--- description: Actor leaves a wife, two daughters and a stepson title: The Waltons Ralph Waite Dies at 85 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ralph Waite, Patriarch Of TV series 'The Waltons,' Dies at 85 by [Michelle Arrouas](/author/michelle-arrouas/) ## Michelle Arrouas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 14, 2014 10:00 AM CUT by [Michelle Arrouas](/author/michelle-arrouas/) ## Michelle Arrouas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 14, 2014 10:00 AM CUT In the 1970’s millions of American viewers got to know Ralph White as the patriarch in the popular television series _The Waltons_, and in recent years younger viewers got to know him through the CBS hit _NCIS_. On Thursday he passed away, at age 85, in his home in Palm Desert in California. According to a friend who arrived at the house for a lunch date but was met by ambulances and Waite’s wife, the reason of his death was a “tired heart”. Former and current colleagues have been reacting to the announcement of Ralph Waite’s passing with sadness, [_People_ reports](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20787018,00.html "undefined"). He leaves his wife, two daughters and a stepson. \[[People](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20787018,00.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/8623/ralph-waite-patriarch-tv-series-the-waltons-dies-at-85/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/8623/ralph-waite-patriarch-tv-series-the-waltons-dies-at-85/"},"headline":"Ralph Waite, Patriarch Of TV series 'The Waltons,' Dies at 85","datePublished":"2014-02-14T10:00:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:26:19.411Z","description":"Actor leaves a wife, two daughters and a stepson","url":"https://time.com/8623/ralph-waite-patriarch-tv-series-the-waltons-dies-at-85/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Arrouas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michelle-arrouas/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/8623/ralph-waite-patriarch-tv-series-the-waltons-dies-at-85/","name":"Ralph Waite, Patriarch Of TV series 'The Waltons,' Dies at 85"}}]}] ```