Michael Learned Bio, Age, Family, Husband, House, Movies, TV Shows

What is Learned doing now? Biography

Michael Learned is an actress from the United States well-known for playing Olivia Walton in the enduring drama series The Waltons on CBS. She is tied with Tyne Daly for the most wins with four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Dramatic Series. The Waltons took home three of the victories, with Nurse receiving the other.

How old is Learned? Age

The Four-time Best Actress is 85 years old as of 9 April 2024. She was born on 1939 in Washington, D.C., United States.

Childhood, Family – Education

The eldest child of ambassador Bruce Learned and Elizabeth Duane “Betti” (née Hooper), Learned was born in Washington, D.C. The grandpa of the woman’s mother worked as an attaché at the US Embassy in Rome. Dorit, Philippa, Susan, Gretl, and Sabra are her five younger sisters. She spent the first ten years of her childhood on a farm in Connecticut. Learned moved to Austria when she was eleven years old, where her father was employed by the US State Department. She was enrolled in Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, formerly known as Arts Educational School, Tring, Hertfordshire, England, at this time. She became interested in theater around this period and made the decision to pursue acting as her career.

Is Learned still married? – Children

Learned has four marriages under her belt. When she was seventeen years old in 1956, she wed Canadian-American actor Peter Donat, who would become her first husband. In 1972, the marriage was dissolved. Three sons were born to her and her husband, Lucas Donat, is an actor and business executive. Her second marriage, which lasted from 1974 to 1977 and resulted in divorce, was to Glen Chadwick. She wed the actor-screenwriter William Parker in 1979.

That union also ended in divorce. She is married to attorney John Doherty since 1991, and they live in California. Learned claims that she had “hit rock bottom” when she was cast in The Waltons, according to an article she wrote for Daily Word, a newsletter of the Unity Church, in 2002. At the age of 32, Learned came to terms with her alcoholism. She went to her ex-husband Peter Donat’s cabin on the California coast, where she made the decision to “get sober” and began a spiritual journey. In the piece, Learned added that she hasn’t used alcohol since 1977.

Was Learned a drinker?

At the age of 32, Learned came to terms with her alcoholism. She went to her ex-husband Peter Donat’s cabin on the California coast, where she made the decision to “get sober” and began a spiritual journey. In the piece, Learned added that she hasn’t used alcohol since 1977.

Is Learned still working?

Renowned actress Learned debuted in movies and TV shows as Olivia Walton on The Waltons from 1972 and 1981. In order to prevent confusion regarding her gender, she was originally credited as “Miss Michael Learned”. But following the show’s popularity, she gave up the “Miss” title and returned for a single season. Olivia’s illness forced her to leave the program after the seventh season and check herself into an Arizona sanatorium.

American actress Michael Learned
American actress Michael Learned

In the 1980s and 1990s, Lewined also starred in a number of films depicting the reunion of the Waltons. Her portrayal of Olivia Walton earned her four Golden Globe nominations. Her co-star Will Geer and she starred in the made-for-TV film Hurricane in 1974. In 1980, Lewined made her feature film debut in the supporting part of Touched by Love. She later starred in other made-for-television films, including Power (1986) and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993). Despite the fact that the medical drama Nurse was not a ratings hit, she won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress for her role as Nurse Mary Benjamin.

Lewined also starred in the sitcom Living Dolls in 1989 and the drama Hothouse in 1988. In the 1990s, she returned to her Waltons character in a number of reunions and television films. She appeared as Shirley Smith on ABC’s General Hospital, as a guest performer in The Secret World of Alex Mack, and as Judge Helen Turner on All My Children and One Life to Live in 2005. She portrayed Katherine Chancellor in the 2011 season of The Young and the Restless. She returned to television in 2022, starring in Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, a limited series on Netflix. Learned and her husband Peter Donat performed in a number of roles with the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco during the late 1960s. She has made numerous appearances in Broadway, off Broadway, and other stage plays. One such production is the national touring run of On Golden Pond, which ran from 2006 to 2007.

She played the title role of Daisy Werthen in the fall 2008 production of Driving Miss Daisy by Innovation Theatre Works, starring opposite Willis Burks II as Hoke and Dirk Blocker as Daisy’s son Boolie. In March 2013, she played Hoke again at Judson Theatre Company, opposite Lance E. Nichols.

Learned Fil Appearance

Movies

♦ 2018 – Second Acts
♦ 2014 – Unplugged
♦ 2014 – The Parcel
♦ 2014 – After Life
♦ 2009 – An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong
♦ 2007 – The Killer
♦ 2005 – Lethal Eviction
♦ 2005 – Loggerheads
♦ 2000 – For the Love of May
♦ 1997 – Life During Wartime
♦ 1993 – Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
♦ 1986 – Power
♦ 1980 – Touched by Love

TV Shows

♦ 2017 – Life Interrupted
♦ 1998 – A Father for Brittany
♦ 1997 – A Walton Easter
♦ 1995 – A Walton Wedding
♦ 1991 – Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story
♦ 1991 – Keeping Secrets
♦ 1990 – Gunsmoke: The Last Apache
♦ 1988 – Roots: The Gift
♦ 1987 – Mercy or Murder?
♦ 1986 – A Deadly Business
♦ 1986 – Picnic
♦ 1986 – All My Sons
♦ 1984 – The Parade
♦ 1982 – Mother’s Day on Waltons Mountain
♦ 1980 – Nurse
♦ 1980 – A Christmas Without Snow
♦ 1978 – Little Mo