Actor best known for playing John Walton Sr in the US television family drama The WaltonsRalph Waite, who has died aged 85, worked as a social worker, Presbyterian minister, publicist and book editor before turning to acting and landing the part as patriarch of a struggling American family in the wholesome US television drama The Waltons (1972-81).For nine series and more than 200 episodes from 1972 to 1981, as John …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:14PM on February 14, 2014