For nine seasons on CBS, The Waltons was a part of a weekly tradition for television viewers. It was a staple of Thursday nights for so long that many were a little lost when it finally went off the air in 1981.
Based on Spencer's Mountain by Earl Hamner Jr. and a 1963 Henry Fonda movie of the same name, The Waltons revolves around a large family living in rural Virginia. The family, living on Walton's Mountain, is played by Ralph Waite, Michael Learned, Will Geer, Ellen Corby, Richard Thomas, Jon Walmsley, Mary Beth McDonough, Eric Scott, Judy Norton-Taylor, David W. Harper, and Kami Cotler.
The mountain setting is also home to several other townspeople played by Mary Jackson, Helen Kleeb, Joe Conley, Ronnie Claire Edwards, Lynn Hamilton, and Robert Donner.
As the series wore on, the family grew through weddings and births. There were also a few notable cast changes. Thomas left The Waltons as John Boy went off to college and then joined the war effort. Thomas guested twice before being replaced by Robert Wightman in latter seasons. Corby suffered a stroke midway through season five and was absent for much of the 1976-77 season. The stroke was written into the storyline and she returned for the 1978 season but eventually left again in 1979. Geer passed away in 1978 and his character's death was written into the series. Learned left the series in 1979 and made occasional appearances afterward. It was explained that her character had developed tuberculosis and entered a sanitarium.
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