Then: Michael Learned
Michael Learned landed the role of Olivia Walton, the family matriarch, even though she only had a couple of acting credits under her belt. She was considered an unknown at the time and was billed as Miss Michael Learned. This happened because producers thought people would be confused about her gender! When the show was on the air, she received six Emmy Awards nominations and took home three. In the role, she played the patient and soft-spoken wife, a Southern Baptist woman who never failed to give the seven kids guidance. In 1979, she did not renew her contract, which led to the assumption that she did not want to be typecast. On the show, the character’s sudden disappearance was explained with tuberculosis treatment in a sanatorium. Later on, she guest starred in four out of six The Waltons reunion movies.
Then: Michael Learned
Now: Michael Learned
After The Waltons, Michael Learned remained active in the industry, especially on Broadway and television. She experienced plenty of success for her work on General Hospital as the cancer patient called Shirley Smith. Learned also substituted for Jeanne Cooper on The Young and the Restless. When she was on The Waltons, she was fighting alcohol dependence, but she has now been sober since the year 1977. In 2002, she published a Daily Word article about the spiritual journey she took to sobriety. The star is now married to John Doherty, her fourth husband. She is also the mother of three children she had with Peter Donat, her first husband and co-star.
Now: Michael Learned
