Some TV series linger in your mind like an old friend long after they have stopped airing. That is true of The Waltons. That beloved 1970s drama on CBS was set in Virginia during the Depression and World War II. It showed the hardships experienced and the love between members of a typical, close-knit rural family in America at that time. The breakout star if this homespun show was Richard Thomas. He played John-Boy Walton. Now, at 74, he still looks remarkably youthful.
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In a recent interview with Page Six, Thomas describes how the role was both a blessing and a burden that he could not shed years afterward. He candidly shared, "I figured, I'd been in the show for five years. It was going to take at least five years to sort of do enough work to start to balance the scales."
Richard Thomas did eventually balance the scales, as he put it. He has had tremendous success on Broadway in plays like Little Foxes and To Kill a Mockingbird.
Today, Richard Thomas looks back on The Waltons with affection and thankfulness. It boosted his visibility and popularity hugely. All in all, it was a dream gig for a young actor.
The TV Landscape Was Very Different Then
As he pointed out in the interview, at that time, there were three major networks; they ruled supreme. Streaming was unheard of. Cable TV was in its early infancy. So the entertainment landscape was vastly unlike it is now, when viewers have so many options. Therefore, popular shows that were airing then could drew enormous audiences.
Thomas explained, "The reach of that was phenomenal, and hard for people to understand today."
Thomas' Memories of the Show Are Fond Ones
Furthermore, Thomas added, "I have nothing but only incredible gratitude, affection and fond memories. [The Waltons] was a wonderful piece of television for its time."
It's admittedly hard to think of certain actors in roles other than the ones that made them household-name famous. To many, Kelsey Grammer will always by Frazier Crane, and Jennifer Aniston will always be Rachel Green. But as Richard Thomas indicated, with time, he and many other stars were able to finally leave those indelible roles behind and successfully branch out.
