Michael Learned, the legendary actress who starred as Olivia Walton in the 1970s drama The Waltons, made a rare public appearance in late 2025, taking part in the Still Here Hollywood podcast with Steve Kmetko.
The 87-year-old looked glamorous in a peach shirt paired with gold necklaces and gold hooped earrings, as she wore her white hair back in a sleek ponytail.
Michael, an Emmys winner who has continued to work into her 80s, spoke to podcast host Steve about one moment in her career when she found herself in an elevator with two "well-known" actresses who were "so damn rude".
"In my memoir, if I ever get it written, I will name them," she joked, before she went on to share the full story.
© Disney General Entertainment Con"They knew who I was," said Michael. "They started talking about that show. 'You know, with all the kids in blue jeans and bare feet.' They were making fun of me, and I didn't have the chutzpah, or whatever, to call them out on it, so I stood there, in horrible humiliation and said nothing."
Michael admitted that she did have regrets over staying silent, and that she often considered ways she could have "given it back in some way".
"I still haven't gotten over it, obviously because I'm talking about it, but they were just so rude," she concluded.
© CBS via Getty ImagesBorn on April 9, 1939, Michael starred in the family sitcom The Waltons between 1972 and 1979, appearing in almost 170 episodes.
The show was known for its wholesome content, which was at odds with Michael's real life. In the early 2000s, Michael revealed that before being cast as Olivia, she had "hit rock bottom" and had become an alcoholic. She became sober in 1977, after five years on the show.
© Getty ImagesAsked by Steve to recall her first day on the set, Michael did not hold back, sharing: "My memory was that I was probably hungover, for one."
Michael also told Steve that her first day on set was eye-opening because she "had been doing theatre for so long that I'd totally forgotten that you were supposed to hit marks, [or] that you could kill a soundman’s hearing by screaming or making a loud noise".
"I was just like an elephant in an antique shop," she said, admitting it was humbling to realize "these kids seemed to know what they were doing".
© Getty ImagesHowever, "these kids" went on to help Michael turn her life around, admitting that they "went out of their way to make me feel welcome, and that was it, it was like a whole new world for me."
Michael has won four Primetime Emmys over the course of her acting career, and continues to work today, including most recently in Netflix's Monster, as Catherine Dahmer.
Her first husband was Peter Donat, whom she married at the age of 17 in 1956. The couple welcomed three children before their divorce in 1972, before she found fame as Olivia, the matriarch of the Walton family. She later married Glenn Chadwick and William Parker, but it was John Doherty with whom she found enduring love, tying the knot in 1991 until he died in 2025.
