- Welcome back to another segment
of Behind the Scenes of "The Waltons".
Today, I'm going to be continuing my conversation
with Cissy Wellman, who played Sissy on "The Waltons"
who was married to Yancy Tucker.
Now, you have referenced Robert, Bob Donner
a number of times.
And I have talked to our fans
about the fact that when you were playing Sissy,
you and Bob were actually married.
- [Cissy] Yes.
- So did you have the opportunity to audition for that,
because of Bob, or that was just a coincidence?
- No, Earl loved, of course, Earl Hamner
loved Bobby Donner, Bob, Yancy.
- We all did, yes.
- Yeah, how can you not? - Yeah.
- He was the love of my life.
That's rigorous honesty.
And he came to me,
Earl and said, "You wanna visit your husband in jail?"
That was Jane Aspen.
And I said, "Oh, I do love that."
Because he knew my work, he knew my work from previous.
So I said, "Sure, I'd love to do that."
So that was Jane Aspen a bit.
- And that was in the episode The Chicken Thief
which I've talked about.
And I remember when I was covering it
and I'm watching the episode and I'm like, "That's Cissy".
And but that's not- the character Sissy.
- Sissy.
(Cissy laughs)
I had forgotten that you had done a different episode
as a different character.
- Yeah.
- So you played Jane, you got to visit him in jail.
- Yes, and then I think it was like the next season or so
Earl came to me,
and he said, "How would you like to come and play with us,
recurring opposite Yancy?"
And both Bobby and I looked at each other and went,
"Okay, that'll be fun."
Obviously he wrote it for me.
I mean, Cissy Wellman playing Sissy Walker.
He just changed the spelling of Sissy, the S-I-S-S-Y.
But he did that for me to just be included
to do that with him.
And I can't tell you how much fun I had.
I still say it's one of the best shows
I could ever think of being on,
'cause all of you were, you are a family.
And it was the best what fun,
it was just everybody cared about each other.
There was such wonderful,
just it was just the most wonderful show to be a part of.
I mean, when I get a guest star on it
when I would do that and be there for a week,
I mean, there was so many wonderful things,
people that I met and stayed with
and like the family, even though Donner died
and we separated and I was always still included,
because Donner and I were always close,
we always stayed close.
We were best friends,
because we were together over 15 years before that,
- Yeah, I was surprised that
you were only in five episodes,
because I had this sense of you being around a lot.
So you came in, you were on set at times
when you weren't working as well.
- Sure.
- I would've thought you had done six seasons with us.
It just felt like that,
because I feel like you were one of the recurring characters
that stands out to me as ah,
so it's always surprising to see somebody
wasn't a really around filming with us all the time.
- Right, I get it. - Just sort of,
it merges the on-camera and the off-camera time
that we spend with people.
- Well, that was Donner's and my relationship.
I was with him always.
We were together 24/7.
And when he went on location, I was with him.
That was our relationship.
And so, when he was shooting in town
I'd come so we could have lunch
so I could hear what's going on.
So during a show that he'd be shooting before I was on it,
then we'd hang and it was great.
- Yeah, well, I will let you tell the fans,
'cause you knew him so much better,
the character of Yancy relative to Bob in real life.
People are always interested
in how much we are like our characters
or in what ways we are different.
I know he had a wonderful sense of humor in real life,
but how would you say those two,
he and that character were similar or different?
- Well, I think the gift that Donner brought to Yancy is
was his sense of humor,
I mean, was his comedic gift,
'cause he did standup, he did "Mork and Mindy" for seasons.
I mean, we did standup together.
We started the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop.
I would do standup with him and play straight to him,
which was really interesting. - how did you keep
a straight face?
(Judy laughs)
- Because I never knew where he went, where he was going.
And he would do all the different accents and stuff.
And he was the easiest, I think the gift,
he was one of the easiest people to be around, period.
He was caring, loving, dry, sense of humor.
He was more of an introverted extrovert.
And, but how is he more Yancy?
I think, how am I gonna explain it?
The guy get... the kid that gets caught
with his hand in the cookie jar.
- [Judy] Okay.
- Yeah, that I found, that to me was a lot of Yancy
and dear Donner was this sense humor.
A lot of it was not.
I mean, the whole thing
with the sleeping with the chickens so like that
that could have been Donner so easy,
'cause I was a major animal freak
and he just went, "Another one," and yet would bring it.
But he was similar.
He was similar to Yancy in the best of ways.
- But he was, Yancy wasn't real bright.
- And Donner was very bright.
- Yeah. - Very bright.
That's a good point too.
But yes, he wasn't bright at all.
Yeah, but he was a giver, with the stealing of things,
he was a giver, so is Donner.
But Donner was very bright.
Avid reader, major reader, loved books.
That would - we guested on "The Newlywed Game"
when it first came on when they had the celebrities
and we won it.
And one of the questions they asked
which we didn't answer right, of course,
was to me, what - your husband's idea of ecstasy
is a bathtub filled with...
And I said, "Books."
And he went, "Vodka."
(Judy laughs)
And I went, "Oops."
And we won it by one question.
He said, "What is the one thing
that your wife cannot resist?"
And I said, "Keeping my mouth shut."
He went, "Her mouth shut."
(Judy laughs)
He went, "Talking."
So we ended up winning the game.
But he was bright, he was funny.
And lot of that was no, Yancy wasn't bright,
but Yancy was a hoot.
But Yancy would get people into trouble,
that was not Donner.
I think mainly it's the sense of humor
that he brought to the character.
- Yeah, I know Eric Scott who played Ben
loved those storylines that he had with Yancy.
He was the one that really had the most opportunity
to interact and do those scenes.
And get... Yancy would lead him astray and get him into trouble
- Oh yeah, oh yeah.
- But in the most sort of innocent way,
it was not malicious. - Nope.
- Even in The Chicken Thief, it was not,
he was playing Robin Hood.
- Yes, he was helping. - And in return,
they all more than gave back.
(Cissy and Judy laugh)
- It's true.
And he loved David also,
'cause David would sit, David was quiet.
And so, he would go over and sit and talk with David.
He was that kind of guy that on the set,
he would notice how people are
and he would go over there and be with them.
I mean, he had the biggest heart.
That's a big one.
- Yeah, I don't remember him coming over
and sitting and talking to me.
So he must have had a different perspective on me.
I probably had my, I'm deep in thought look,
people said that. I must have cultivated it
at some point.
Sometimes I was literally just blanking out.
But people said I would get this very intense look
on my face, like I didn't want to be disturbed.
And I think sometimes I was literally just blank.
But people would sometimes feel like
that wasn't a time to approach me.
- Oh, I don't know.
I never felt you were...
Well, you kids sort of a lot of it scared me,
'cause I was mainly with Elizabeth.
She was the one that was our lawyer
and being just with Yancy, I was either that
or with the family, going to find out where Yancy was,
we're getting engaged and working that.
And I only worked with Richard the last season
and we had that scene that got cut out
that I've never laughed so hard.
I mean, I just, I don't know-. - What was that?
- If you remember it.
- My God, it was the show also,
that Merle country singer.
God Cissy. - Oh, Merle Haggard.
- Merle Haggard was - did the other one
and it was the one where I was trying to make Yancy jealous.
- Ah, okay.
- And so, I was playing up to Richard
flirting with Richard to make Yancy jealous
and just and making him scarves and things.
And then one time we had a scene in the car
which was on the set and it's where I was driving Richard
and I was telling him, the scene was,
"My, my, how does a young man like you
find time to do all he does?
I mean, how do you have a girlfriend?
I mean, with all that you do..."
And it's flirty.
It's like, "Oh my, my."
And we did the rehearsal and Harvey Laidman was directing,
I believe was yes, it was Harvey.
And he said, "Cis, you know it's a thing, you gotta shift,"
'cause it was one of those cars, you can't have it.
And I said to him, I said, "If my hand leaves frame
they're gonna think I'm grabbing for his..."
And everybody laughed.
Well the next couple of scenes
every time I do leave to go to Richard would go, "Woo!"
- That's Richard.
- And I would go, "So."
And there was the three takes and I would crack.
So, ended up not being in, but boy yeah.
I think Richard was great.
You know what, a love bug.
You guys, all, all of you are so good.
And if The Waltons haven't seen Richard in
"To Kill a Mockingbird".
Well, or heard you sing,
oh guys, this lady has a voice.
- Thank you.
- I mean it, you knock me out.
If you're anywhere and I mean that
I would be there in a heartbeat.
You and Linda Purl are my two ladies that I run to see,
you guys knock me out.
So are you.
- Well, thank you.
I really, I always appreciate the support
and you have been that way with all of us
and we've had parties at your house
and you have shown up for different things that we've done.
Family sort of events, Walton events
and yeah, so you just, you've always felt like
part of the family.
So that's been-
- Well, I'm Mrs Yancy Tucker.
- Yeah. - I am.
(Cissy laughs)
- Yeah, I mean, you've had quite an extensive career
above and beyond "The Waltons"
and you're still acting
and doing all sorts of things.
So tell us a little bit about what you're doing,
what you've been doing
however much since "The Waltons" it's been a long time?
And then also tell 'em a little bit
about your work with the Born to Act-
- Born To Act Players.
- Yeah. - Yay.
I was just with them Sunday.
Well first off, during the COVID I wrote my book
and which was fun to do.
- Which is available on Amazon everybody.
It's called, "They Say I Come From Hollywood Royalty...
So Where's My Crown?"
- And I talk a lot about "The Waltons"
and my Born To Act Players.
And their ages probably now
about 20 to about 45, 50.
And they're with Down syndrome,
autism and special abilities.
They're very high functioning and they're fabulous.
They sing, they dance, they act,
they had an improv show Sunday.
- Oh really? - On Saturday,
just this last Saturday that I went to.
I haven't been with them for the last three years
due to COVID and I had shoulder surgery.
And it's hard being with these loving special kids,
I call them, 'cause they are at my age,
anybody under the age of 50 is a kid.
And they're so loving and hugging and special and real.
If the world were more like them,
what a wonderful place it would be,
'cause they're honest, they're real,
they show their emotions, they get angry,
but don't hold a resentment, what a concept.
They're just fabulous.
And I was with them active for going on
over 12 years, going on 13 years.
And they're just the best.
And they're professional actors a lot of them,
they're really, they're just special.
And they were fabulous Sunday, I mean Saturday,
I think Sunday, but it was Saturday.
And I've been blessed that I'm still working.
I just did a pilot for Deran Sarafian.
And it's in post-production.
Deran was the director producer on the series "House"
with Hugh Laurie.
The first five seasons he wrote,
and he directed and exec produced it.
And I'm gonna do a movie with him that he is written
called "Vincent" which I'm looking forward to.
And I just did a movie playing David Schwimmer's mother
for Darren Aronofsky.
And they're in post-production with that.
So they want this old lady.
(Cissy laughs)
- Well, I have to say, you mentioned a couple times being 80
and there is no way you even remotely look your age.
- Thank you.
- It's not that I don't look it, it's that I don't act it.
- Well, yeah.
- I think it's the energy. - Yeah.
- Today's 80, is today's 80.
(Cissy and Judy laughs)
That's all I can say.
- You're absolutely right that it's how old you feel
and how old you act.
And I think how old you act
and your exuberance for life keeps you young.
- Absolutely. - And you're always
doing things and the positive outlook.
And they talk, I've heard any number of times
people talking about the therapeutic value of laughter
and so, all of that I think keeps us young.
- I agree. - You are a poster child
for that.
- A poster old lady for that, yes.
- I really, really, really wanna thank you for coming-
- Thank you. - And spending this time
with me and answering some questions
and letting everybody get to know you
away from the character that they love
and what a wonderful gracious woman you are in real life,
and just to see that I know and love.
And they now will know a bit more and love even more.
- Oh, thank you honey.
- Thank you again to Cissy for joining me
and sharing about her time on "The Waltons"
and more about her life.
I'll be back with more behind the scenes of "The Waltons"
and more "Ask Judy".
Thanks for watching.