The Waltons
My time in the entertainment industry...
Hello, out there again! First of all, thank you if you’re reading along or listening! I get a little feedback here and there, on Substack, and social media, so it’s always a pleasant surprise and much appreciated.
Today, I remembered I did a little video, on request, for an Instagram fan feed called @thewaltonstvshow. It was just my iPhone and I, sitting in our home this past March (no script and sorry if I’m awkward!), and it was really cool to see how many people watched!
I have posted it below :)
When the talent scout/agent, from New York City, came to my dance studio (podcast #3) she actually fell in love with my little brother, Adam Gunn (a few of the shows he did). There was a dance studio full of wriggling girls, of all ages, and he was sitting watching with my parents as the scout was talking to us and watching us dance. After we were done, she approached my parents (we were actually on our way to the mall on a Saturday afternoon) and talked to them about signing him! He was a rambunctious little seven year old and she was completely delighted by him! Out of all those girls, she signed me and we were all pretty certain it was to get Adam signed as he was having none of it! She said if he showed any interest at all to give her a call! Well…. I was fourteen, the calm, contained one and none of this was registering with me either!
My mom was never a “stage mom,” but this was the real deal. Figuring we could have a future savings account - she made sure we didn’t make too much of it. My dad would say, in his British accent, “no doors will be widened in this house” (in other words to get our heads through the doors - no big heads allowed!!)
I was mostly sent on dance commercial auditions, catalog and newspaper modeling assignments and it was a lot of fun. I had super long hair and that was an asset I guess. On one audition for Breck Shampoo (which I didn’t get), there was a Kool-Aid commercial audition, in another room, and my little brother LOVED Kool-Aid and signed himself in. He didn’t have front teeth nor an agent. My mom talked to him about it and he really wanted to do it, but she figured it would blow over. He ended up working quite a bit, as a guest star on various shows, but it was the cult flick, Halloween II, where he became known for the haunting young face of Michael Myers, slowly turning around in a chair, looking straight into the camera. We show up at the Pasadena Convention Center, for Halloween, the movie, fans, every year to support him and cheer him on, as he signs autographs for that 10 second role!! And no, none of us are part of this culture and, sure, we walk in with our ginormous flashy crosses praying the macabre away (just kidding). We are level-headed despite the heads seemingly rolling in that place. (it's full of nice people).
During Adam’s time on Little House On the Prairie I worked on The Waltons. It was a bit surreal and I rarely talked about it (that big head thing) during my time in the industry and for a very long time after. Same with Adam. Normal was our motto yet I’m uncertain if there is a normal other than what we fantasize about? You know like great neighbors? My biggest issue was trying to fit in and I was deeply aware, at a young age, of how mean kids could be.
So, at the beginning of 2020 my daughter found a huge fan site online called “The Walton’s Forum,” and introduced herself as my daughter. Patsy Brimmer’s daughter :) I had no idea! She was then encouraged to get me onto this forum where I have met fans from around the world and have heard amazing life testimonies! I have made new and beautiful friends and never knew how many fan pages there were, especially on Facebook! I was apparently a welcome missing link! In fact, many thought I had passed away. There were actually “two” Patsy’s (because my parents took us home to England for a very important family reunion, as filming new episodes were continuing with my role) - remember “normal!” - so…they hired a different girl to play my role! I wasn’t too happy about it but then they hired me back! Sadly, Eileen McDonough passed away in 2012, at the age of 50, while I was deep into my photography career. Heartbreaking :(
The face of the industry has evolved and changed but the desire to perform has never changed for many. Now actors are in danger of extinction as Artificial Intelligence takes over saving millions of dollars. How do we handle that in the world today? How does a young person continue to pursue this passion? Perhaps live theater is truly where it's at?
I had some incredible auditions/interviews with industry greats like Earl Hamner, Leonard Goldberg (producer of the long running Blue Bloods) and one fascinating screen test with Gary Coleman, from Different Strokes (the highest paid child actor of my time - and sadly, he passed away in 2010). Set life was interesting too! I’m realizing that my life has been extremely eclectic and surreal at times! Our youngest son went to Orange Co. School of the Arts High School, spending his time in the Theater Conservatory. There are probably some good questions I can honestly answer - if you have any :)
Notes about the video: I worked on the show from 15 to 17 years old (I said I was younger) - and I was actually “the first Patsy cast” and will never forget my interview with the creator/producer, Earl Hamner, who’s life The Walton’s was based on. A few of the comments said I didn’t look at all like I used to! ha ha! That’s because I’m old! I promise I have never had any kind of plastic surgery, botox or anything like that. I am a drug store light-makeup-kind-of-girl and I do fill my once plucked-to-a-thin-line eyebrows in! ugh, why did we do that back then???
Like many of our generation I grew up on The Waltons in the 1970s, part of the Golden Period. Our family was in the living room around our RCA Console watching faithfully every week. Of course I identified the most with John Boy (Earl Thomas) and his aspirations to be a writer.
But I also liked Olivia Walton (Michael Learned) and Grandpa Walton (Will Geer) for their independent spirit. I also liked the characters of the store owners, Ike and Corabeth Godsey. There was some depth to their character that was not always apparent.
That you were involved as an actress with such a wonderful TV series sounds like a good memory and you ought to be proud of it. Thanks for sharing this with us.
It's pretty darn cool that we had these experiences. This read was fun & had me thinking about so many unforgettable moments that we were blessed with.
Now forgive me for cutting this short but I have to go out & terrorize the neighborhood as it's my time of year 🎃