Biography
Ralph Waite (June 22, 1928 – February 13, 2014) was an American actor. His most famous role may be John Walton Sr. on the 1970s CBS TV series The Waltons, which he occasionally directed. He is also well known for his portrayal of the slave ship first mate Slater in the mini-series Roots. Later in his career, he appeared as Reverend Norman Balthus for 16 out of 24 episodes over the two seasons of the HBO series Carnivàle (2003–2005). He portrayed the recurring roles of Father Matt on the daytime...
Known For
Complete Filmography
Gabe the Cupid Dog
2012
as R.L. Dutton
When Eric and Marsha break off their long-term relationship, journalist Eric is able to weather it pretty well. He still has his long time canine comp...
25 Hill
2011
as Ed
This is the story of an 11-year-old boy whose derby dreams are left in pieces when his soldier father is killed in Afghanistan. The boy teams up with ...
Letters to God
2010
as Mr. Perryfield
A young boy fighting cancer writes letters to God, touching lives in his neighborhood and inspiring hope among everyone he comes in contact. An unsusp...
Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective
2009
as Grandpa Ventura
"I will try to be normal" 12-year-old Ace Ventura Jr. promises. Thats cool, except whats normal for him is finding missing mutts, kidnapped kitties or...
A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke'
2008
as Self
A documentary on the making of 'Cool Hand Luke' (1967).
Generation Gap
2008
as Chick
When a rebellious teenager is forced to spend the summer with his grandfather, their differences go deeper than just the years that separate them.
Murder 101: If Wishes Were Horses
2007
as Jacob Brawley
Dr. Maxwell is called in to investigate the kidnapping of a prize race horse. When the case leads to murder, Maxwell and Detective Bryant suspect the ...
Silver City
2004
as Casey Lyle
The discovery of a corpse and the ensuing probe by an idealistic journalist threatens to unravel a bumbling local politician's campaign for governor o...
Blessings
2003
as Sheriff
Released from jail after a term basically served instead of friends he refused to rat out, Charles 'Skip' Cuddy is grateful his gentleman instinct get...
Timequest
2003
as The Traveler
A story about a man who travels back in time to Fort Worth, Texas on Novemeber 22, 1963 and prevents the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Sunshine State
2002
as Furman Temple
A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estat...
Spirit
2001
as Jacob Hardesty
When Kelly and her father move to New Orleans after the death of her mother, strange things start happening in their new home. Kelly is convinced that...
The President's Man
2000
as President Mathews
To many, Joshua McCord is a charismatic Asian studies professor. To the President of the United States, he's America's greatest secret weapon; a cover...
A Walton Easter
1997
as John Walton
In 1969, John-Boy is a TV news anchorperson in New York and he is in the throes of writing a new book. He and a very pregnant Janet are making plans t...
Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco
1996
as Shadow (voice)
When the pets accidentally get separated from their vacationing owners, Chance, Shadow, and Sassy navigate the mean streets of San Francisco, trying t...
A Walton Wedding
1995
as John Walton
In 1964, John-Boy Walton is planning his wedding to Janet Gilchrist, the editor of a New York fashion magazine and the daughter of a diplomat. The two...
A Season of Hope
1995
as Sam Hackett
When trees in their only source of income, a lemon grove, start showing signs of disease, a burdened Californian family reaches their breaking point. ...
Sioux City
1994
as Drew McDermott
A young Lakota Sioux, adopted by a wealthy Jewish couple in Beverly Hills, gets in touch with his cultural roots and solves a mystery in this thriller...
Sin and Redemption
1994
as Cal Simms
Taking a short-cut home from work, high-schooler Billie Simms is raped. Not only does the incident cause an unwanted pregnancy that damages her colleg...
Sin & Redemption
1994
as Cal Simms
A rape victim learns the truth about her husband when their daughter has a life-threatening illness.
Keys
1994
as Dr. C.J. Halligan
A one-time investigator gets back in the game when a family suffers a trauma similar to her own.
A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion
1993
as John Walton
The fourth Waltons reunion TV movie is set in the 1960s , with John-Boy still living in New York, trying to persuade his fiancée to marry him. Meanwhi...
Cliffhanger
1993
as Frank
A year after losing his friend in a tragic 4,000-foot fall, former ranger Gabe Walker and his partner, Hal, are called to return to the same peak to r...
The Bodyguard
1992
as Herb Farmer
A former Secret Service agent grudgingly takes an assignment to protect a pop idol who's threatened by a crazed fan. At first, the safety-obsessed bod...
Wild by Law
1991
as Aldo Leopold (voice)
Tells about the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the three men responsible for its passage: forester/philosopher Aldo Leopold, author of the bestselling San...
Crash and Burn
1990
as Lathan Hooks
Unicom is a powerful organization overseeing most of the world after its economic collapse. They have banned computers and robots in an attempt to ins...
Sparks: The Price of Passion
1990
as Orville Lemon
A female mayor (Victoria Principal) of Albuquerque gets embroiled in a fight over the development of a new economic center. In the midst of this, she ...
Snake Treaty
1989
Guy Pehrsson is summoned by his grandfather to return to the farming community of his childhood. He arrives from the City to find that his mother has ...
The River Pirates
1988
as Narrator (voice)
A timeless story of a boy's adventures growing up in a small Southern town, Yazoo City, in the 1940s during World War II, roaming with his friends, pl...
Crime of Innocence
1985
as Frank Hayward
Two teenage girls are locked up for a minor offence by a harsh judge who thinks a night in jail will do them good. It's a traumatizing experience that...
A Good Sport
1984
as Tommy O'Bannon
The stylish editor of a fashion magazine and a rumpled sports reporter endeavor to keep their somewhat offbeat romance on a purely platonic level.
A Good Sport
1984
Executive Producer
The stylish editor of a fashion magazine and a rumpled sports reporter endeavor to keep their somewhat offbeat romance on a purely platonic level.
A Day for Thanks on Waltons Mountain
1982
as John Walton
Most of the Waltons have split up in the days approaching Thanksgiving 1947. But most of the family begins to arrive at Walton's Mountain begging with...
Mother's Day on Waltons Mountain
1982
as John Walton
Mary Ellen marries Jonesy but they don't exactly have a good start.
A Wedding on Waltons Mountain
1982
as John Walton
Erin Walton is considering marrying her boyfriend Paul but her old boyfriend Ashley, who left for the war and married someone else, lived through his ...
The Gentleman Bandit
1981
as Father Bernard Pagano
Based on the real-life ordeal of Baltimore priest Bernard Pagano, who was accused of several armed robberies in the late Seventies.
Angel City
1980
as Jared Teeter
Jared Teeter has to work in a forced labor camp in Florida to make ends meet. "Angel City" is no place for the faint of heart.
On the Nickel
1980
as C.G.
Sam, a recovering alcoholic, feels dissatisfied with his life of sobriety and goes back in search of the good times he enjoyed with his wino friends o...
On the Nickel
1980
Director, Writer, Producer
Sam, a recovering alcoholic, feels dissatisfied with his life of sobriety and goes back in search of the good times he enjoyed with his wino friends o...
OHMS
1980
as Floyd Wing
A conservative, Midwestern farmer rallies his neighbors against a power company planning to erect huge towers across their land, and a political activ...
Red Alert
1977
as Henry Stone
A computer at a nuclear power plant malfunctions and receives erroneous information of a radiation leak. It seals off the compound, trapping the crew ...
The Secret Life of John Chapman
1976
as John Chapman
The true story of John Chapman, a college president who took a sabbatical and went out and got a job as a general laborer, to try to experience life o...
The Stone Killer
1973
as Mathews
A Los Angeles detective is sent to New York where he must solve a case involving an old Sicilian Mafia family feud.
Kid Blue
1973
as Drummer
Bickford Waner, an apparently naive young man from Fort Worth, arrives in the tiny Texas town of Dime Box and takes on a variety of menial jobs. He's ...
Trouble Man
1972
as Pete Cockrell
It seems that masked men are knocking over the floating crap games of Chalky and Pete. Chalky and Pete hire the cool, loose, elegant Mr. T to fix thin...
The Magnificent Seven Ride!
1972
as Jim Mackay
Marshal Chris Adams turns down a friend's request to help stop the depredations of a gang of Mexican bandits. When his wife is killed by bank robbers ...
Hot Summer Week
1972
as John
Two girls pick up a crazed hitchhiker who may or may not be the serial killer murdering hippies in the area.
Chato's Land
1972
as Elias Hooker
In 1870s New Mexico, a half-breed kills a bigoted sheriff in self-defense but the posse that eventually hunts him finds itself in dangerous territory.
The Grissom Gang
1971
as Mace
The Grissom Gang is a remake of the notorious 1949 British melodrama No Orchids For Miss Blandish. Kim Darby plays a 1920s-era debutante who is kidnap...
Lawman
1971
as Jack Dekker
While passing through the town of Bannock, a bunch of drunken cattlemen go overboard with their celebrating and accidentally kill an old man with a st...
The Sporting Club
1971
as Olson
The wealthy members of an exclusive backwoods retreat face an existential threat from both a disgruntled former manager as well as a subversive, anarc...
The Pursuit of Happiness
1971
as Detective Cromie
William Popper is the son of a stockbroker and is thoroughly disenchanted with "the system." So much so that even though he can prove that he ran over...
Five Easy Pieces
1970
as Carl Fidelio Dupea
A drop-out from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil-rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and oth...
Last Summer
1969
as Peter's father (uncredited)
During summer vacation on Fire Island, three young people become very close. When an uncool girl tries to infiltrate the trio's newly found relationsh...
A Lovely Way to Die
1968
as Sean Magruder
A cop quits the force after too much disappointment in the system. He becomes a bodyguard of a rich recent widow. She is on trial for her husband's mu...
The Desperate Hours
1967
as Lt. Fredericks
The Hilliards are a middle class family whose lives are put in danger when escaped convict Glenn Griffin invades their home. Griffin is crazed, tormen...
Cool Hand Luke
1967
as Alibi
When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the...
The Borgia Stick
1967
as Man from Toledo
A suburban couple discovers that they are pawns for a powerful crime syndicate. They try to break away from the cartel and go legitimate, but the synd...