Michael Learned Autographs
Michael Learned (born April 9, 1939) is an American actress, known for her role as Olivia Walton in the long-running CBS drama series The Waltons (1972–1981). She has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series four times, which is tied for the record of most wins with Tyne Daly. Three of the wins were for The Waltons (1973, 1974, 1976), while the other was for Nurse (1982).
Learned was born in Washington, D.C., the eldest daughter of Elizabeth Duane ("Betti"; née Hooper) and Bruce Learned, a diplomat. Her maternal grandfather also worked for the United States Foreign Service (of the U.S. State Department), and was an attaché for the United States Embassy in Rome (Italy). She has five younger sisters: Gretl, Susan, Sabra, Dorit and Philippa. She lived on a Connecticut farm for the first 10 years of her life. Learned said that her parents never explained why she received a masculine first name, once saying of her father: "All he told me was that if I had been a boy, I would have been named Caleb, but I was a girl, so I was called Michael." When she was 11, Learned moved to Austria, where her father worked for the U.S. Department of State. At this time, she attended Arts Educational School, Tring, (now the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Tring, Hertfordshire, England, (United Kingdom). During this time, she discovered the theater and acting, and decided to make acting her life's work.
Her first substantial role in either film / motion pictures or television was as the character Olivia Walton, the mother and wife of John Walton, Sr. on The Waltons drama / nostalgia television series, which ran for nine seasons from 1972 to 1981. For the first five seasons of the show she was billed as "Miss Michael Learned" because she was relatively unknown at the time and producers wished to avoid confusion among viewers about her gender. By the sixth season, as the show continued its success after the departure of co-star Richard Thomas (born 1951), these concerns had been alleviated and the "Miss" was dropped from Learned's billing in the credits. She was nominated for six Emmy Awards as Lead Actress in a Drama, winning three times. After the end of the sixth season, she agreed to appear for one more season on the condition that she would not have to work the full nine months schedule. After the seventh season she left the show. Her character's abrupt disappearance in Season 7 was explained by Olivia developing tuberculosis and entering a sanatorium in hot and dry Arizona. She returned briefly in Season 8 and later appeared in four of the six subsequent Waltons sequel / reunion made-for-TV films and specials made, with three during 1982 and during the 1990s (1993, 1995 and 1997). For her portrayal of Olivia Walton, Learned was also nominated for four Golden Globe Awards. During her run as Olivia Walton, Learned and The Waltons co-star, Will Geer, also appeared together in the 1974 made-for-TV movie Hurricane.
Read more about Michael Learned on Wikipedia
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Current items with a signature of Michael Learned
These are the most current items with a signature of Michael Learned that were listed on eBay and on other online stores - click here for more items.
Traded items with a signature of Michael Learned
The most expensive item with a signature of Michael Learned (The Waltons Cast Photo Signed Michael Learned, David Harper, Kami Cotler, +3 COA) was sold in April 2026 for $295.00 while the cheapest item (Michael Learned The Waltons Livy Signed Autograph 4x6 Photo Wizard World) found a new owner for $0.01 in February 2024. The month with the most items sold (15) was September 2025 with an average selling price of $95.99 for an autographed item of Michael Learned. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in April 2026 with $132.47 and the month that saw the lowest prices with $0.99 was October 2010. In average, an autographed item from Michael Learned is worth $15.00.
Most recently, these items with a signature of Michael Learned were sold on eBay - click here for more items.
