This photo released by CBS shows Ralph Waite, as Jackson Gibbs, in an episode “The Namesake” from “NCIS.” Waite, 85, who played the father in TV’s hit series “The Waltons,” has died.LOS ANGELES – Ralph Waite, who played the kind patriarch of a tight-knit rural Southern family on the TV series “The Waltons,” has died, his manager said Thursday. He was 85.
Waite, who lived in the Palm Springs area, died midday Thursday, manager Alan Mills said. Mills, who did not know the cause of death, said he was taken aback because Waite had been in good health and still working.
Waite appeared last year in episodes of the series “NCIS,” in which he played the dad of star Mark Harmon’s character. He also appeared in “Bones” and “Days of Our Lives.”
“He was a wonderful guy,” Mills said. “He was always kind, always generous, and a joy to work with.”
“The Waltons,” which aired on CBS from 1972 to 1981, starred Waite as John Walton, and Richard Thomas played his oldest son, John-Boy, an aspiring novelist. The gentle family drama was set in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia.