As Olivia and John Walton from the popular CBS sitcom “The Waltons,” they were portrayed on TV as a loving married couple and among the most well-known in television history.
They lived a far cry from the perfect life they portrayed on television, even though they were always surrounded by kids and each program emphasized the value of love and family.
From 1972 to 1981, “The Waltons” aired for nine seasons, becoming a beloved family favorite.
Living in the imaginary mountain town of Walton’s Mountain, Michael Learned’s Olivia and Ralph Waite’s John were a couple going through hard times during the Great Depression, raising seven children and living with their grandparents.
When they were cast for the show, Learned and Waite found they had a lot in common. This was their first major break in acting, and they both hailed from large families.
Although Learned was raised mostly on a farm in Connecticut with her five younger sisters, she was born in Washington, D.C.
She traveled to Austria when she was 11 years old, where she studied acting at the Arts Educational School, Tring (now known as Tring Park School for the Performing Arts) in Tring, Hertfordshire, England.
However, she didn’t get the part for which she would become most famous until she was 33 years old. Waite, her on-screen husband, was 11 years her senior and the eldest child of a large family who had grown up in White Plains, New York.
Following his graduation from high school, Waite joined the Marines, went to college, and had a brief stint as a social worker before graduating from Yale University with a master’s degree and being ordained as a Presbyterian pastor.
He made the decision to pursue a career in acting, and in his mid-40s, after landing a number of TV and film roles, he was cast in the legendary role of John Walton.
The two clicked right away, and their on-screen chemistry made them popular with fans right away. For her portrayal of Olivia Walton, Learned won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
However, while portraying the ideal family on television Learned had a turbulent personal life. When she was seventeen years old in 1956, she tied the knot for the first time with Canadian-American actor Peter Donat, with whom she had three kids. After 16 years of divorce, she went through two more marriages before finding a partner with whom she could genuinely be happy.
After a three-year marriage to actor-screenwriter William Parker in 1979, Learned remarried in 1974 to Glenn Chadwick.
Learned acknowledged being the victim of domestic abuse by a long-term partner—whom she declined to identify—in a 2017 interview. According to Closer Magazine, she claimed that after being choked by her partner, she realized she had to leave because she was no longer able to give “the other cheek.”
Waite assisted her in overcoming her addiction to alcohol following her divorce from her first husband, which was another challenge in her life.
“When the show started, I was drinking a lot, and Ralph saved my life.” Really,” she murmured.
She described how, on their breaks, they would frequently go out to lunch, returning to the set inebriated. She was drinking too much, so after a while, Waite “straightened himself out,” encouraging her to follow suit. She then went to her ex-husband Donat’s remote cottage on the California coast to sober up, and she hasn’t touched alcohol since.
Waite married three times and experienced his fair share of pain; he acknowledged that the effects of his divorces were so severe that he never allowed himself to think of getting married again.
With their most recent marriages—to 12-year-old lawyer John Doherty and 20-year-old lawyer Kerry Shear, respectively—the two did indeed find bliss.
However, Learned eventually acknowledged in 2019, five years after Waite passed away, what admirers had always suspected: that she and Waite were madly in love.
She described how, on their breaks, they would frequently go out to lunch, returning to the set inebriated. She was drinking too much, so after a while, Waite “straightened himself out,” encouraging her to follow suit. She then went to her ex-husband Donat’s remote cottage on the California coast to sober up, and she hasn’t touched alcohol since.
Waite married three times and experienced his fair share of pain; he acknowledged that the effects of his divorces were so severe that he never allowed himself to think of getting married again.
With their most recent marriages—to 12-year-old lawyer John Doherty and 20-year-old lawyer Kerry Shear, respectively—the two did indeed find bliss.
However, Learned eventually acknowledged in 2019, five years after Waite passed away, what admirers had always suspected: that she and Waite were madly in love.
Although their on-screen chemistry is evident, their decision to keep their sentiments to themselves demonstrates their commitment to the program, which has charmed millions of viewers and is still broadcast on television today.
