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.
Electoral history
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.
Filmography
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, Third 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)
References
External links
Ralph Waite at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection
Ralph Waite on Biography Channel
1928 births
2014 deaths
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American Presbyterian ministers
American actor-politicians
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
Bucknell University alumni
California Democrats
Male actors from New York (state)
Military personnel from New York (state)
Actors from White Plains, New York
United States Marines
Yale Divinity School alumni