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Michael Learned received a funeral wreath as a gag gift during her final days on The Waltons
"I'll burn it before I leave," she said.
The funniest of jokes are done out of an abundance of love, which means that the crew of The Waltons must have loved Michael Learned a whole lot.
For years, Learned played Olivia Walton, until she decided to leave the series. But while Learned would certainly be well missed amongst the cast and crew, they couldn't let her leave without having a bit of fun at her expense.
According to an article for the Associated Press, Walton crew members left a funeral wreath in her dressing room during one of Learned's final days on set. "In loving memory of Michael Learned's career," it read. "May it rest in peace."
Learned found the joke funny, and took it in stride. "I'll burn it before I leave," she said. "I've got one last scene, then I'll clean out my dressing room."
Of course, Learned's goodbye to the series wasn't just about the laughs. In fact, the actor filmed her on-screen final appearance as Olivia Walton in advance to save herself and others the emotional destruction.
"I think they felt they could never get the farewell show on film if it was my last," she said. "There would have been too many tears."
As far as the future went, Learned wasn't entirely sure what her life would look like without The Waltons. "It would be nice to have a role without putting on an apron," she said. "But I don't know if I'd want to go into makeup for three hours every day to look glamorous...In The Waltons, I just pull my hair back and put on a baggy old dress. I don't mean to sound flip, because I really have grown to love the character. She's a woman of courage and dignity."
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