Michael Learned MATRIARCH LOOKS BACK ON 45 YEAR OF"THE WALTONS"

Michael Learned, 4x Emmy winner, People's Choice recipient, & multiple Golden Globe nominee, will be honored with the Legend Award at The Family Film Awards on Sept 27th and serve as a celebrity Judge alongside Academy Award winner, George Chakiris; Tony Award winner, John Lloyd Young, and multi-million recording artist, Sam Harris to name a few, at the 12 annual Las Next Great Stage Star on August 27th. In addition, she has just completed filming "Second Acts" and is preparing to open in the stage production of "Driving Miss Daisy."
Learned's first series regular audition was for the role of a lifetime and would define a lifetime as Olivia Walton on the hit series “The Waltons,” a role she was told would probably not continue beyond the pilot.

The cast of the Waltons recently celebrated their 45th anniversary of the hit series that ran for a decade, making Michael the quintessential TV Mom, as Olivia Walton, beating Shirley Partridge by 6 years, Carol Brady by 4 years and even Caroline Ingles by 1 year. Audiences could and still can relate to families living in the depression era. Though times were tough, much like today, Love and Sharing are abundant in this family. As a result of the show, which she had been told wouldn't survive its first season, Michael Learned has gone on to become a four-time Emmy award-winning actress (three for "The Waltons" and one for "Nurse").  In addition, she became a fixture in Daytime Television for her regular roles on General Hospital, The Young & the Restless, as well as a crossover character (Hon Judge Turner) in both One Life to Live and All My Children.

Michael current appeared in the critically acclaimed digital dramedy entitled Life Interrupted and has just completed work on Second Acts: