Was a member of Orson Welles' and John Houseman's Project 891 theatre company, sponsored by the Federal Theatre Project.
I'm a lifelong agitator, a radical. A rebel is just against things for rebellion's sake. By radical, I mean someone who goes to the roots.
Pisces
William Aughe Ghere
March 9, 1902
Frankfort, Indiana, USA
Died
April 22, 1978 (age 76)
Los Angeles, California, USA
Height:
6' 2½" (1.89 m)
Will Geer was born William Aughe Ghere in Frankfort, Indiana, to Katherine (Aughe), a teacher, and Roy Aaron Ghere, a postal worker. Will admired his grandfather, a man who said hello to trees by their Latin names and who had used what he brought back to Indiana from the California gold rush to build Frankfort's first opera house. Will pursued a college major in botany, from Chicago through a Master's degree at Columbia, but ultimately gave in to his need to perform. Starting with touring company tent shows and river boats, his six-decade career included Broadway, movies, television; many Shakespeare roles; one-man performances as Walt Whitman and Mark Twain. His best known role was his last, Zebulon Walton, grandpa in the long-running television series The Waltons (1972). Less well-known was his life-long role as a political agitator and radical ("Someone who goes to the roots, which is the Latin derivation of radical") and folklorist/folksinger - he toured U.S. government work camps in the 1930s, singing with Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives. He was blacklisted during the McCarthy era for refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Affairs. In 1951, he formed the "Theatricum Botanicum," a repertory theater in Topanga Canyon, California, where he not only coached actors but also encouraged outdoor philosophical discussion and, of course, folksinging. At his deathbed, his family sang "This Land Is Your Land" and recited Robert Frost poems. His ashes lie in a corner of the Shakespearean garden on the grounds of his Theatricum Botanicum.
Max Miller/Fotos International/Getty Images
The Waltons creator called Will Geer a “Renaissance man.” And Geer brought all that gusto and life experience into portraying Zebulon Walton.
But rather than Zebulon, you may call Geer’s character, Grandpa. That’s how Americans knew him when he was part of The Waltons, an endearing family drama that was on the air from 1972-78.
Except Geer’s Grandpa didn’t make it through til the end of the series. Rather, Geer died in April, 1978 at the age of 76. He suffered respiratory failure. And Hamner addressed Geer’s death months later by having Grandpa die as well.
“He was a ‘Renaissance man’—he was a historian of the theater, and of virtually all the performing arts,” Earl Hamner, The Waltons creator told the New York Times after Geer after died. “He was joyous, he was vigorous, and he was inventive. I will miss him very much.”
Grandpa Loved to Fish and Drink the Baldwin Sisters’ “Recipe’ on The Waltons
Zebulon was quite the character. He always pulled his fair share around the lumber mill. He loved to fish and be outdoors. And he loved his seven Waltons grandchildren. Viewers also knew that Grandpa liked to drink the Baldwin Sisters “recipe.”
The Waltons addressed Geer’s death in the premiere episode of season seven. Hamner called the episode The Empty Nest. The family mourned Grandpa’s death. And, Mary Ellen and Erin moved to Charlottesville.
The Waltons were only a small part of Geer’s impactful life. He also was a political activist and performed with folk singers Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives in the 1930s during the Great Depression. He literally lived through the time depicted in The Waltons when he was a young man.
Geer also was a communist. He showed up for the U.S. House Committee on Un‐American Activities in the 1950s. The New York Times said he wore a vivid purple shirt and smiled for the representatives. But then he declined to answer questions, citing the Fifth Amendment. Hollywood blacklisted him. In his later years, Geer did testify before Congress. He was against mandatory retirement ages, saying “it’s criminal, absolutely criminal, that old people should be put on the shelf.”
In 1972, at age 70, the same year he earned the role in The Waltons, Geer also was part of the movie, Jeremiah Johnson, which starred Robert Redford.
Geer Liked It When Folks Called Him an Oracle
Geer was a master story teller. You could see that in The Waltons.
“You get a certain age and people look on you as an oracle,” Geer said in a 1970s-era interview. “If you live long enough, everything that could, will happen to you—even a television series.”
In the early spring of 1978, Geer spent more than a month in the hospital. His family knew his death was imminent. His ex wife, three children and two of his grandkids were by his bedside when he passed away.
The family gathered the next day and sang folk songs to honor his memory. Hamner was there, too.
“He was not the kind of man to grieve,” Hamner told the Times. “Or to let others grieve.”