| WALTONS DIGEST 5-98:
Hi there everyone, I hope you've all had a great week. I do seem to have stumped everyone about the reference to the two Waltons anniversaries, although a few of you had a go at it. The first one is that 1998 is the 20th anniversary of Will Geer's death. Isn't it amazing that it has been that long? What Walton fan can forget that at the end of one season Grandpa was still alive, then just before they were about to come back to begin filming, he died. The first episode back after his death, of course, has that wonderful tribute to Grandpa and to Will Geer the actor. It must have been very difficult filming for the cast members. He seems to have been very popular amongst them all. The second special anniversary, is that 1998 marks the 35th anniversary of Spencer's Mountain, which all good Waltons fans know was the film that was based on Earl Hamner's first novel about his family. When you look at this film it is quite different from the series, but the family sentiments are just the same. Both these anniversaries will be featured some time in 1998, in the Blue Ridge Chronicle, which is the newsletter of the Waltons fan club, which I belong to. There are also two other Waltons fan clubs, one of which I have just joined, and details about joining can be found on Ralph's official site at: http://www.the-waltons.com/organiz.html Well that's about it from me this week. Talk to you all again soon.
Goodnight everyone, Karen. Dear Karen and fellow Digest Members: Just a short note to let you know I am feeling much better these days. I am back at my computer for short periods of time. I can not sit to long as my back starts to ache. I had good report from Specialist on Thursday, and I am feeling much better about the whole thing. Thank you all so much, who sent me Get well wishes by email and some really great electronic cards. They are so neat. It is really appreciated that you all took the time to think of me. I feel like I have so many good friends out there in Cyber World. Well we, being Glenn, Spencer (our grandson) and myself, are looking forward to going to New Jersey for February 28th. Doctor gave the OK. We will be seeing Ralph Waite in a play "The Death of a Salesman". Then after the play there is a SURPRISE RECEPTION for him. I am looking forward to meeting Ralph as John is my favorite character of The Waltons There will be about thirty some fans coming. Jane & Earl Hamner plan on attending. Also Mary McDonough and Michael Learned will be there. I hear some others are hoping to come as well. So it will be a nice amount for a more personal visit, not like the crowd in October at the Mountain. I hope this finds you all in Good Health and Happiness and that you all have a Happy Valentines Day and remember to tell the ones you love how much you care. Take care and I will be writing soon, about how it went at New Jersey. Sincerely Dot P CANADA
KAREN'S COMMENT: Hi Dot. I'm so pleased to hear that you are feeling better. Take care now won't you. I do hope you'll write and let us know all about the play. I can just imagine Ralph Waite in Death of a Salesman. What is the surprise reception for? It sounds like something from "This Is Your Life!" I think you have that show over there too? The anniversaries you are talking about are Olivia and John's 25th, and Ike and Corabeth's anniversary. Elizabeth and Aimee fixed them a dinner and Rose taught Ike to dance. Corabeth thought Ike was having an affair because she found Rose's hankie with perfume on it. Donna KAREN'S COMMENT: Good try Donna. Yes I remember those wedding anniversaries being shown too, and I think Olivia and John's 20th one as well. Poor Corabeth did get jealous didn't she.
Now to a couple of things from Digest 4-98 -- Robin was wondering about the songs sung by Jason. Yes, they were indeed composed by Jon Walmsley. When I had the pleasure of interviewing Judy Norton ("Mary Ellen") back in 1990 she said that as Jon was very musical, the story line was altered to accommodate this and so there are several instances of his compositions appearing during the series. Incidentally, a Digest or two ago, it was remarked that occasionally some TV stations showed episodes out of order, and that reminded me that Judy had told me that although The Foundling was the very first episode shown, it wasn't the first one they shot..... I was just about to ask her which was the first one they made, when the camera crew shouted they were ready and we started the interview, so I never found out. Back in 1974 when the BBC here in the UK started to show The Waltons, the order of the first 30 episodes was quite wrong, although I didn't become aware of this until 1986 when Channel 4 TV started The Waltons in a different order. I complained to Channel 4 and the reply was that this was the "official" order. So why the BBC had mixed them up all those years ago is still a mystery. There are some discrepancies in the story line which occurred as the series developed which I found intriguing. One of these occurs at the end of The Awakening (Season 2 No 15) made in 1974 when the closing narration says :"Mary Ellen's new found maturity was with her one day then gone the next; in time it was to come to stay. Today she lives in Richmond, Virginia, the wife of a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and the mother of two sons. We see each other when we can, and our talk is apt to return to those days during the Depression which these many years later still seem filled with wonder". As we subsequently discover as the series progresses, Mary Ellen doesn't do any of this but marries Curt Willard, a doctor, and then near the end of the series, she marries Jonesy, a vet! I suppose it was one of those things that just slipped through when there's a team of writers working on a series. Incidentally (and here's a "plug"!) I've just added a seventh page to my Waltons Miscellany website which has the cast list (of main characters). Not absolutely complete, but if anyone has any additions (or corrections) please e-mail me! Bye for now! Arthur D www.surflink.co.uk/users/arthurdungate/index.htm KAREN'S COMMENT: I'm blushing at your praise Arthur!!! Seriously though, I hope the problems been fixed for you now. Can you imagine how frustrated Arthur must have been feeling to know there was a digest there, but to open it and find only the first line! For those of us not involved in TV production, it's very hard to understand why programs are shot one way, then aired another and so on. I wonder if it's what they (programmers) think will appeal more to the people, or which will have more impact.
I really like the way you've added each supporting cast member's first appearance. Looking through it brought me to one character I particularly enjoyed, and that was Zuleika Dunbar. I always loved the way Grandpa loved her flirting with him, and that Grandma's mouth would settle into a straight line of disapproval anytime she was mentioned. The only other cast member I can think to add, Arthur, would be Paul Northridge, since he married Erin.
Hi Karen: I've written once or twice but never introduced myself. My name is Jeannine (sounds like Janeen) and I am from San Diego, California. I work in marketing for a large mortgage/financial services company. My husband Mike is a U.S. Marine (we are praying he doesn't get sent to Iraq), and we have two cats. We both really enjoy watching the Waltons episodes airing on the Family Channel. Don't know if the movie Titanic has hit in Australia yet, but one of the stars of that movie, Gloria Stuart who plays "Old Rose" was spotted in the Walton's episode "The Woman", where John Boy falls in love with one of his favorite writers, and John and Olivia celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. When John goes to buy a new dress for Olivia as a surprise, the shopkeeper helping him select the dress is played by Gloria Stuart. Thought this tidbit might be of interest to you Titanic and Waltons fans out there. Keep up the good work! Look forward to receiving the digest at my new address! Sincerely, Jeannine Peregrine KAREN'S COMMENT: Hi Jeannine, thanks for the email address update. You should have this digest sent to that address. Yes Titanic is doing very well out here. My 14 year old, James, has seen it and was most impressed by it. I'm glad you pointed out that she was in The Waltons. I remember the episode you mention. Actually Gloria Stuart has been nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Titanic (supporting actress) and James thinks that it will go to either her or Kim Bassinger.
Also, regarding the recent special---I think it was called the Reunion or some such. It was set in 1969 when the first man walked on the moon. The dates didn't add up for me. I Love dates. Zeb Walton---cemetery stone says 1865-1941. Mary Ellen's baby was born about 1939 or 40. The baby looks about 1 or 2 when Zeb died. Mary Ellen's 1st husband was killed in Pearl Harbor Dec 1941, although he shows up later alive about the time she wants to marry someone else. So......was her son about 30 in the reunion show????????????? Elizabeth was 13 in 1941.........so she would have been born about 1928. In one show (it was 1942 and the war had just started) John said he and Olivia had been married 26 years (which would have been 1916). He also said John Boy was a baby when he, Daddy Walton) went to war (WW 1). The reunion show set in 1969 had John Boy's wife having their 1st child. That would have put John Boy about 53 years old. They celebrated John and Olivia's 40th anniversary in 1969 which meant they would have been married in 1929. If that was true, John Boy would have been about 11 when WW II started. I realize the TV show is based on a real story. I'm using "TV facts" here and I'm sure the true facts are very different. I also watch Little House On the Prairie and I really know how far fetched that show is. It's cute and wholesome and I truly enjoy it. I know more about the real Laura Ingalls Wilder than I know about myself so I know that show is 99% made up by someone other than Laura. Marcy KAREN'S COMMENT: The dates in A Waltons Easter don't add up for a lot of us Marcy, and if you have a look back through the old digests you will find a lot of comment about it. You're right about Little House too, but they are both such wonderful shows, with such wonderful writing that it really doesn't bother me. The things in the movie you mentioned which did bother me though was that there was no mention of John Curtis, and also in the Waltons Thanksgiving Reunion movie that Charlie, Cindy and Ben's son, was non existent.
Hi Karen and Fellow Walton Fans, I am so glad that TNN will be airing the Waltons! I wrote to the Family Channel, but didn't hear back from them. Does anyone have any news about Robert Wightman? What else he has been in, where he lives, etc.? I have a few more Walton sightings to report :) I spotted Ellen Corby in a movie called "Till the End of Time" which starred Guy Madison and Robert Mitchum. It was filmed in 1946. She played a guest at a neighborhood party. The film was the story of three returning WWII veterans. Also, I spotted Helen Kleeb, Miss Mamie, in an I Love Lucy episode. She played a secretary at MGM in a Hollywood episode. I saw Mary Jackson, Miss Emily, in an Andy Griffith episode. She played the wife of a farmer, and in an episode of Mary Tyler Moore, when she played the mother of one of Mary's dates. The little boy who played John-Curtis, I am not sure which one of the Reed twins he was, well, he played young Vinton Harper on an episode of Mama's Family. Take care, Silvia KAREN'S COMMENT: Interesting that you spotted one or both of the Reed twins. What year would that have been? Are either of them acting does anyone know?
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