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Post by Brenda on May 18, 2020 17:23:47 GMT -5
I’m posting this here in case some forum members have missed the Patsy Brimmer thread on the Season 6 board. Debbie Gunn’s daughter has joined the forum and has posted in an old thread in response to a question about her mother. Debbie Gunn is one of the two actresses who played Patsy Brimmer on The Waltons. If you’re interested, the thread can be found here: waltonswebpage.proboards.com/thread/6698/patsy-brimmer |
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Post by debgunnhewitt on May 19, 2020 10:57:39 GMT -5
Hi Brenda!
This is amazing! My daughter found this forum and I am so happy to join and bring back some fond memories  I had no idea that anyone would remember me. To be a tiny part of such a ground breaking and long endearing show was a blessing. I will never forget my audition. It was very unusual because normally you would be on a cattle call, for something like this., and it definitely was a cattle call (50 or more people) with this part., then you might get called back with at least 10 people., then called back again with maybe 3 people., then you would wait to hear from your agent if you got the part. I had just about given up on all the cattle calls and call-backs - and I remember the audition prior to the Waltons audition, coming home and throwing my head into my pillow on the bed and screaming "I'm never going to get a good part because we all look alike and we're all a dime a dozen!" ha ha! I was 15 years old. When I showed up for the Waltons audition (the cattle call!) I was abnormally full of spunk and confidence because I told my mom I had nothing to lose and I didn't care! lol! Earl Hamner was one of the 3 or 4 people in the interview room and he hired me on the spot!! I came out of the room, to a room full of faces, trying to hold my excitement in, until we got well enough away from the building. My mom didn't believe it and I was in disbelief and excitement, but my agent called to confirm later that evening, that I got the part of Patsy Brimmer
Thank you again for the opportunity to be on the forum! deb |
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Post by willie on May 19, 2020 11:14:46 GMT -5
Thank you again for the opportunity to be on the forum! deb Loved you on the show! Welcome to the forum.
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Post by Brenda on May 19, 2020 11:55:46 GMT -5
Hi Deb,
Welcome to our little forum where we discuss all things Walton-related. I enjoyed reading the story of your audition for the part of Patsy Brimmer. Earl Hamner was such a nice man. I was lucky to meet him several times, and I thought of him as a good friend. The world lost a treasure when we lost him. I’d love to hear more stories about your time on The Waltons, what it was like to work with the other cast members, etc, if you’d like to share. Thanks again for joining us!
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Post by cinlou on May 19, 2020 12:06:17 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum Deb. Would love to meet you at one of the many Walton reunions!
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Post by debgunnhewitt on May 19, 2020 14:26:17 GMT -5
Thank you so much! I'd love to meet you all too! How did 30 years go by! I would have absolutely come to a reunion! I'm still getting SAG checks - so not certain why I was hard to find - but not sure if they would be too helpful. The info is probably private! Let's hope that with the Covid virus things open back up to be able to have the reunions!
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Post by alanankrett1 on May 19, 2020 14:55:23 GMT -5
Hi Deb
A big warm welcome to the forum !!!!
Don't know what a SAG check is ?
I am from the UK and am curious where in the UK your reunion was and where in the UK your family were from originally ?
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Post by nedandres on May 19, 2020 16:06:15 GMT -5
Hi Deb A big warm welcome to the forum !!!! Don't know what a SAG check is ? I am from the UK and am curious where in the UK your reunion was and where in the UK your family were from originally ? I think it´s Screen Actors Guild! |
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Post by avaleewalton on May 19, 2020 16:12:56 GMT -5
Welcome Debbie!!! 😊So honoured to meet you.
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Post by nedandres on May 19, 2020 16:14:24 GMT -5
Hi Brenda! This is amazing! My daughter found this forum and I am so happy to join and bring back some fond memories I had no idea that anyone would remember me. To be a tiny part of such a ground breaking and long endearing show was a blessing. I will never forget my audition. It was very unusual because normally you would be on a cattle call, for something like this., and it definitely was a cattle call (50 or more people) with this part., then you might get called back with at least 10 people., then called back again with maybe 3 people., then you would wait to hear from your agent if you got the part. I had just about given up on all the cattle calls and call-backs - and I remember the audition prior to the Waltons audition, coming home and throwing my head into my pillow on the bed and screaming "I'm never going to get a good part because we all look alike and we're all a dime a dozen!" ha ha! I was 15 years old. When I showed up for the Waltons audition (the cattle call!) I was abnormally full of spunk and confidence because I told my mom I had nothing to lose and I didn't care! lol! Earl Hamner was one of the 3 or 4 people in the interview room and he hired me on the spot!! I came out of the room, to a room full of faces, trying to hold my excitement in, until we got well enough away from the building. My mom didn't believe it and I was in disbelief and excitement, but my agent called to confirm later that evening, that I got the part of Patsy Brimmer Thank you again for the opportunity to be on the forum! deb Doing somersaults here. So glad to have you here, Deb. I told your daughter that "The Best Christmas" is one of my top three WALTONS episodes, and I love that Patsy kept Jim Bob waiting so she could look nice for Christmas Eve dinner with the Waltons and then no one was there when you got there!!!! I live in Ecuador, and that particular episode speaks so loudly about the importance of family whether near or far. Thanks for being a part of it. Breaks me up every day I see it. My mom and siblings live in the USA. Stay safe and well. My very best greetings to you and yours! Oh, and do you watch THE WALTONS? Some actors do not enjoy watching themselves, so I am wondering. How was your relationship with Nora Marlowe (Mrs. Brimmer)? I was so sad when she died before season 7 started (I think). |
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Post by cinlou on May 19, 2020 16:31:04 GMT -5
I sent you a message through this forum. Carole Johnson is the person to contact for the reunions. I told her that you were here and she asked me to share her phone number with you. Please call her!
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Post by whisper on May 19, 2020 16:41:17 GMT -5
Hi Deb welcome to the forum. |
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Post by debgunnhewitt on May 19, 2020 17:38:09 GMT -5
Hello Alana, Avalee and Ned,
Please let me know if I have names wrong! I haven't been on a forum like this in ages! The only one I've ever been on is when I became a professional photographer 20 years ago! I left a note about the reunion my family had in Essex, England on the Season 6 thread when the show cast a different Patsy. Also, I'm pretty excited to meet people that loved the show. Since I wasn't a regular cast member - but semi-regular for a few shows, I didn't get to experience the union of a regular cast. I do, however, have stories and it's just so exciting that after all these years I can take my memory back to that place and that there are fans out there that still love this special show. Ned, you mentioned being away from home? It looks like you are a missionary? I am a Christian and so appreciate and respect the work of a missionary. Also, like you, I am from another country. I was brought to the U.S. as a toddler and it's very ironic, but as I sit here and type on this forum, I am writing my very first piece for submission to a Christian blog and it's just a poetic piece about searching for and "finding home" in all the places I go or in my surroundings. I've had a few tears writing because I never really got to know, on a deeper level, most of my British family. Overall, home truly is planted in your heart by the God. He's always there, always with you., is what I've come to learn later in life. The fact that I somehow managed to work in the entertainment industry and on a show based on family life during the Great Depression was something I can only look back on now and think that it was meant to be part of my own personal story. Because I was so deeply shy when we first came to the states, my mom put me in dance classes. Dance became my life. It broke me out of my shell, but mostly it gave me something to cling to that was mine, when everyone else had so much family around. I had my parent's and their "British friends." To this day my 83 year old parents have several of their British friends in their life still and everywhere they have lived they have picked up a British Club of sorts! lol. Their early friends were and still are my "aunts and uncles." One day, when I was 14, an agent from New York called my dance studio looking to create a clientele in Southern California. She was searching dance studios and places for kids that had other skills. My parents had no clue what any of this was. The American entertainment industry? They took me on a Sunday afternoon to the studio to speak with this agent and to dance for her. We decided to go to the mall after, so my dad and little brother, Adam, came too. She fell madly in love with the only little boy in the room and that was my brother! ha ha! She signed me and told my mom, "if he ever shows interest, let me know!" He was 8 years old. That's how I ended up in the industry
Ned, The Best Christmas, is definitely a metaphor for the want of family for me, and the chaos that can get in the way at Christmas especially! I can imagine how it strikes a chord in many of us. I hope you get to see your family in the U.S. soon. I am blessed with a husband of 35 years and 3 grown children, 2 of which are married with little ones. I have 3 little grandchildren. Family means the world to me.
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Post by debgunnhewitt on May 19, 2020 17:38:55 GMT -5
Hello Whisper!
I am a dog lover and rescuer too! Thank you for the kind welcome!
deb |
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Post by debgunnhewitt on May 19, 2020 17:56:17 GMT -5
Last entry with names!
Okay I got it straight! Alan! Not Alana! Please forgive me! Can I say I'm old? lol |
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I had no idea that anyone would remember me. To be a tiny part of such a ground breaking and long endearing show was a blessing. I will never forget my audition. It was very unusual because normally you would be on a cattle call, for something like this., and it definitely was a cattle call (50 or more people) with this part., then you might get called back with at least 10 people., then called back again with maybe 3 people., then you would wait to hear from your agent if you got the part. I had just about given up on all the cattle calls and call-backs - and I remember the audition prior to the Waltons audition, coming home and throwing my head into my pillow on the bed and screaming "I'm never going to get a good part because we all look alike and we're all a dime a dozen!" ha ha! I was 15 years old. When I showed up for the Waltons audition (the cattle call!) I was abnormally full of spunk and confidence because I told my mom I had nothing to lose and I didn't care! lol! Earl Hamner was one of the 3 or 4 people in the interview room and he hired me on the spot!! I came out of the room, to a room full of faces, trying to hold my excitement in, until we got well enough away from the building. My mom didn't believe it and I was in disbelief and excitement, but my agent called to confirm later that evening, that I got the part of Patsy Brimmer 
