Michael Learned

Her first marriage was to Canadian-American actor Peter Donat in 1956. She was just 17 at the time of her marriage and soon went on to become a mother of three boys. The marriage ended in 1972.

She married Glen Chadwick in 1975 and divorced in 1977. Her third marriage to William Parker also ended in divorce. She married again in 1988. Her fourth husband is a lawyer, John Doherty.

She was born as the oldest daughter of Elizabeth Duane and Bruce Learned in Washington, D.C. Her father was a diplomat in the U.S. State Department. She had five sisters.

The family moved to Austria when Michael was 11 due to her father’s job responsibilities.

She was always interested in pursuing acting as a profession and thus went to Arts Educational School in England.

Married as a teenager, she began appearing in stage productions along with her husband during the 1960s. She mostly performed with the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco.

She was once performing in a production of Noel Coward’s ‘Private Lives’ when producer Lee Rich noticed her. He recognized her potential and cast her as Olivia Walton in his new television series, ‘The Waltons’.

’The Waltons’, which premiered in 1972, was about the story of a large family during the Depression era, and Michael was chosen to play the matriarch, a mother of seven children. Since Michael too had married early and become a mother, she could relate with the character she played.

With her soft features and pleasant though not glamorous looks, the actress fit the role perfectly. She played a patient, soft-spoken and loving woman in the series and soon became synonymous with Olivia Walton. She remained with the series till 1979.

She played the role of Sister Janet in the religious anthology series ‘Insight’ which was about man’s search for meaning, freedom and love. She appeared in two episodes during 1973-74.

She is best known for her portrayal of Olivia Walton in the television series ‘The Waltons’ in which she plays a homemaker who is mother to a large brood. Her performance was critically appreciated and she won several awards and nominations for it.