- Welcome back to another segment
of 'Behind The Scenes of The Waltons.'
Today, I'm taking more of your questions
in another segment of 'Ask Judy.'
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I have a question here from Sandpiper, 22,
who said, "I grew up in the '70s too,
and I would love to hear
some of your favorite '70s memories.
I didn't know it at the time
but it was one of the best decades of my life.
Very fun and carefree."
Ah, the '70s.
Well, I can't help, but connect the '70s
with the time I spent doing 'The Waltons.'
We started The Homecoming in 1971 and the series in 1972.
So most of my '70s memories are linked
to the wonderful time I spent filming 'The Waltons'
and being part of my on and off screen TV family.
So '70s, awww.... the music. I love
so much of the music from the '70s,
that was when I first started collecting music.
My very first album I bought was Carole King's 'Tapestry.'
And then there were so many bands
that I remember listening to from the Guess Who,
to Crosby, Stills and Nash,
Credence Clearwater Revival, Bread, Blood, Sweat and Tears,
just so many wonderful bands from that period of time.
I remember going to school dances
and dancing to Three Dog Night's "Joy To The World."
So just wonderful wonderful memories of things like that.
Going to roller skate.
Roller skating was very big -
in starting in the '70s and then into the '80s.
But I remember going to roller rinks with friends
and doing that, hanging out with friends,
going to the movies,
because I was going through my teen years
through the early and middle '70s.
There was those memories with my castmates
as well as my own personal friends,
sleepovers and girl talk and shopping and learning to drive.
And then finally having my license
and going out with my girlfriends,
being able to drive without a parent in the car.
(Judy laughing)
So there was I think, still an innocence to that era
that was very sweet.
So I hope your memories are similarly full of joy.
William asked, "I was wondering if you could mention
any hobbies, interests or hidden talents,
you and your fellow castmates pursued when not on the set."
Gosh, things that just came to mind initially
were for Mary McDonough.
She studied dance for many years
and continued to take classes
through at least the beginning period of 'The Waltons,'
and Eric (Scott) and Joe Conley who played Ike Godsey.
The two of them put together
a little song and dance routine.
And they went out and performed at State Fairs
and different venues like that.
So clearly they spent time together
rehearsing and putting all that together,
so I think that was a lot of fun for them.
David Harper, who played Jim Bob
was a real civil war buff and a history buff.
I remember when the movie 'Gettysburg'' came out,
it was such a heavily dramatic movie.
I remember being incredibly taken by it.
And when I went back to the studio
the next time after having seen it,
David was the first person I went to
because I knew that he would share the circumstances
and what was true about that battle
and the various different regimens
and things involved with it particularly Picketts Cavalry Unit,
which was just heartbreaking to me being a horse person.
So that was something that I remember sharing with David,
and then Kami..
Kami's parents were USC alumni,
so they were very involved
in particularly the USC football games.
I remember Kami constantly talking
to a point sometimes where I found it a little annoying
but just in the way that teenagers can,
oh, "I don't have an interest in football
so I don't really wanna hear about,"
and "you're going on and on about USC", and.
I had no connection to USC,
but I believe that they attended a lot of games
and certainly watched them on TV.
So I remember that aspect from Kami when she was young.
Jon Walmsley of course music,
his hobbies predominantly focused around music.
I do remember going to a Steven Stills concert
at the Hollywood Bowl with Jon Walmsley.
I think I was maybe 15, 'cause I don't think I could drive.
And Jon drove and we went together
to the Hollywood Bowl to see Steven Stills.
So I think music was a huge focus for him
offset and away from the show.
For me, it was pretty much sports.
I started riding horses, jumping horses during the series,
I started playing a little bit of tennis
'cause I did some celebrity tennis tournaments,
and I at some point with the roller skating
I started training with a Roller Derby team.
So, sports were my big interests away from the set
as well as that was when I started learning to sing.
I started taking lessons,
I'd always loved to sing
but I couldn't carry a tune very well.
And when I found that out when I was about 16,
I was devastated and found myself a voice teacher
and started studying singing
because I really wanted to do musical theater.
So that was my little hidden thing
because I didn't dare say it to anybody
because I knew I wasn't good enough at that point.
So there you go,
those are some of my memories
of people's interests, hobbies and hidden talents.
A comment here from Celeste,
who said "It's fascinating hearing about talking to someone
who isn't standing in front of you,
or in your line of vision and making it look so authentic.
It's really a testament to how good an actor is
especially young children that they can do it so well,
that the audience has no idea
the actor is talking to the air."
Yeah, that is always interesting.
When you hear a voice coming from someplace else
and yet your vision is here,
but there really isn't anything for you to look at
besides a post or the side of the camera or something.
I found it interesting the few times,
I haven't worked a lot with blue screen, green screen,
it used to be blue screen, now it's green screen.
I'm not sure why that changed,
but a few times I have worked with it.
I remember in particular working on 'Stargate SG-1,'
I got a kick out of going through the 'Stargate,'
because all there was was the actual set piece
that was the big ring, but all that sense of illusion
of walking through something,
that was all put in by computer later on.
So all we really did was walk through this ring.
So there was nothing there, but to have to imagine
that there was, and to have an uncertainty
about as someone who wasn't a member of the team
but an outsider who was going through that Stargate,
to not have the trust of what it was gonna be like
to walk through this other dimension.
So that was fun to create.
The question from Joyce.
"I was wondering if you ever watch yourself acting
and are satisfied with your finished job
or are there words or actions you don't like
and would change if you could?
In my opinion, you always did excellent
and always looked great.
For me, it's a bit hard to see all the kids grown up
and then go back to see
when you were all so little again, fun though."
Yeah, that's an interesting thing to be looking back
on these episodes from when I was a teenager.
So that's kind of fun and yet odd at times that it's like,
wow, yeah, I was so young and I look different
and that was something that would happen for me
sometimes when I originally watched episodes.
My first reactions might be more to how I looked
because I'm seeing how something was shot,
and maybe I don't think the camera angle
was the most flattering angle on me.
And I might be like, oh, I look like I have baby fat
or it does.
So I could get a little hung up sometimes
on that as an initial thing
not particularly liking the way I looked on camera,
but then after I watched it or twice,
then I could start looking at just the work.
And particularly when I go back and look at it,
I'm able to focus a bit more on the work
and some things that I might initially have thought,
oh, I wish that had gone differently.
Maybe I didn't feel it was as strong as I thought it was
when I was actually filming,
so maybe I'm disappointed in something.
When I go back and look at it now,
oftentimes I feel like it worked better
than I maybe gave myself credit for at the time
because I can be very particular
about how I would like something to play.
And if it doesn't quite hit it the way I had in mind,
then sometimes I'm a bit disappointed.
That's what I have for you for this segment
of 'Behind The Scenes of The Walton's, Ask Judy.'
If you have questions, put 'em in the comments below
and I grab questions from there.
I'll see you next time
on more 'Behind The Scenes of The Walton's,'
and more 'Ask Judy.'
Thanks for watching.