On “The Waltons,” actors Ralph Waite and Michael Learned played husband and wife John Walton Sr. and Olivia Walton — known simply as Pa and Ma — sharing many affectionate scenes as they parented their seven children (via IMDb). But the pair’s chemistry extended beyond filming hours.
In an exclusive 2019 interview with the Daily Mail, Learned commented on the fictional romance that almost became a reality. “What Ralph and I had was something that came across on screen,” she said, calling him her “spiritual husband.”
Though they were close and helped each other through various personal struggles — including her years-long struggle with alcoholism (via Outsider) — Waite and Learned decided not to take their attraction any further so as to avoid potential complications on set.
Learned told Daily Mail, “There was a period where Ralph and I were both single and we did love each other so we made a date and it was going to happen and we got together and we looked at each other and went, ‘Nah, this will never work.'” Ultimately, rather than becoming involved romantically, the pair forged a strong friendship.
In the years since Waite’s death in 2014, Learned has reflected on the romance that could have been. “If we’d been married or something, I might have had a problem with his complicatedness and he might have with mine,” she said (via the Daily Mail).
ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue8Snq56qpJa2r7nEp6tooJ%2BserW0xGaumqSkpLu0ecClpKirpGK1orCMmmSsrKWju6q6xmamp2WjmsFuvs6mmKeblWQ%3D