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Ellen Corby believed that she had lost her role on The Waltons after she became sick
"I was afraid the producers wouldn't want me back."
Ellen Corby wasn't just Grandma on The Waltons. It was a role that she so excelled at, that viewers everywhere felt a kinship with her. Corby became America's grandmother.
During an interview with the Ventura County Star, Corby revealed that she was also thought of as a real grandmother on the set of The Waltons by her fellow costars.
"I live alone and never had a family of my own," she said. "These children on the show are like my own grandkids, and I really AM the grandma around here."
But originally, Corby wasn't even certain that she'd have a guaranteed role on The Waltons.
"I never finished the role on 'The Homecoming,'" Corby said, referencing the special that earned The Waltons a proper series order. "I got sick and wound up in the hospital in surgery. I was afraid the producers wouldn't want me back. After all, I had caused them a great inconvenience, delayed production, and didn't seem very healthy."
Still, producers knew that Corby was a talent they needed on the series. On her end, Corby credited her own manifestation for the luck. "This show is what I've always wanted," she said. "And what I just knew I'd get someday. You see, I believe in positive KNOWING — not thinking, mind you."
But luck wasn't solely responsible for Corby's good fortune — it was the result of decades of hard work. "I sometimes think it was not for my work on the show, but more for the forty years of service I've given to the entertainment industry," Corby said of her Emmy award, won during her time on The Waltons.
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