Ellen Corby had the trust of The Waltons cast and crew

Trust isn't easy to gain, but Corby was well-respected by the cast and crew.

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Ellen Corby was a veteran, versatile actor with great knowledge about the television and film industry. She was also someone The Waltons cast and crew could trust.

Gaining trust is not easy, but for the talented actress, it was. She was like a grandmother to many, especially the boys on the show. Corby was simply ahead of all actors, and it was something she knew.

In an interview with The Macon News in 1974, the veteran actress talked about her industry experience and how she was able to use that to help her excel. "I'm a little bit ahead of all actors," Corby began. "I know a little about cameras and other things involved with putting on a show."

She wrote various scripts for other things and, with Will Greer, the grandpa on The Waltons, worked out scripts for this '70s classic as well. The cast and crew, including the show's writers, trusted her with adding valuable personal touches to some of the scripts.

According to the article in the newspaper, one of the reasons she would tweak the characters just a little bit was to make the grandparents more human. "I'm very fortunate to be on that show. I can write scripts, and with Will's capabilities, the role has opened up for him," she added.

Another reason the cast and crew trusted her with writing and other things is because Corby always thoroughly explained her choices. She never said, "These are the changes I made, and that's that." The changes always had a purpose.

"We talk things over and don't just say, 'We want to do this or that.' The Waltons filled a need, partly my own. I was getting tired of things, even ashamed, but I do not like to duck competition. We [all are happy with the show.] We're going where we want and are doing what we want."

With Ellen Corby by their side, The Waltons knew they were on their way to classic TV status. Putting their trust in her, we believe, was one of the best things they've done.

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19 Comments

WilliamUchtman 11 months ago
I undersstand she was once the script supervisor on the "Our Gang" shorts -
vahioguy 11 months ago
Being older, and transplanted to the state of Virginia, I have learned something from my Virginia born and bred wife. That something is you DO NOT disturb her for anything when she is watching certain programs. This is one of them. We live about 100 miles from where the creator lived. It is definitely still big in this area. Good night, everyone.
Mark 11 months ago
Experience counts, and she had a LOT of it! That was invaluable to the show.
Tinker457 11 months ago
Please get DISH to put ME back on the air !!! We miss it so much. Go back to the bargaining board. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Zip Tinker457 11 months ago
Just do this. When my antenna that I bought went down for some reason wasn't bringing in signal when I finally put it back up, I decided to try this just to see if it would work for a quick and easy antenna. And it does. I now have MeTV, Cozi, plus a number of other channels.
There are other videos with variations on this method, but this one is the one I used as it was to the point and simple. And I know personally that it works. Just be careful when cutting the cable(I didn't cut myself luckily) and put it as high up in your home as you can. I have mine upstairs, but if I could figure out how to weather-proof it I would put it even higher on my roof, because with my other antenna I got in many more stations but this will do for now. I am just happy I can watch MeTV again!
Zip Zip 11 months ago
That should be... "When my antenna that i bought went down IN A STORM AND THEN for some reason..."

I guess my brain went down in the storm as well.
I am still working on getting that back up and running.
Zip 11 months ago
Hubcaps Lesh was trusted? Go figure.
vonstockhoff Zip 11 months ago
Hahaha. I understand Ellen in real life had more of a personality like Hubcaps than she did Grandma Walton. She cursed a lot, had a bad temper, chain smoked. She was a character for sure.
Adanor 11 months ago
We always see the end result, the finished show. And of course, we don't see how it always happens or what goes into the making of the show. Reading between the lines, apparently actors can be snooty, want script changes for no reasons, worry about always being filmed on their best side. And we have Ellen Corby who had no reason to worry about her "best" side and could be trusted to ask for script changes when they made sense.
LoveMETV22 Adanor 11 months ago
JMO: Not reading between the lines. There are a few Walton's series articles published.
(Richard Thomas's decision to leave the series, Michael Learned's decision to leave as well and
Will Geer's affiliations (not really related to the series). Wouldn't exactly say the actors on the series were high profile or fit the mold that some actors portray. They were a pretty quiet bunch.
I think Ellen Corby had some experience in the writing aspect and Earl Hamner put that to use in a few episodes of the series.
LoveMETV22 11 months ago
From bios on Ellen Corby it looks like she had some involvement on the writing side of things with the Walton's Series. Her credits show she appeared in many TV series prior to her role on the Walton's. Always fun to watch her in those other roles.
harlow1313 11 months ago
Come off it. We all know what happened when Barney put his trust in Corby.
MrsPhilHarris harlow1313 11 months ago
I was thinking the same thing!
Pacificsun harlow1313 11 months ago
What an actress? How many can convince themselves of being most desired grandma in America. And turn around and be the mother of all convicts!!
harlow1313 Pacificsun 11 months ago
It would appear Myrtle "Hub Caps" Lesh has fooled you too.
Mblack harlow1313 11 months ago
What about the Flintstone episode where they rent a room to an old woman who turns out to be "Grandma Dynamite"?
CoreyC harlow1313 11 months ago
Ellen Corby played Lurch's mother on The Addams Family.
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