Mary Jackson

Mary Jackson is a film and television actress best known for her roles in "The Waltons" and "Parenthood." Jackson graduated from Western Michigan University in 1932, and briefly worked as a schoolteacher before deciding to pursue her interest in acting. After performing in numerous regional theater productions, she moved to Los Angeles and landed her first TV role in 1950, when she had a small part on "Rocky King, Detective." She worked steadily through the '60s in such shows as "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," "The Fugitive," and "The F.B.I.," and soon became a highly sought-after character actress. In 1972 she was cast as eccentric bootlegger Emily Baldwin and became a beloved character on the long-running series "The Waltons." She later reprised the role in numerous TV movies, including 1982's "A Wedding on Walton's Mountain" and 1993's "A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion." After leaving the show in 1981, Jackson had recurring roles on the action drama "Hardcastle an McCormick" and "Highway to Heaven," and appeared in the 1988 film "Big Top Pee-wee." In 1990 she was cast as Great Grandma Greenwell in the short-lived series "Parenthood," which was based on the 1989 feature film, and made her final TV appearance in the 1997 made-for-TV movie "A Walton Easter."