Friday, February 14, 2014

Ralph Waite Dead: 'The Waltons' Patriarch Dies At 85

Ralph Waite, who played the kind-and-steady patriarch of a tight-knit rural Southern family on the TV series "The Waltons," died Thursday, his manager said. He was 85.

Waite, who lived in the Palm Springs area, died at midday, manager Alan Mills said. Mills, who did not know the cause of death, said he was taken aback because Waite had been in good health and still working.

Waite appeared last year in episodes of the series "NCIS," in which he played the dad of star Mark Harmon's character. He also appeared in "Bones" and "Days of Our Lives."

"The Waltons," which aired on CBS from 1972 to 1981, starred Waite as John Walton, and Richard Thomas played his oldest son, John-Boy, an aspiring novelist. The gentle family drama was set in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia.

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