Ralph Waite

Ralph Waite (June 22, 1928 – February 13, 2014) was an American actor, best known for his lead role as John Walton Sr. on The Waltons (1972–1981), which he occasionally directed. He later had recurring roles as two other heroic fathers; in NCIS as Jackson Gibbs, the father of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and in Bones, as Seeley Booth's grandfather. Waite had supporting roles in movies such as Cool Hand Luke (1967), Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Grissom Gang (1971), The Bodyguard (1992), and Cliffhanger (1993).

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. He graduated from White Plains Senior High School in 1946. 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's Divinity School and was an ordained Presbyterian minister and religious editor at Harper & Row, New York, before deciding on an acting career. He was a member of the Peninsula Players summer theater program during the 1963 season.

In 1963, Waite made his Broadway debut as the Minister in Marathon '33, written and directed by June Havoc. He next appeared in Blues for Mister Charlie, and worked on- and off-Broadway steadily throughout the 1960s.

Film work


His film work included roles in Cool Hand Luke, Five Easy Pieces, Lawman, Kid Blue, 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 traveler in Timequest (2002). He also voiced Shadow in Homeward Bound II.

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. 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.

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 5%. 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. 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 former California Governor Jerry Brown prior to the latter's speech announcing his candidacy for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination.

Death
On February 13, 2014, Waite died in Palm Desert, California, of natural causes at age 85. He is buried in White Plains Rural Cemetery in New York.

Film

 * 1967 Cool Hand Luke as "Alibi"
 * 1968 A Lovely Way to Die as Sean Magruder
 * 1969 Last Summer as Peter's Father (uncredited)
 * 1970 Five Easy Pieces as Carl Fidelio Dupea
 * 1971 The Pursuit of Happiness as Detective Cromie
 * 1971 The Sporting Club as Olson
 * 1971 Lawman as Jack Dekker
 * 1971 The Grissom Gang as Mace
 * 1972 Chato's Land as Elias Hooker
 * 1972 Hot Summer Week as John
 * 1972 The Magnificent Seven Ride! as Jim MacKay
 * 1973 Trouble Man as Pete Cockrell
 * 1973 Kid Blue as Drummer
 * 1973 The Stone Killer as Mathews
 * 1977 Red Alert (TV movie) as Henry Stone
 * 1980 OHMS (TV movie) as Floyd Wing
 * 1980 On the Nickel as C.G.
 * 1980 Angel City (TV movie) as Jared Teeter
 * 1981 The Gentleman Bandit (TV movie) as Father Bernard Pagano
 * 1988 Good Old Boy: A Delta Boyhood as The Narrator
 * 1989 Red Earth, White Earth as Martin
 * 1990 Crash and Burn as Lathan Hooks
 * 1990 Desperate Hours
 * 1992 The Bodyguard as Herb Farmer
 * 1993 Cliffhanger as Ranger Frank
 * 1994 Sioux City as Drew McDermott
 * 1996 Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco as Shadow (voice)
 * 2000 Timequest as The Time Traveler
 * 2002 Sunshine State as Furman Temple
 * 2003 Blessings (TV movie) as Sheriff
 * 2004 Silver City as Casey Lyle
 * 2010 Letters to God as Cornelius Perryfield
 * 2011 25 Hill as Ed
 * 2012 Gabe the Cupid Dog as R.L. Dutton

Television

 * 1966 Look Up and Live as Host
 * 1967 The Borgia Stick (TV movie) as The Man From Toledo
 * 1967-1968 N.Y.P.D. as Robert Stryker
 * 1970 Bonanza "The Lady and the Mark" as Hoby
 * 1971 Nichols as Sam Burton
 * 1972-1981 The Waltons as John Walton Sr.
 * 1973 The Thanksgiving Story (TV movie)
 * 1976 The Secret Life of John Chapman (TV movie) as John Chapman
 * 1977 Roots as Slater, First Mate
 * 1977 Waiting for Godot (TV movie) as Pozzo
 * 1978 CBS: On the Air as Himself
 * 1980 Angel City (TV movie) as Jared Teeter
 * 1981 The Gentleman Bandit (TV movie) as Father Bernard Pagano
 * 1982 A Wedding on Walton's Mountain (TV movie) as John Walton Sr.
 * 1982 Mother's Day on Waltons Mountain (TV movie) as John Walton Sr.
 * 1982 A Day for Thanks on Walton's Mountain (TV movie) as John Walton Sr.
 * 1983 The Mississippi as Ben Walker
 * 1984 A Good Sport (TV movie) as Tommy O'Bannon
 * 1984 Growing Pains (TV movie) as Rob
 * 1985 Crime of Innocence (TV movie) as Frank Hayward
 * 1987 Reading Rainbow
 * 1989 Murder, She Wrote as District Attorney Paul Robbins
 * 1990 Sparks: The Price of Passion (TV movie) as Orville Lemon
 * 1993 A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion (TV movie) as John Walton Sr.
 * 1994 Time Trax as Lamont Carson
 * 1994 Sin & Redemption (TV movie) as Cal Simms
 * 1994 Keys (TV movie) as Dr. C.J. Halligan
 * 1995 A Season of Hope (TV movie) as Sam Hackett
 * 1995 A Walton Wedding (TV movie) as John Walton Sr.
 * 1996 Murder One as Malcolm Dietrich
 * 1997 Orleans as Otis Leblanc
 * 1997 A Walton Easter (TV movie) as John Walton Sr.
 * 1997 The Third Twin (TV movie) as Senator Proust
 * 1999 The Outer Limits as Gene Morton
 * 1999 Chicken Soup for the Soul as Dad
 * 1999 Rocket Power as Doc Freimouth (voice)
 * 2000 The President's Man (TV movie) as President Mathews
 * 2001 All My Children as Bart
 * 2001 Spirit (TV movie) as Jacob
 * 2003 Blessings (TV movie) as Sheriff
 * 2003-2005 Carnivàle as Reverend Norman Balthus
 * 2004 The Practice as Walter Josephson
 * 2007 Cold Case as Felton Metz
 * 2008 CSI "Young Man with a Horn" as Sheriff Montgomery
 * 2008-2013 NCIS as Jackson Gibbs (8 episodes)
 * 2008 The Cleaner as Jonus Mullins
 * 2009 Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective (TV movie) as Grandpa Ventura
 * 2011 Kickin' It as Principal Keener (7 episodes)
 * 2009-2014 Days of Our Lives as Father Matt (recurring) (final appearance)
 * 2009 Grey's Anatomy "Tainted Obligation" as Irving Waller
 * 2009-2013 Bones as Hank Booth (3 episodes)
 * 2011 Off the Map "On the Mean Streets of San Miguel" as Abuelito

As director

 * 1973-1980 The Waltons (TV series)
 * 1980 On the Nickel
 * 1983 The Mississippi (TV series)

As producer

 * 1984 A Good Sport (executive producer)

As writer

 * 1980 On the Nickel

Theatre

 * Marathon '33 (1963)
 * Blues for Mister Charlie (1964)
 * Hogan's Goat (play) (1965)
 * The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (1967)
 * Other People's Money (play, before the film) (1991, Trinity Repertory Company, Providence, RI)
 * The Young Man From Atlanta (1995)