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The Baldwin sisters on The Waltons died almost exactly two years apart
Helen Kleeb and Mary Jackson both lived well into their nineties.
Mamie and Emily Baldwin created many great moments on The Waltons. They brought a quirky yet refined charm to the show.
The Baldwins lived nearby and would always drop in with a friendly smile, even if it wasn’t the most opportune moment for the Walton family. The sisters proclaimed the virtues of their father’s “recipe,” which was a lot more alcoholic than they seemed to realize. Emily Baldwin always pined for her lost love, Ashley Longworth, waiting for him to return one day.
The brilliant performances by Helen Kleeb and Mary Jackson were what made the Baldwin sisters so memorable. They were funny, endearing and sophisticated all at the same time. They seemed so much like real sisters, whether they were bickering or supporting each other.
Just like the sisters they played, Kleeb and Jackson shared many things in common. They were both born at the beginning of the twentieth century. The depression hit right as they were entering the entertainment industry but they persevered and eventually made it to Hollywood.
Mary Jackson appeared on many different shows before The Waltons. She acted in My Three Sons, The Fugitive and The Invaders. She was also on The Twilight Zone and The Andy Griffith Show, two shows her future TV sister also performed on. Helen Kleeb plays Mattie Glover in The Twilight Zone episode Jess-Belle. The episode involves an Appalachian girl who asks a witch to make her a love potion. The episode was written by none other than Earl Hamner, Jr. himself, a decade before he created The Waltons!
Both Kleeb and Jackson continued to act through the late 1990s. They reprised their roles as the Baldwin sisters for TV movies A Walton Wedding (1995) and A Walton Easter (1997). Helen Kleeb passed away just shy of her 97th birthday in late December, 2003. Two years later, Mary Jackson died shortly after her 95th birthday in December of 2005.
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