Richard Earl Thomas (born June 13, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for his leading role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama series The Waltons for which he won an Emmy Award.[2] He also received another Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe Award nominations for that role.[3]
Thomas has a birthmark on his left cheek. He has stated that this led to his being turned down for a role in a television commercial in his youth.[5]
Thomas was educated at two private day schools for boys, first at Allen-Stevenson School,[1] and then at the now-defunct McBurney School, both in his home district of Manhattan, New York City.
He was a student at Columbia College, the undergraduate college of Columbia University, where he majored in Chinese before switching to the English department.[6] After he landed the role in The Waltons, he left Columbia during his junior year because he had to commit to the role full-time in Los Angeles.[7][8]
Beginning in 1972, Thomas became recognized worldwide for his portrayal of John-Boy Walton in the TV series The Waltons, based on the life story of writer Earl Hamner, Jr. He appeared in the original CBS television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story in 1971,[13] which inspired the commissioning of the otherwise largely recast series, and then played the role continuously in 122 episodes. In March 1977, Thomas left the series and his role was taken over by Robert Wightman. However, Thomas returned to the role in three Waltons TV movies in the 1990s, including A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion in 1993.[14] Thomas won an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series in 1973.[15]
In 1980, Thomas made his first Broadway appearance in more than 12 years when he was a replacement in Lanford Wilson's Fifth of July.[25] In the same year, he appeared as Shad (the young farmer entrusted to employ mercenaries to save his planet from Sador and his invading forces) in Battle Beyond the Stars.[26]
In 1987, he appeared on stage in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., in the one-man tour-de-force Citizen Tom Paine (playing Paine "like a star-spangled tiger, ferocious about freedom and ready to savage anyone who stands in his way," in a staging of Howard Fast's play set in the bicentennial year of the United States Constitution).[27] In 1990, he joined with Nathan Lane at the Mark Taper Forum[28] in Los Angeles for Terrence McNally's The Lisbon Traviata in the role of Stephan. In 1993, he played the title role in a Shakespeare Theater stage production of Richard II in Washington, D.C.[29]
As of January 2023, Thomas has been credited on Audible for narrating over 340 books.
Personal life
Thomas married Alma Gonzales in 1975.[43] In 1976, they had a son. Triplet daughters were born in 1981.[44] Thomas and Gonzales divorced in 1993.[45]
Thomas married Santa Fe art dealer Georgiana Bischoff on November 20, 1994[44][46] and their son was born in 1996. Richard adopted Bischoff's two daughters who were from previous marriages.[44] Thomas and Bischoff currently reside in New York.[47]
Martin Hayter Short is a Canadian and American actor, comedian, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television shows. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. Short was awarded as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2019.
Lucie Désirée Arnaz is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
George Gaynes was a Finnish-born American singer, actor, and voice artist. Born to Dutch and Russian-Finnish parents in the Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire, he served in the Royal Netherlands Navy during World War II, and subsequently emigrated to the United States, where he became a citizen and began his acting career on Broadway.
JoAnne Worley is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. Worley is widely known for her work on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
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Ibsen Dana Elcar was an American television and film character actor. He appeared in about 40 films as well as in the 1960s television series Dark Shadows as Sheriff George Patterson and the 1980s and 1990s television series MacGyver as Peter Thornton, MacGyver's immediate supervisor at the Phoenix Foundation. Elcar had appeared in the pilot episode of MacGyver as Andy Colson before assuming the role of Thornton.
Michael O'Keefe is an American actor, known for his roles as Danny Noonan in Caddyshack, Ben Meechum in The Great Santini, for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Darryl Palmer in the Neil Simon movie The Slugger's Wife. He also appeared as Fred on the television sitcom Roseanne from 1993 to 1995.
Terrence Vaughan Mann is an American theatre, film and television actor and baritone singer. He is best known for his appearances on the Broadway stage, which include Lyman in Barnum, The Rum Tum Tugger in Cats, Inspector Javert in Les Misérables, The Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Chauvelin in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, Charlemagne in Pippin, Mal Beineke in The Addams Family, Charles Frohman / Captain James Hook in Finding Neverland, and The Man in the Yellow Suit in Tuck Everlasting. He has received three Tony Award nominations, an Emmy Award nomination, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.
Jeffrey Charles McCarthy is an American actor and director.
Robert Prosky was an American actor. He became a well-known supporting actor in the 1980s with his roles in Thief (1981), Christine (1983), The Natural (1984), and Broadcast News (1987).
Henry Burk Jones was an American actor of stage, film, and television.
Mario Cantone is an American comedian, writer, actor, and singer best known for his numerous stage shows. He also played Anthony Marentino in Sex and the City and Terri in Men In Trees (2006-2008). His style is fast-paced and energetic, with much of his humor coming from his impersonations of characters ranging from family members to celebrities to stereotypes.
Otto Kruger was an American actor, originally a Broadway matinee idol, who established a niche as a charming villain in films, such as Hitchcock's Saboteur. He also appeared in CBS's Perry Mason and other TV series. He was the grandnephew of South African president Paul Kruger.
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Maryann Plunkett is an American actress and singer. Plunkett made her Broadway debut playing Sister Agnes in Agnes of God. In 1987, she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as Sally Smith in Me and My Girl. In addition, she has made appearances in various films and series’ such as Little Women, Manifest, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and Dr. Death.
David Winters was an English-born American actor, dancer, choreographer, producer, distributor, director and screenwriter. At a young age, he acted in film and television projects such as Lux Video Theatre,Naked City; Mister Peepers,Rock, Rock, Rock, and Roogie's Bump. He received some attention in Broadway musicals for his roles in West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959). In the film adaptation of West Side Story (1961) he was one of the few to be re-cast. It became the highest grossing motion picture of that year, and won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
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Sian Barbara Allen is a former American actress who mainly appeared on television throughout the 1970s. A native of Reading, Pennsylvania, Allen studied at the Pasadena Playhouse before appearing in her first screen role on the series O'Hara, U.S. Treasury in 1971. She went on to appear in numerous television series in the ensuing years, including recurring appearances on The Waltons, Gunsmoke, and Ironside.
Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rico-born American actress, dancer, and singer. Throughout her career spanning over 70 years, she has appeared in numerous film, television, and theater projects. Moreno's notable acting work includes supporting roles in the golden age of Hollywood musical films Singin' in the Rain (1952), The King and I (1956) and West Side Story (1961). She continued acting in films such as Popi (1969), Carnal Knowledge (1971), The Four Seasons (1981), I Like It Like That (1994) and the cult film Slums of Beverly Hills (1998). In 2021, she played Valentina in Steven Spielberg's film adaptation of West Side Story.
↑ Louise Sweeney (1987). "On stage: reliving historic turning points. Howard Fast's 'Citizen Tom Paine'." The Christian Science Monitor. March 12, 1987)
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