Ralph Waite

Ralph Waite
Waite at the 40th anniversary of The Waltons on September 29, 2012
Born	(1928-06-22)June 22, 1928 White Plains, New York, U.S.
Died	February 13, 2014(2014-02-13) (aged 85) Palm Desert, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Age-related illnesses
Occupation	Actor, voice artist, political activist
Years active	1954–2014
Political party	Democratic
Religion	Presbyterian
Spouse(s)	Beverly Waite (1951–1966) Kerry Shear Waite (1977–1981) Linda East (1982–2014)
Children	3 daughters (1 daughter deceased)
Parent(s)	Ralph H. Waite and Esther (née Mitchell) Waite

Ralph Waite (June 22, 1928 – February 13, 2014) was an American actor, voice artist, and political activist, best known for his role as John Walton, Sr. on The Waltons, which he occasionally directed. In addition, Waite appeared in many guest roles on numerous television series, lastly in a recurring role in NCIS as Jackson Gibbs, the father of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.^[1]

Early life

Waite, the eldest of five children, was born in White Plains, New York on June 22, 1928, to Ralph H. Waite, a construction engineer, and Esther (née Mitchell) Waite.^[2] Too young for World War II, Waite served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1946 to 1948, then graduated from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He worked briefly as a social worker. Waite earned a master's degree from Yale University Divinity School and was an ordained Presbyterian minister and religious editor at Harper & Row, New York City before deciding on an acting career.^[3] He was a member of the Peninsula Players summer theater program during the 1963 season.^[4]

Waite made his Broadway debut in Blues for Mister Charlie, and would work on and off-Broadway steadily throughout the 1960s.

Film work

His film work included roles in Cool Hand Luke, Five Easy Pieces, Lawman, The Grissom Gang, Chato's Land and The Stone Killer. His later films included The Bodyguard, the part of Frank the helicopter pilot in the 1993 film Cliffhanger and as the mysterious Time Traveller in the 2002 Science Fiction Historical Drama film Timequest (film) .

Later stage work

Waite scored a personal triumph when he created the role of Will Kidder in the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Young Man from Atlanta, by playwright Horton Foote, in 1995.

Personal life

Waite was married three times, two marriages ending in divorce. He had three daughters from his first marriage. His eldest daughter, Sharon Waite, died of leukemia when she was 9 years old in 1964.^[5] Liam Waite, one of Waite's stepsons, is also an actor. After 50 years away from organized religion, Waite returned in 2010 and became an active member of Spirit of the Desert Presbyterian Fellowship in Palm Desert, California.^[3]

Political involvement

Waite ran unsuccessfully for Congress in California as a Democrat on three occasions: In 1990, he challenged veteran GOP incumbent Al McCandless in the Riverside County-based 37th district, losing by five percentage points. In 1998, Waite ran in the special election for the then-Palm Springs-based 44th district left vacant by the death of incumbent Sonny Bono.^[6] He was defeated in that election by Mary Bono, Sonny's widow, and lost to her again that November.

On October 21, 1991, Waite introduced then-former California Governor Jerry Brown prior to the latter's speech announcing his candidacy for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination.^[7]

Electoral history

Death

On February 13, 2014, Waite died peacefully in Palm Desert, California, of age-related illnesses at age 85.^[8]

Filmography

• Cool Hand Luke (1967) Alibi
• A Lovely Way to Die (1968)
• Last Summer (1969)
• Five Easy Pieces (1970) Carl Fidelio Dupea
• Lawman (1971)
• The Grissom Gang (1971)
• The Pursuit of Happiness (1971)
• The Sporting Club (1971)
• Chato's Land (1972)
• Girls on the Road (1972)
• The Magnificent Seven Ride (1972)
• Trouble Man (1972)
• Hot Summer Week (1973)
• Kid Blue (1973)
• The Stone Killer (1973)
• Red Alert (1977)
• Angel City (1980)
• OHMS (1980)
• On the Nickel (1980)
• Good Old Boy: A Delta Boyhood (1988) Narrator
• Red Earth, White Earth (1989) Martin
• Crash and Burn (1990)
• Desperate Hours (1990)
• The Bodyguard (1992) Herb Farmer
• Cliffhanger (1993)
• Sioux City (1994)
• Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996) (voice)
• The West (1996)
• Sunshine State (2002)
• Timequest (2002)
• Blessings (2003)
• Silver City (2004)
• Letters to God (2010)
• 25 Hill (2011)

Television

As director

• The Waltons (TV series, 1973–80)
• On the Nickel (1980)
• The Mississippi (TV series, 1983)

As producer

• A Good Sport (1984) (executive producer)

As writer

• On the Nickel (1980)

Theatre

• Blues for Mister Charlie (1963)
• Hogan's Goat (play) (1965)
• The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (1967)
• The Young Man From Atlanta (1995)

References

External links

• Ralph Waite at the Internet Movie Database
• Ralph Waite at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Ralph Waite at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Ralph Waite at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection
• Ralph Waite on Biography Channel