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Olivia Walton is the no-nonsense baptist mother of 7 children and the loving wife of John Walton. She grew up in Alberene, Virginia under her maiden name, Daly. Olivia cares for her children's moral fiber and does her best to protect them from loose moraled visiters and the evils of alcohol. Although she regularly persists as getting her husband to attend church and be baptised "The Baptism" (s5-ep4) she affords him the right to choose his own path. Olivia has struggled at times to grow beyond her domesticated life. In "The Bicycle" (s1-ep22) she buys a used bike in order to gain a sense of freedom which motivates her to sing in the church choir again; she spreads her wings for a bit on a short birthday airplane ride in "The Air-Mail Man" (s2-ep13); she takes up art classes and painting in "The Romance" (s3-ep5); she becomes a substitute school teacher in "The Sermon" (s4-ep1) and "The Emergence" (s4-ep9); in "The Test" (s4-ep20) she works as a seamstress but turns down a lucrative promotion to stay with her family; in "The Rebellion" (s5-ep13)she gets a perm which results in a makeover disaster; in "The Innocents" (s8-ep4) she helps build a daycare for the working, war time mothers at Pickett's Metal Products; in "The Waiting" (s8-ep9) she volunteers with the Red Cross to be closer to her oldest son John-Boy who is recovering from war injuries in the hospital; in "A Walton Wedding" (Special#5) Olivia attends Boatwright University to earn a degree in American studies; in "A Walton Easter" (Special#6) she has become a full-time school teacher.
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Born: April 9, 1939 When Michael Learned was born, her father had expected a boy and had already picked the name Michael for the expected child but chose to keep the name when his first of 6 daughters were born. Michael grew up in a family involved in American diplomancy. While living overseas she attended an Arts Educational School and chose acting as her profession. At the age of 32 when she was cast as Olivia Walton she had hit rock bottom and finally accepted that she was an alcoholic. She straightened herself out and claims to have been sober since 1977. Being relatively unknown at the time when she was cast in the role of "Olivia", she was billed as "Miss Michael Learned" to help avoid audience confusion. She made the decision to leave The Waltons early, before the end of it's run due to feeling limited by the lack of acting challenges as the mother of the family, or as she calls it the "another-coffee-John?" syndrome. Michael avoided being typecast and then starred in a new series named Nurse in 1981-1982 for which she won her 4th Emmy award. She has appeared many times in a number of daytime soaps. Michael has been married 4 times and has 3 sons with her first husband Peter Donat who appeared as a former beau of Olivia's in the episode "The Prize" (s2-ep7).
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| Michael has won 4 Best Actress Emmys for her television work. She is also a Peoples' Choice Award Winner and four-time Golden Globe Nominee. |
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Watch a 2.5 hour long annotated interview from 2014 by The Archive of American Television.
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Behind the scene still from this interview filmed at her home. |
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Michael has performed a number of times in the soaps. She appears above as Katharine Chancellor in 2011 on The Young and the Restless. In 2010 she played Shirley Smith in General Hospital. She has also appeared in One Life to Live and All My Children. |
 A recent event in 2015 |
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