- Welcome back to another segment of
"Behind the Scenes of The Waltons."
Today I continue my conversation with Martha Nix.
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Now, interesting a question for you
because many times the fans have mentioned how many people
did crossover roles between "The Waltons"
and "Little House on the Prairie."
Of course, I never had a chance to work on the show
for obvious reasons, but you did,
you did a couple of episodes and how did you find,
like, behind the scenes those two sets?
- Again, remember, I'm logging it as a child.
I think maybe I did both my "Little House" episodes
after "The Waltons."
My second one I was 15,
so my first one I was maybe 13.
The second episode I did Michael directed,
not Michael Learned.
- Michael Landon, right.
- Yes.
I just felt so cared for and he was such an encourager,
such a great communicator.
You hear people say they were an actor's director.
I mean, he was, but he was just so genuinely kind.
I loved working for him.
It was fun to be on set there.
I mean, the backlot there was going to Simi Valley
right near Magic Mountain there was dirt and all that.
The school, there were a lot more kids in school.
Even when we had extras for the school scene
it was a larger group of kids.
The person who stood out the most to me was Alison Arngrim.
I didn't have a lot of scenes with her,
but she would just go out of her way to make sure
that the guest actors were talked to and cared for.
She was just so genuinely kind,
exact opposite of her character.
And she pokes fun of that now.
It was different, I mean, I enjoyed doing "Little House."
My scenes predominantly were with the character Albert,
and he's a really quiet guy in person.
You really have to draw it out of him.
He's just quiet, he's unassuming,
and I'm not quiet and unassuming.
I played his girlfriend in both episodes,
which is not comfortable when you're, like,
13 and 15-years-old to play those roles.
So there was just not intentional awkwardness,
but that's just how it is
when you're playing someone's girlfriend for seven days.
And the actor who I left Albert for
on the second episode,
yes, I had two boyfriends in one episode,
but he was on "Days of Our Lives" with me.
And then he was my first kiss on "Aloha Paradise,"
which was a series that only lasted I think five episodes
with Debbie Reynolds.
It was like kind of supposed to be the Fantasy Island.
It was kind of that Fantasy Island
where they'd have revolving actors on it,
but Debbie Reynolds was the lead character on it,
but I was Sharon Hofstadter.
Don't know why I remember that name,
but my boyfriend whom I had to kiss, first stage kiss,
was on that show also.
So he was on "Days," "Little House"
and then on "Aloha Paradise" with me.
So we already knew each each other.
His name was Stephen Manley.
And so that was, like, kind of a homecoming thing of
we had reconnected from our childhood,
but, again, you're fitting into
a new cast that's been established for years.
And they were already in those shifts of
Laura was now teaching.
She was no longer the kid on the show,
and they had to broaden the second Nellie per se.
And so it's just all these moving parts,
but the main standout while I was on "Little House"
was Michael Landon hands down.
And it was funny because as I was shifting from
my teenage actor into adult actor in that,
like, 17, 18 around, it was probably between 16 and 20
I heard either I was too Hollywood,
or in the other times too "Little House" or "Waltons."
It was like nobody could figure out
where my niche was in casting me,
but it was one of those things of
it was mainly "Little House."
She's too "Little House."
It wasn't really the one but she's too "Little House,"
so it almost ended up being this
I don't wanna say curse because it wasn't a curse.
I loved working, but from a casting standpoint
they had me branded as too "Little House"
'cause I had done two "Little House" episodes.
- Hmm., interesting.
So then your sort of transition out of acting,
was that around that time then?
- So basically I was blacklisted.
I had stuck up for myself on set
on something that I was a regular on.
And because I stuck up for myself,
I actually got a letter.
And I really couldn't get a role after that.
So it was, again, painful
because my whole childhood
I always said if you asked me what I wanted to be
I wanted to act, write, direct, and produce my own shows.
That was my whole goal as a kid, teen,
that's what I wanted to do.
So then to basically be told
I wasn't gonna work again it was an identity crisis.
- Wow.
- So who am I gonna be now?
I still hadn't worked through the abuse
because really what had happened is in my high school years
I didn't really deal with the childhood abuse,
but I had found new purpose.
And then when I got this other show
my senior year of high school,
I was on it for basically a year and stuck up for myself.
It reengaged those messages of who I was.
You see you're only good for your sexual purposes.
They were all lies, but they just reengaged.
And so not only did I lose my identity
as far as who I was gonna be as a professional,
but it reintroduced those lies of
who I was never intended to be was just a sexual being.
And I had to rework, but it really became a time of,
in all honesty, I became suicidal.
Because what had happened is
I had put going to UCLA on hold.
I'd been accepted.
I had to not go because I was gonna be working every day.
And then I got fired on the day,
which I was supposed to start at UCLA.
I had been told that you could take a quarter off of UCLA.
So I was like, okay, I'm gonna take this quarter off,
get my head on straight,
because I had bought a condo in Westwood,
and now I had no income to pay for it,
so I had to figure that out.
And then when I went to go back and apply to,
what's it called?
Register.
Register for classes they're like
we don't have you in our system.
And I found out you could take every quarter off
except your first one.
So it was just this whole identity crisis.
And then I bought into the lie of that I didn't matter.
I was driving alongside of the street next to UCLA,
and I'm like, if you go straight, it'll all be over.
All this pain will be over.
And then as clear as day I believe that I heard God say,
I gave you life.
What right do you have to take it away?
And I never contemplated suicide again.
It was just, okay, who am I?
And I started rebuilding.
The real work took place approximately five years later
when I started dealing with the sexual abuse
because I didn't understand how it had shaped my life
and who I was.
I thought I was perfectly normal.
I was the only normal I knew,
but it was time to create a new normal at that time.
And part of that journey
was creating a new normal outside of Hollywood.
It's been a good process.
It's difficult for most people
who don't choose to walk away from acting
where it's kind of chosen for them, you know?
I mean, I know that you went through difficulties
of let's say rebranding yourself.
At least that's what I recall.
After a show such as "The Waltons"
where you were an established character,
for me I had these established characters.
Leaving traditional Hollywood
when you love it is a painful process.
I mean, I did
direct a lot of local theater out here for young people
and I loved that.
I was the director of drama and dance
at a church for 10 years.
I love the arts.
I love that performance and directing aspect,
and I did do that for a handful of years afterwards,
but I've talked to different friends,
and there's nothing like going on a set.
There's nothing like it.
You can't duplicate that high.
There's just something special
about being on a sound studio,
but there are other highs in life
and you just have to look for them,
and create new opportunities and new purposes,
and figure out where those aspects of childhood fit in.
I'm very fortunate to be able to use my speaking abilities
to make a difference in people's lives
who have been victims of crime and help reshape,
hopefully, long term the judicial system
as it affects people who have been victims of crime.
And people have asked, oh, don't you get scared
in front of this population or that,
police officers or heads of state?
And I'm like, no,
'cause I had such amazing exposure from the age of four
into my early adult life that prepared me for that.
And so I will be forever grateful
for the opportunities I had growing up.
- If people would like to learn more
about your organization,
or would like to be able to help in some way
why don't you tell them what it is,
and how they can locate you?
- Absolutely.
Our website is aquarterblue.org
which represents a quarter of children will be left blue
from the trauma of sexual assault.
However, education is the key to prevention
and early intervention is the key to restoration.
So we've grown our organization
to not only help with victims of sexual assault,
but we help all victims of crime and their family members.
So you just go to aquarterblue.org.
It is mapped out there in many ways.
I also have a second nonprofit called Ryder Wade Foundation.
It is in honor of my son who was killed two years ago.
Ryder was in preparation to take over A Quarter Blue
as a therapist.
He really had a passion to help make a difference.
And so in honor of him
we have the Ryder Wade Foundation, also,
which helps with victims of crime
and also athletic scholarships
because he was a water polo athlete
at Concordia University Irvine.
And he was leaving practice when he was hit and killed.
So it provides scholarships for athletes at Concordia
within the aquatics program.
- Your life is amazing
and the things that you've had to face
you've clearly had to rise above a lot of things.
So really bravo to you for staying strong
and for finding that path forward.
And I think that's important
as a role model
because people go through things in life.
Some things will be not as tragic
as what you've experienced.
Some will be equally so.
And I think the important thing for anybody
is to know that there is help,
that there are people out there who care.
Maybe the first person you try to talk to doesn't listen,
but there are people,
there are those of us out there who care.
So the fact that you have taken this on as a cause
to take what you've been through,
and empower others to not have that happen in their life,
or to help them find a way through it
because I think like you,
I mean, I believe there's always a way through.
There's always an answer.
There's always something we can do to take our life back.
- Someone said, how do you do it?
Just tell me.
The way in which you worded it, I was like,
paused for a minute and I realized it was a choice.
I had the choice of
resentment,
or resilience and restoration.
And when we were at our church yesterday
there's a song called "Oceans"
and it says keep my eyes above, I believe it's the wave.
And it's like,
if we can fix our gaze knowing there's a way out,
fix it above the waves that come crashing down
knowing that resilience and restoration are possible,
but we have to get out of that funk of resentment
and staying stuck.
I mean, it was a challenge two years ago with Ryder's death
of do I believe what I tell everyone?
I have the tools and am I gonna be a hypocrite to my work
and what I tell everyone,
or am I gonna live it out again?
But healing is an option for all of us.
We don't need to stay stuck.
- Yeah.
- Often people will say, well, would you go back to acting?
And my answer is, if the opportunity opened up
and I didn't have to use all my time to go to auditions
to take me away from my work,
but I would take a job any day that fit who I am as a person
just to bring greater exposure to my life's work
because we know that with what people call celebrity
brings credibility.
And if I could have even a greater platform
to share that resilience and restoration is possible,
and it's each person's gift to hold onto.
Everyone is worthy of that type of healing and wholeness.
I would in a heartbeat take a job
to be able to have a greater platform.
- Well, I hope that this small platform that I have here
will be of some help in spreading the word.
Thank you for coming and sharing
not just about our fun times on the "Waltons,"
but about life.
- The one thing I realized, actually,
when we were together last is as I was leaving
because as you could tell from our interview
I don't remember a whole heck of a lot
from our shooting schedule and the episodes and all that,
but it hit me that Jeffrey and Serena
were taken away by Aunt Rose,
almost in hiding to protect the two kids
who are wounded by their biological dad.
And "The Waltons" brought in these two kids
who ruffled feathers
and didn't fit into the mold of the calm of "The Waltons."
Everybody was growing up and were starting their new lives
and here these two kids come who are smoking and stealing,
just shaking the foundations of the house.
And they didn't create
excuses for the kids.
They gave them unconditional love
in a place to learn a new normal.
And that's part of who A Quarter Blue is and who I am
is we love people even when they don't fit the norm,
and yet we teach them
how to create a new normal through love.
It's just mind-boggling to me
that that was my character on "The Waltons."
And another way in which my life gave an example
of how A Quarter Blue should love on people
who've experienced trauma
was how the writers on "The Waltons"
developed the characters of Serena and Jeffrey
from their past and what their future would be
because the love of a family.
- Well, love you sweetie,
and I'm so glad you're a part of our family.
I thank you so much for coming to join me.
- Well, thanks for the opportunity
and sorry I couldn't bring Keith with me.
- Another time.
Just means, you know, just means we have to do it again.
That's what I have for this segment.
I wanna thank Martha for coming and joining me
and I'll be back with more
"Behind the Scenes of The Waltons" and more "Ask Judy."
Thanks for watching.