Home   >   Movie Stars   >   W   >   Ralph Waite

Ralph Waite

Ralph Waite achieved stardom as the stalwart TV homesteader John Walton in the homespun Depression-era series The Waltons. The Earl Hamner, Jr series made Waite a household name. Waite also directed several episodes of the series during its nine seasons.

With a move to the West Coast, Waite began collecting bit parts in prestigious movies, including Cool Hand Luke, Five Easy Pieces and the coming-of-age Last Summer. His other screen credits include Cliffhanger, The Bodyguard, Desperate Hours, The Stone Killer, The Magnificent Seven Ride!, The Sporting Club" and A Lovely Way to Die.

Outside the Walton patriarchal role, Waite appeared on television in Roots, for which he received an Emmy nomination, the title role in The Secret Life of John Chapman, OHMS, Angel City and The Gentleman Bandit. Waite's second television series, The Mississippi, was produced by his own company, Ralph Waite Productions. Other television appearances include the recurring role of Father Matt in Days of Our Lives, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Cleaner, Cold Case, The Practice and a recurring role as Malcolm Dietrich on Murder One.

Waite was once again reunited with the Walton family members in A Walton Easter, A Walton Wedding, A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion, A Day for Thanks on Walton's Mountain, Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain, A Wedding on Walton's Mountain and The Waltons: A Decade of the Waltons.

In the theater, Waite made his professional New York debut in a production of The Balcony at the Circle in the Square and was seen on Broadway in Blues for Mister Charlie and alongside Faye Dunaway in Hogan's Goat. Other stage appearances include: The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, Death of a Salesman, The Gin Game, Ancestral Voices and This Thing of Darkness, as well as Shakespearean characters Claudius in Hamlet and Orsino in Twelfth Night. Notable was his role as Pozzo in Waiting for Godot, which was television by PBS, and the Broadway production of The Father. Recent film and television credits include a lead role on the HBO series Carnivale, recurring roles on NCIS and Days of Our Lives along with guest appearances on such hit series Grey's Anatomy and Bones.

Waite founded the Los Angeles Actors Theatre and served as its artistic director He currently resides in Palm Desert with his wife, Linda East.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2010.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Ralph Waite Facts

OccupationActor
BirthdayJune 22, 1928 (95)
SignCancer
BirthplaceWhite Plains, New York, USA

Selected Filmography

Not available.