Michael Learned

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Michael Learned (born April 9, 1939 in Washington, DC ) is an American film and stage actress .

Life

Early life and personal life

Michael Learned was the oldest of six daughters and grew up on a Connecticut farm for the first ten years of her life . In 1950 she moved with her family - her father worked for the United States Department of State - briefly to Austria and then to England . In London she attended a private school and discovered her love for acting.

She got the name Michael from her father, who was expecting a boy and had chosen the name in advance. When it became a daughter, he decided to keep the name.

At the age of 17, she married the 28-year-old Canadian-American actor Peter Donat in September 1956 . The two had three sons together during their 15-year marriage. The divorce took place in February 1972. Learned has been married three more times since then. 1974 to 1977 she was married to the stage worker Glenn Chadwick. Her third marriage was in December 1979 with William Parker. It is unknown when her marriage to Parker ended in divorce. What is certain, however, is that Learned has been married to producer and director John Doherty since 1991.

Michael Learned is the godmother of the American actress Amanda Plummer .

Career

Learned's career began in 1962 and has featured as a guest actress in several series that are still known today, including Smoking Colts . However, the international breakthrough only followed in 1972 when she took on the role of mother Olivia Walton in the television series The Waltons and was seen in this way in over 160 episodes until 1979. The series' success was also her own. From 1973 to 1976 she was nominated four times in a row for a Golden Globe Award ; She was also nominated for six Emmys from 1973 to 1978 , of which she was able to take home three awards. After the series ended, Learned was also in front of the camera for some feature films about The Waltons in the mid-1990s .

Learned's career continued unabated outside of the well-known television series. She has appeared in numerous television series, including Who's The Boss Here? or a wink from heaven in front of the camera. A younger audience is probably familiar with her role as Mrs. Wilk in the comedy series Scrubs ; a part she played eight times between 2006 and 2009. With the exception of a few movies, including the 1993 biopic Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story , her acting career in front of the camera was mostly limited to the medium of television.

Her theater career took Learned to Broadway , where she appeared in The Sisters Rosensweig by Wendy Wasserstein in 1993 , as well as to smaller playhouses in California , Massachusetts and New Jersey . Her repertoire of roles included the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII and the British Queen Elizabeth I.

Filmography (selection)

Awards and nominations

  • 1973–1976: nominated four times for the Golden Globe Award , for: The Waltons
  • 1973–1978: Nominated six times for an Emmy , for: The Waltons (received three times)
  • 1981–1982: twice nominated for an Emmy , for: Nurse (received in 1982)

Web links

Commons : Michael Learned  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry at filmreference.com
personal data
SURNAME Learned, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film and stage actress
DATE OF BIRTH April 9, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Washington, DC , United States