Ellen Corby Movies

America's favorite family, now grown with kids of their own, reunites for an old-fashioned Thanksgiving. Set in the wake of JFK's assassination, the gathering provides each family member time to look back upon their lives. This heart-warming family drama marks the return of Richard Thomas to the role of John-Boy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Featuring a reunion of most of the cast of the long-running family series, The Waltons, this touching drama centers on the attempt of the now grown and scattered brood of Olivia and John Walton to regroup for an old fashioned family holiday. Unfortunately, John-Boy is not among them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The cast of the long-running Waltons TV series (minus Richard Thomas as John Boy, here replaced by John Wightman) are reunited for the TV movie Day of Thanks on Walton's Mountain. The year is 1946: the clan gathers to compare notes on Thanksgiving. We learn that Jim-Bob (David W. Harper) is trying to open his own business; Jason (John Walmsley) plans to close his restaurant and pursue a musical career; and matriarch Olivia Walton (originally played by Michael Learned, but never seen in this film) is lying in the hospital, with husband John (Ralph Waite) by her side. What suspense there is concerns the possibility that John Walton may not make it home in time to carve the Turkey. Originally telecast November 22, 1982, Day of Thanks etc. was the last of several Waltons feature-length films...for the time being, that is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It is the spring of 1944 on Walton's Mountain. As war correspondent John-Boy (Robert Wightman) prepares for his return trip overseas, his brother Jim-Bob (David W. Harper) is trying to figure out a way to avoid being chosen as his high school's class valedictorian; sister Erin (Mary Elizabeth McDonough) receives some dispiriting news from her erstwhile fiance; and brother Ben (Eric Scott) bids a tearful farewell to his wife and baby as he heads off to the Pacific front. Former series regular Ellen Corby makes a return appearance as Grandma Walton, while featured among Jim-Bob's classmates is a young, pre-Mask Eric Stolz. Although this is technically the final episode of The Waltons' eighth season, the "official" finale, a two-hour retrospective titled A Decade of the Waltons, was telecast by CBS on May 22, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This final episode of The Waltons' sixth season marks the return of series regular Ellen Corby, appearing as Grandma Walton for the first time since suffering a stroke in 1977. Back at home after a long hospital stay, Grandma is still unable to speak and is very limited in her movements. She's also quite peeved over the fact that the family won't allow her to even try to recover on her own, and insists upon waiting on her hand and foot. Meanwhile, young Elizabeth Walton (Kami Cotler) discovers she has an admirer in the form of her shy, chubby classmate Clarence (Kenny Marquis). The episode's closing line is one of the truly classic moments in TV history. Ironically, "Grandma Comes Home" also represents the final appearance of Will Geer as Grandpa Walton; Geer died shortly after filming completed, in the summer of 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Boy, Ben, and the rest of the rosy-cheeked Walton clan are back for this Christmas-oriented heartwarmer, which involves the family's efforts to help two WWII refugees from England contact their mother. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

While driving through a particularly treacherous stretch of woods, Olivia (Michael Learned) and her two youngest children Elizabeth (Kami Cotler) and Jim-Bob (David W. Harper) are stranded by a flat tire. In their efforts to find their way home, the three Waltons end up getting lost. After briefly taking refuge in a cabin owned by a bootlegging family, they are driven even deeper into the bear-infested woods--and now, storm clouds are ominously gathering on the horizon. Without tipping off the climax of this episode, it can be noted that the "hero" turns out be the least expected candidate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in Jefferson County, VA, in the year 1935 or thereabouts, season three of The Waltons opens with the two-parter "The Conflict," in which oldest Walton son, John-Boy (Richard Thomas), is shot while trying to protect a relative. Fortunately he survives the ordeal and is packed off to his freshman year at Boatwright College right on schedule. Meanwhile, John-Boy's mother, Olivia (Michael Learned), considers enrolling in art school, and his 15-year-old sister Mary Ellen (Judy Norton Taylor) makes the decision to become a nurse. Of the many individual story strands, there are a few standouts, notably the episode in which Grandpa and Grandma Walton (Will Geer and Ellen Corby) move off the family mountain after an argument with son John (Ralph Waite); and at season's end, John is working himself into pneumonia while trying to keep his lumber mill active and prosperous in the depths of the depression. Also, the Waltons draw even closer together than unusual when Grandpa suffers a heart attack; and Ronnie Claire Edwards becomes a regular in the role of Corabeth Godsey, the alcoholic wife of storekeeper Ike Godsey (Joe Conley). ~ All Movie Guide

A post-Andy Griffith Show, pre-Happy Days Ron Howard) guest stars as Seth Turner, the best friend of Jason Walton (Jon Walmsley). Seth has always wanted to learn to play an instrument in his father's band, but it looks as if he won't have the time; he has been diagnosed with leukemia. The concept of death--and the unfairness of it all--is an extremely difficult one for Jason to accept, and it is up to Grandpa to help the boy through this crisis. Featured in the cast as Dr. McIvers is Ron Howard's father Rance Howard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season two of The Waltons takes place sometime in the mid-1930s in Jefferson County, VA, home of the large and loving Walton family. As in season one, the stories are told from the viewpoint of oldest son John-Boy Walton (Richard Thomas), who, in the course of this season, graduates from high school and prepares for college -- and, hopefully, a professional writing career somewhere down the line. John-Boy's dad, John (Ralph Waite), continues to keep the wolf from the door with income provided by the family's lumber mill that he runs with patriarch Zeb "Grandpa" Walton (Will Geer). Newcomers to the series include Hal Williams and Erin Blunt as Harley and Jody Foster, two additions to the county's ever-expanding black population. Major story developments include John-Boy's crisis of conscience when he sees family friend Yancey Tucker (Robert Donner) stealing chickens and a more serious dilemma arising from an accident at the sawmill which leaves John-Boy temporarily blind; two blossoming romances, one between Jody Foster and Verdie Grant (Lynn Hamilton), the other between the Rev. Fordwick (John Ritter) and schoolteacher Rosemary Hunter (Mariclare Costello) (both couples would eventually wed); Walton daughter Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor), all of 14 years old, experiencing her first serious romance with an older boy; the belated honeymoon of John Walton and wife Olivia (Michael Learned) at Virginia Beach; and younger Walton son Jason (Jon Walmsley) experiencing his first brush with mortality when his best friend, Seth Turner (Ron Howard), becomes terminally ill. ~ All Movie Guide

In the first half of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), John-Boy (Richard Thomas) is afforded the opportunity to qualify for a scholarship at Boatwright University--and, as icing on the cake, his former girlfriend Jenny (Sian Barbara Allen) is paying a return visit to Walton's Mountain. But joy turns to despair when John-Boy is injured in an accident, which may render him permanently blind. Meanwhile, Jason (Jon Walmsley) is beginning to have second thoughts about accepting a job from the dithery Baldwin Sisters (Mary Jackson, Helen Kleeb). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Introduced to viewers in the 1971 TV movie The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, the Walton family of Jefferson County, VA, began showing up on a weekly basis as The Waltons had its first season. In the middle of the Great Depression (1934 or thereabouts), the Waltons, headed by dad John (Ralph Waite) and mom Olivia (Michael Learned), manage to keep home and hearth together with income from the lumber mill run by John and his father Zeb (Will Geer), better known as Grandpa to the seven Walton youngsters. Grandpa of course lives on Walton mountain with the rest of the brood, as does his wife Esther (Ellen Corby, aka "Grandma"). The season's episodes are narrated by series creator Earl Hamner Jr., who recalls the events through the eyes of the Walton's oldest son John-Boy (Richard Thomas), a high-school student who aspires to be a writer. The remaining Walton kids include Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor), Jim-Bob (David W. Harper), Elizabeth (Kami Cotler), Jason (Jon Walmsley), Erin (Mary Beth McDonough), and Ben (Eric Scott).

Among the other regulars introduced during the series' freshman season are the Reverend Matthew Fordwick (John Ritter), who makes his first appearance in the episode titled "The Sinner;" schoolteacher Rosemary Hunter (Mariclare Costello), not yet Mrs. Fordwick; and storekeeper Ike Godsey (Joe Conley), Sheriff Bridges (John Crawford), town gossips Mamie and Emily Baldwin (Helen Kleeb, Mary Jackson), and the Walton's black neighbor Verdie Grant (Lynn Hamilton). In the opening episode "The Foundling," the Waltons briefly take care of a little deaf girl. In subsequent episodes, the kids try to hide the family calf when John decides to sell it, John-Boy has a crisis of conscience when he goes on his first hunt, the family wins the confidence of a tough street kid who has run away from a nearby CCC camp, a group of Jewish refugees show up on Walton's Mountain after fleeing Nazis, Mary Ellen is smitten by a wandering troubador, schoolteacher Miss Hunter risks her job by teaching Evolution, and Sissy Spacek guest stars as a troubled young girl who tries to trap John-Boy into marriage. In the two-episode season finale "The Easter Story," the family is plunged into despair when Olivia Walton is stricken with polio. ~ All Movie Guide