Editing Michael Learned

{{short description|American actress (born 1939)}}
{{Distinguish|Michael Lerner (actor)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Michael Learned
| image              = Michael Learned Headshot.jpg
| imagesize          = 
| image_caption      = Learned in 2020
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1939|04|09}}
| birth_place        = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
| occupation         = Actress
| yearsactive        = 1961–present
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Peter Donat]]<br />|1956|1972|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Glen Chadwick<br />|1974|1977|end=div}}
* {{marriage|William Parker IV<br />|1979|1988|end=div}}
* {{marriage|John Doherty<br />|1991}}
}}
| children           = 3
}}

'''Michael Learned''' (born April 9, 1939) is an American actress, known for her role as [[List of The Waltons characters#Olivia Walton|Olivia Walton]] in the long-running CBS drama series ''[[The Waltons]]'' (1972–1981). She has won the [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series]] four times, which is tied for the record of most wins with [[Tyne Daly]]. Three of the wins were for ''The Waltons'' (1973, 1974, 1976), while the other was for ''[[Nurse (American TV series)|Nurse]]'' (1982).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/bios/michael-learned|title=Michael Learned profile|work=Television Academy|access-date=October 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020163407/http://www.emmys.com/bios/michael-learned |archive-date=October 20, 2014}}</ref>

==Early life==
Learned was born in [[Washington, D.C.]], the eldest daughter of Elizabeth Duane ("Betti"; née Hooper) and Bruce Learned, a [[diplomat]].<ref>{{Cite book |first=Barbara J. |last=Love |title=Foremost women in communications: a biographical reference work on accomplished women in broadcasting, publishing, advertising, public relations, and allied professions|publisher=Foremost Americans Publishing Corporation|year=1970|isbn=9780835204149 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m5EUAQAAIAAJ&q=betti+hooper+learned}}</ref> Her maternal grandfather also worked for the [[United States Foreign Service]] (of the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]]), and was an attaché for the [[United States Embassy in Rome]] ([[Italy]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/07/16/archives/elizabeth-b-hooper-is-married-in-rome-the-daughter-of-attache-at.html|title=Elizabeth B. Hooper is Married in Rome – The Daughter of Attache at the American Embassy in Italy Wed to Bruce Learned|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 1936|access-date=January 20, 2014}}</ref> She has five younger sisters: Gretl, Susan, Sabra, Dorit and Philippa.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1994/12/07/federal-official-thomas-morris-dies-at-age-81/6ae698ee-6a5c-4979-96b6-1cdf2461568c/| title = FEDERAL OFFICIAL THOMAS MORRIS DIES AT AGE 81 - The Washington Post| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> She lived on a [[Connecticut]] farm for the first 10 years of her life. Learned said that her parents never explained why she received a masculine first name, once saying of her father: "All he told me was that if I had been a boy, I would have been named Caleb, but I was a girl, so I was called Michael."<ref name="nj">{{cite news |last1=Cartwright |first1=Al |title=Olivia Walton by another name is just Michael Learned |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97197440/michael-learned/ |access-date=March 8, 2022 |work=The News-Journal |date=April 26, 1980 |location=Delaware, Wilmington |page=3|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> When she was 11, Learned moved to Austria, where her father worked for the [[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]]. At this time, she attended Arts Educational School, Tring, (now the [[Tring Park School for the Performing Arts]] in [[Tring]], [[Hertfordshire]], [[England]], ([[United Kingdom]]). During this time, she discovered the [[theater]] and [[acting]], and decided to make acting her life's work.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/41242/Michael-Learned/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226042300/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/41242/Michael-Learned/biography|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-02-26|title=Michael Learned – Biography|location=New York|issn=0362-4331|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Hal Erickson|author-link=Hal Erickson (author)|date=2014|access-date=January 20, 2014}}</ref>

==Career==
===Television and film===
[[File:Michael Learned, 1973.jpg|thumb|Learned in 1973]]
Her first substantial role in either [[Cinema of the United States|film]] / [[motion pictures]] or [[American television|television]] was as the character [[The Waltons|Olivia Walton]], the mother and wife of [[John Walton, Sr.]] on ''[[The Waltons]]'' drama / nostalgia television series , which ran for nine seasons from 1972 to 1981. For the first five seasons of the show she was billed as "Miss Michael Learned" because she was relatively unknown at the time and producers wished to avoid confusion among viewers about her gender, that her "Michael" was a woman's name). By the sixth season, as the show continued its success after the departure of co-star [[Richard Thomas (actor)|Richard Thomas]] (born 1951), these fears of confusion about her sex had been alleviated and the "Miss" was dropped from Learned's billing in the credits. She was nominated for six [[Primetime Emmy Award|Emmy Awards]] as Lead Actress in a Drama, winning three times. After the end of the sixth season, she agreed to appear for one more season on the condition that she would not have to work the full nine months schedule. After the seventh season she left the show.<ref>{{cite news|title=Walton family will lose hard-working old Olivia|date=10 November 1978|work=Hutchinson News| publisher=[[Heritage Microfilm, Inc.#NewspaperARCHIVE]]}}</ref> Her character's abrupt disappearance in Season 7 was explained by Olivia developing [[tuberculosis]] and entering a [[sanatorium]] in hot and dry [[Arizona]]. She returned briefly in Season 8 and later appeared in four of the six subsequent ''Waltons'' sequel / reunion [[television film|made-for-TV]] films and specials made, with three during 1982 and during the [[1990s]] (1993, 1995 and 1997). For her portrayal of Olivia Walton, Learned was also nominated for four [[Golden Globe Award]]s. During her run as Olivia Walton, Learned and ''The Waltons'' co-star, [[Will Geer]], also appeared together in the 1974 made-for-TV movie ''Hurricane''.

Learned made her big screen debut in 1980, playing the supporting role in the drama film ''[[Touched by Love]]''. She later appeared in ''[[Power (1986 film)|Power]]'' (1986) and ''[[Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story]]'' (1993), and well as number of made-for-television movies. Learned starred as Nurse Mary Benjamin in the hospital drama ''[[Nurse (American TV series)|Nurse]]'', which ran on the [[CBS|CBS-TV]] network for six episodes in the spring 1981 and then for the following 1981–1982 seasons. Though the series was well received critically, it was not a big ratings success and lasted only two partial seasons. Nevertheless, Learned was nominated for two [[Emmy]] Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress and won yet another Emmy for this role in 1982. She later had starring roles in the unsuccessful 1988 series drama ''[[Hothouse (TV series)|Hothouse]]'' and the 1989 sitcom ''[[Living Dolls]]'' and reprised her ''Waltons'' role for a number of television movies and reunions in the 1990s. In 2005, Learned played Judge Helen Turner on the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC-TV]] network's daytime [[soap opera]]s ''[[All My Children]]'' and ''[[One Life to Live]]'' as part of the "baby switch" storyline on both shows. In the second season of ''[[The Secret World of Alex Mack]]'', she guest-starred as a ghost who regretted the decisions of her long-estranged granddaughter, revealed at the end to be the show's main villain, Danielle Atron ([[Louan Gideon]]). She guest-starred in ''[[Scrubs (TV series)|Scrubs]]'' as Mrs. Wilk in five episodes from the show's fifth season. She played Shirley Smith on ABC's other long-running soap opera''[[General Hospital]]'' in 2010. In late 2011, Learned played [[Katherine Chancellor]] on the CBS daytime soap opera, ''[[The Young and the Restless]]'', filling in for longtime actress [[Jeanne Cooper]], who was on extended medical leave from the series.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://soapcentral.com/yr/news/2011/1022-cooper_learned.php|title=Jeanne Cooper taking medical leave from Y&R|first=Dan J.|last=Kroll|work=[[List of soap opera media outlets|Soapcentral]]|date=October 21, 2011|access-date=January 20, 2014}}</ref> Several decades later in 2022, Learned made her return to television with starring role in the [[Netflix]] limited series, ''[[Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story]]'' playing Catherine Dahmer, [[Jeffrey Dahmer]]'s grandmother.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/03/michael-learned-monster-the-jeffrey-dahmer-story-cast-grandmother-1234725498/|title=Michael Learned Joins Cast Of Netflix’s ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ From Ryan Murphy And Ian Brennan|first1=Patrick|last1=Hipes|date=March 31, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/netflix-dahmer-star-michael-learned-peoples-obsession-serial-killers|title=Netflix’s ‘Dahmer’ star Michael Learned on people’s obsession with serial killers: ‘I question our country’|first=Stephanie|last=Nolasco|date=October 6, 2022|website=Fox News}}</ref>

===Theatre===
In the late 1960s, Learned and her husband [[Peter Donat]] appeared in various roles with the [[American Conservatory Theater]] in [[San Francisco, California]]. She has appeared in many stage productions on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in [[off Broadway]], in [[New York City]] and elsewhere, including the 2006–2007 national touring production of the play ''[[On Golden Pond (play)|On Golden Pond]]''.

In the fall of 2008, she starred in the [[Innovation Theatre Works]]' production of ''[[Driving Miss Daisy]]'', playing the title role of retired [[Atlanta, Georgia]] school teacher Daisy Werthen, opposite [[Willis Burks II]] as Hoke and [[Dirk Blocker]] as Daisy's son Boolie. She reprised the role opposite Lance E. Nichols as Hoke at the [[Judson Theatre Company]] in March 2013.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://judsontheatre.com/driving-miss-daisy/ | title=Driving Miss Daisy }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Learned has been married four times. Her first husband was Canadian-American actor [[Peter Donat]] (1928-2018), whom she married in 1956 when she was 17 years old. The marriage was dissolved 16 years later in 1972. She had three sons by that marriage, one of whom is actor and business executive [[Lucas Donat]] (born 1962).<ref name=Parker>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-michael-learned/149508253/ |title=Michael Learned Marries |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Constitution]] |page=47 |date=1979-12-20 |access-date=2024-06-17 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her second marriage, to Glen Chadwick, lasted only three years from 1974 to 1977 and also ended in divorce. In 1979, she married actor-screenwriter William Parker.<ref name=Parker/> That marriage ended in divorce as well. Since 1991, she has been married to lawyer John Doherty; the couple resides currently in [[California]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-new-home-for-mrs/149508927/ |title=New Home for 'Mrs. Walton' |first=Ruth |last=Ryon |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=329 |date=1991-05-12 |access-date=2024-06-17 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-learneds-rising-tide/149508561/ |title=Learned's rising 'Tide' |first=Christopher |last=Moore |newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] |page=40 |date=2012-11-02 |access-date=2024-06-17 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In a 2002 article she wrote for the ''Daily Word'', a publication of the [[Unity Church]], Learned states that at the time she was cast in ''The Waltons'' in 1971, she had "hit rock bottom". Then, at age 32, Learned realized she was an alcoholic. Taking herself to former husband Peter Donat's remote cabin on the [[West Coast of the United States|California coast]], she decided to "get sober" and that her time there was the beginning of a spiritual journey. Learned further stated in the article that she has been sober since 1977.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://content.unity.org/publications/archives/dailyWord/articles/mySpiritualJourney.html|title=My Spiritual Journey|first=Michael|last=Learned|work=[[Daily Word]]|date=December 2002|access-date=January 20, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328224647/http://content.unity.org/publications/archives/dailyWord/articles/mySpiritualJourney.html|archive-date=March 28, 2014}}</ref>

==Filmography==
===Film===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
| 1980 || ''[[Touched by Love]]'' || Dr. Bell || 
|-
| 1986 || ''[[Power (1986 film)|Power]]'' || Governor Andrea Stannard || 
|-
| 1993 || ''[[Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story]]'' || Vivian Emery || 
|-
| 1997 || ''[[The Alarmist|Life During Wartime]]'' || {{n/a}} ||
|-
| 2000 || ''For the Love of May'' || Mary Lou || Short film
|-
| rowspan=2|2005 || ''Lethal Eviction'' || Elsa || 
|-
 || ''[[Loggerheads (2005 film)|Loggerheads]]'' || Sheridan Bellamy || 
|-
| 2007 || ''The Killer'' || The Innkeeper || Short film
|-
| 2009 || ''[[An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong]]'' || Nana Louis Hanlon || 
|-
| rowspan=3|2014 || ''Unplugged'' || Grandma Katie || rowspan=2|Short film
|-
 ||''The Parcel'' || Beverly 
|-
|| ''After Life'' || Gloria || 
|-
| 2018 || ''Second Acts'' || Lee Marston|| Short film
|-
|}

===Television films===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
| 1963 || ''The Other Man'' || {{n/a}} || 
|-
|rowspan=2| 1974 || ''[[Hurricane (1974 film)|Hurricane]]'' || Lee Jackson || 
|-
 || ''[[It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy]]'' || Janet Walters || 
|-
| 1978 || ''[[Little Mo (1978 film)|Little Mo]]'' || Eleanor Tennant || 
|-
| rowspan=2|1980 || ''[[Nurse (American TV series)|Nurse]]'' || Mary Benjamin || 
|-
 || ''[[A Christmas Without Snow]]'' || Zoe Jenson || 
|-
| 1982 || ''[[List of The Waltons episodes#Reunion movies (1982–1997)|Mother's Day on Waltons Mountain]]'' || Olivia Walton || 
|-
| 1984 || ''The Parade'' || Rachel Kirby || 
|-
| rowspan=2|1986 || ''A Deadly Business'' || Ann || 
|-
 || ''Picnic'' || Rosemary Sidney || 
|-
|1986
|''All My Sons''
|Kate Keller 
|American Playhouse 
|-
| 1987 || ''Mercy or Murder?'' || Skipper || 
|-
| 1988 || ''[[Roots: The Gift]]'' || Amelia Parker || 
|-
| 1990 || ''Gunsmoke: The Last Apache'' || Mike Yardner || 
|-
|rowspan=3| 1991 || ''Aftermath: A Test of Love'' || Irene || 
|-
 || ''[[Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story]]'' || Judy Smart || 
|-
 || ''Keeping Secrets'' || Marion Mahoney || 
|-
| 1992 || ''Mattie's Waltz'' || Mattie || 
|-
| 1993 || ''[[List of The Waltons episodes#Reunion movies (1982–1997)|A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion]]'' || rowspan=3|Olivia Walton ||
|-
| 1995 || ''[[List of The Waltons episodes#Reunion movies (1982–1997)|A Walton Wedding]]'' ||
|-
| 1997 || ''[[List of The Waltons episodes#Reunion movies (1982–1997)|A Walton Easter]]'' || 
|-
| 1998 || ''[[A Father for Brittany]]'' || Edna Humphreys || 
|-
| 2017 || ''Life Interrupted'' || Marni Woodworth ||
|}

===Television series===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
| 1968 || ''[[Wojeck]]'' || Nina Eden || 2 episodes
|-
| 1972–1979 || ''[[The Waltons]]'' || Olivia Walton || 168 episodes<br />[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series]] <small>(1973–1974, 1976)</small><br />Nominated—[[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama]] <small>(1973–1976)</small><br />Nominated—[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series]] <small>(1975, 1978–1979)</small>
|-
| rowspan=3|1973 || rowspan=2|''[[Gunsmoke]]'' || Mike Yardner || Episode: "Matt's Love Story"
|-
 || May Lassiter || Episode: "A Game of Death... An Act of Love Part 2"
|-
 || ''[[Match Game|Match Game 73]]'' || Herself || Episode: "1.6"
|-
| 1973–1974 || ''[[Insight (American TV series)|Insight]]'' || Sister Janet || 2 episodes
|-
| 1974 || ''[[Police Story (1973 TV series)|Police Story]]'' || Linda Keitlinger || Episode: "Love, Mabel"
|-
| 1981–1982 || ''[[Nurse (American TV series)|Nurse]]'' || Nurse Mary Benjamin || 25 episodes<br />[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series]]<br />Nominated—[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series]]
|-
| 1984 || ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'' || Sister Millicent Domencia || 2 episodes
|-
| 1988 || ''Hothouse'' || Dr. Marie Teller || 7 episodes
|-
|rowspan=3| 1989 || ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'' || Maria Hudson || Episode: "Trevor Hudson's Legacy"
|-
 || ''[[Who's the Boss?]]'' || Trish Carlin || 2 episodes
|-
 || ''[[Living Dolls]]'' || Trish Carlin || 12 episodes
|-
| 1990 || ''[[Wiseguy (TV series)|Wiseguy]]'' || Rachel || 2 episodes
|-
| 1994 || ''[[Reading Rainbow]]'' || Herself || Episode: "Appelemondo's Dream"
|-
| 1995 || ''[[The Secret World of Alex Mack]]'' || Ghost of Paradise Valley || Episode: "The Secret"
|-
| rowspan=2|1998 || ''[[Profiler (TV series)|Profiler]]'' || Helen Waters || 3 episodes
|-
 || ''[[Promised Land (1996 TV series)|Promised Land]]'' || Dolly Carstens || Episode: "The Secret of Bluestem"
|-
| rowspan=2|2000 || ''[[Pensacola: Wings of Gold]]'' || Congresswoman Benedict || Episode: "Article 32"
|-
 || ''[[So Graham Norton]]'' || Herself || Episode: "3.8"
|-
| 2003 || ''[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit]]'' || Candace Lamery || Episode: "Privilege"
|-
|rowspan=2| 2005 || ''[[All My Children]]'' || Judge Turner || Episode: "1.9044"
|-
|| ''[[One Life to Live]]'' || Hon. Judge Turner || 2 episodes
|-
| 2006 || ''[[Scrubs (TV series)|Scrubs]]'' || Mrs. Wilk || 7 episodes
|-
| 2009 || ''[[Cold Case]]'' || Louise Patterson '09 || Episode: "WASP"
|-
| 2010 || ''[[General Hospital]]'' || Shirley Smith || 21 episodes
|-
| rowspan=2|2011 || ''[[Mr. Sunshine (2011 TV series)|Mr. Sunshine]]'' || Maggie || Episode: "The Best Man"
|-
 || ''[[The Young and the Restless]]'' || [[Katherine Chancellor]] || 13 episodes
|-
| 2022 || ''[[Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story]]'' || Catherine Dahmer || Netflix series
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|495229}}
*{{IBDB name}}
*{{iobdb name|10512}}
*{{The Interviews name|michael-learned}}
*[http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0002p5z1 Image of Robert L. Jacks, Michael Learned, Richard Thomas and Lee Rich with their Emmys for "The Waltons," Los Angeles, California, 1973.] [[Los Angeles Times]] Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, [[Charles E. Young Research Library]], [[University of California, Los Angeles]].

{{EmmyAward DramaLeadActress}}
{{The Waltons}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Learned, Michael}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:21st-century American actresses]]
[[Category:Actors educated at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts]]
[[Category:Actresses from Connecticut]]
[[Category:Actresses from Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American soap opera actresses]]
[[Category:American stage actresses]]
[[Category:American television actresses]]
[[Category:Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners]]