Ralph Waite
Born	June 22, 1928 (1928-06-22) (age 81) White Plains, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1965–present

Ralph Waite (born June 22, 1928) is an American actor. His most famous role may be John Walton Sr. on the 1970s CBS program The Waltons and he is also well known for his portrayal of the slaver first mate Slater in the mini-series Roots. He also more recently appeared on the HBO series Carnivàle. He is currently playing the recurring role of Father Matt on the daytime serial Days of our Lives.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Congressional races 3 Electoral history 4 Filmography 4.1 1960s 4.2 1970s 4.3 1980s 4.4 1990s 4.5 2000s 4.6 As director 4.7 As producer 4.8 As writer 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Personal life

Waite, the oldest of five children, was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Esther (née Mitchell) and Ralph H. Waite, a construction engineer.^[1] Before becoming an actor, he graduated from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and briefly became a social worker. He then earned a master's degree from Yale University Divinity School and was a Congregational minister and religious editor before deciding on a career in acting.

He was a member of the Peninsula Players summer theater program during the 1963 season.^[2]

Ralph Waite has been married three times; two of his marriages ended in divorce. He had three daughters from his first marriage. One of his daughters died when she was nine years old. His stepson, Liam Waite, is also an actor.

[edit] Congressional races

Waite ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat three times: in 1990 he challenged veteran GOP incumbent Al McCandless in the Riverside County based 37th district, narrowly losing by five percentage points. In 1998 he ran in the special election for the Palm Springs based 44th district left vacant by the death of incumbent Republican Sonny Bono. He got trounced in that election by Mary Bono, Sonny's widow, and lost to her by a similarly wide margin again that November.

[edit] Electoral history

Year	Office		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct
1990	U.S House of Representatives District 37		Jeffrey Jacobs 29% Ralph Waite 71%	103,961	44.8%		Bud Mathewson 27% Al McCandless 73%	115,469	49.8%
1998	U.S House of Representatives District 44 (special election)		Ralph Waite	24,228	28.8%		Mary Bono	53,755	64%
1998	U.S House of Representatives District 39 (general election)		Ralph Waite	57,697	35.7%		Mary Bono	97,013	60.1%

[edit] Filmography

[edit] 1960s

• Hogan's Goat (1965)
• Look Up and Live (1966)
• Cool Hand Luke (1967) Alibi
• The Borgia Stick (1967)
• N.Y.P.D. (1967)
• A Lovely Way to Die (1968)
• N.Y.P.D. (1968)

[edit] 1970s

• Bonanza (1970) "The Lady and the Mark" - Hoby
• Five Easy Pieces (1970) Carl Fidelio Dupea
• Lawman (1971)
• The Grissom Gang (1971)
• Nichols (1971)
• The Pursuit of Happiness (1971)
• The Sporting Club (1971)
• Chato's Land (1972)
• Girls on the Road (1972)
• The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972)
• Trouble Man (1972)
• The Waltons (1972-81)
• Hot Summer Week (1973)
• Kid Blue (1973)
• The Stone Killer (1973)
• The Thanksgiving Story (1973)
• The Secret Life of John Chapman (1976)
• Red Alert (1977)
• Roots (1977)
• Waiting for Godot (1977)
• CBS: On the Air (1978)

[edit] 1980s

• Angel City (1980)
• OHMS (the movie) (1980)
• On the Nickel (1980)
• The Gentleman Bandit (1981)
• A Day for Thanks on Walton's Mountain (1982)
• A Wedding on Walton's Mountain (1982)
• Mother's Day on Waltons Mountain (1982)
• The Mississippi (1983) Ben Walker
• A Good Sport (1984)
• Growing Pains (1984) Rob
• Crime of Innocence (1985) Frank Hayward
• Reading Rainbow (1987)
• Good Old Boy: A Delta Boyhood (1988)
• Murder, She Wrote (1989) DA Paul Robbins
• Red Earth, White Earth (1989) Martin

[edit] 1990s

• Crash and Burn (1990)
• Desperate Hours (1990)
• Sparks: The Price of Passion (1990)
• The Bodyguard (1992) Herb Farmer
• Cliffhanger (1993)
• A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion (1993)
• Keys (1994)
• Sin & Redemption (1994)
• Sioux City (1994)
• Time Trax (1994)
• A Season of Hope (1995)
• A Walton Wedding (1995)
• Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996)
• Murder One (1996) Malcolm Dietrich
• The West (1996)
• A Walton Easter (1997)
• Orleans (1997)
• The Third Twin (1997) Senator Proust
• Chicken Soup for the Soul (1999)
• The Outer Limits (1999)

[edit] 2000s

• The President's Man (2000)
• All My Children (2001) Bart
• Spirit (2001)
• Sunshine State (2002)
• Timequest (2002)
• Blessings (2003)
• Carnivàle (2003-2005)
• The Practice (2004)
• Silver City (2004)
• NCIS (2008-2009) Season 6 Episode 4 - "Heartland" and Season 7 Episode 10 - "Faith" as Jackson Gibbs
• The Cleaner (2008)
• CSI (2008) Season 9 Episode 9 - "Young Man with a Horn" as Sheriff Montgomery
• Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective (2009)
• Days of Our Lives (2009) Father Matt
• Cold Case (2007) Felton Metz
• Grey's Anatomy (2009) Season 6, Episode 4 - "Tainted Obligation" as Irving Waller
• Bones (2009) Season 5, Episode 9 - "The Foot in the Foreclosure" as Hank Booth

[edit] As director

• The Mississippi (1983)
• On the Nickel (1980)
• The Waltons (1972-81)

[edit] As producer

• A Good Sport (1984) (executive producer)

[edit] As writer

• On the Nickel (1980)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ralph Waite at the Internet Movie Database
• Ralph Waite at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ralph Waite at the Internet Off-Broadway Database