moutnain came out before the Homecoming.

Yes, but remember--The Homecoming wasn't about the Spencers. In creating a "new" family for television, for The Homecoming--last name different--it could make perfect sense to give different first names, too.

[Forum Administrator]

Dec 1, 2008 14:36:37 GMT -5 @tankeryanker said:

"She asked for only one change. I had named the mother Dorrie after my own mother whose name was Doris. Patricia asked if the name could be changed to Olivia after the daughter the Dahls had lost as a rare complication of measles encephalitis. Of course, I gladly made the change."

If this is true, then why was the mother in Spencers Mountain named Olivia? Spencers Moutnain came out before the Homecoming.

Earl Hamner himself would be the best person to answer this question, since he is the one who wrote it. The names in TheHomecoming (the book) were the same names that were in Spencers Mountain (Olivia, Clay-Boy, etc). My best guess is that when Patricia Neal decided to take the part, she had read the book The Homecoming and wanted to use the name Olivia in memory of her deceased daughter.