EPISODE LINK: JUDY NORTON
YOUTUBE CHANNEL: JUDY NORTON
YOUTUBE CHANNEL: HOT FLASHES & COOL TOPICS
TRANSCRIPT:
Bridgett: Welcome back to Hot Flashes and Cool Topics, everybody. Today we have on Judy Norton.
Now, most of you will remember Judy Norton as Mary Ellen Walton. I certainly do because I grew up
in a home that was very Walton-esque.
But most of our listeners know that I’m one of 12 children. So it was very, Walton’s was very
relatable. So thank you and welcome to Hot Flashes and Cool Topics.
Judy Norton: Thank you.
It’s so great to be here. Wow, that must have been quite the growing up experience.
Bridgett: It was. And that is what made a show like Walton so relatable. I feel like I’m on the younger end,
sound number 11 of the 12, but I felt like there was a Walton for every one of us. So,
yeah, I felt like I was more Elizabeth. She was about my age,
but I had a sister that she was a Mary Ellen. You know, my brother was a John boy.
He even had the same composition books like John boy and would like to pretend he could write like
John boy. So a show like that was so relatable. And we’re just really thrilled to have you on here.
And I just want, well, you’re also doing lots of really great stuff now. So you just finished On
Golden Pond. Is that correct?
Judy Norton: That’s right. Yeah.
Bridgett: Yeah, and with Don Most in that as well.
How is that working in theater? How do you like that?
Judy Norton: I always loved theater.
I actually started in theater as a child and did children’s theater and then worked with a
repertory company from the time I was about 10 until… I literally had to sort of leave the
company because when I started doing the Waltons full time when I was 14, the schedule just I
couldn’t do both. I couldn’t do the evening stuff as well as the early morning calls and long days.
So that was it was good news and bad news. But any chance I’ve had to go back and do theater,
it’s it’s special.
Bridgett: Yeah, I mean, you’re I feel like with theater and I mean.
I’ve only dabbled nothing like what you’ve done. But I feel like when I did theater and like I
would do like background, you’re going. I feel like with theater, you’re always on the go.
And when you’re on television, there’s a lot of waiting, you know?
Judy Norton: Absolutely. Yeah. And I always feel like theater is really the actor’s medium because
Once the curtain rises, nobody can mess with your performance. They can’t edit you and put you on
the cutting room floor because somebody else’s vision was different for that.
And so it’s up to the actors to pull together as a group and make it work and get through any
errors or mistakes or line flubs or doors that don’t open, props that break or any of that wardrobe
malfunctions you just kind of keep going and so you become this tight little band of people that
are there to support each other and get through it whereas in television it’s uh it what’s great
about television is it’s more intimate and so you aren’t worried about the subtleties of your
performance not reaching the back row it’s more about what’s happening right here.
And you can do something really subtle and portray emotions in a different way because you’re not
worried about reaching the second or third balcony should the theater have that.
But it also then becomes whoever has final cut, whoever gets to edit it together,
whoever makes those decisions. So you may feel like, wow. If you’d seen your whole performance,
you might have felt like your best moments were edited differently because
that’s how it served the scene best. So that’s a little tougher,
but I like that you can keep it small and intimate on camera.
But yeah, the hurry up and wait is just like… Yeah. Mind numbing.
Colleen: Yeah.
When I was doing the research for this episode, you know, I haven’t watched the Waltons in a while
and it was so nice to kind of visit it again. And I had forgotten how in depth a lot of your
episodes were, whether it be with the drug addiction or the relationships.
When you were portraying those, let me start with what was auditioning for the Waltons like? And
then we’ll get into your different storyline.
Judy Norton: It was interesting because it was different than what
I normally experienced. And that was a real pivotal point in my life and in my acting career,
which I’ll come back to. But because originally it was the homecoming,
which was just designed to be a Christmas. TV movie, a Christmas special.
So it was a more traditional casting thing that I was sort of used to at the time in terms of the
process. Oh, you have an audition and in you go and you read for whoever is in the room.
In that case, it was different because
They chose the scene where we were cracking walnuts for people who really know the homecoming.
We’re in the barn, we’re cracking walnuts, and Mary Ellen goes off on a rant. That was not uncommon
for Mary Ellen, but she went off on a rant. And so that was the scene we auditioned with. So
because all seven of the children were represented in that scene, they chose in the audition
process to bring in seven actors or six actors at a time. and have us read together which is not
commonplace and it’s good and bad it was great because the energy was really there and you weren’t
sort of reading with somebody who just had a script in their hand and was giving you whatever
interpretation of the other characters and then you’d throw a line in and then you just have to be
waiting you actually got to interact with the other actors however if they in that situation
someone else can really impact your performance if what they’re doing is odd or unusual and they’re
just auditioning so they’re trying to put their best foot forward so they might be trying to steal
the scene or do this so it can be difficult in that sense fortunately I didn’t have any of that
that I remember happening um but basically it wasn’t a lot of times with a television series you’ll
end up going to network which I never did. There was no big, oh, well,
now the network has to approve you because this is a series and you’ve got to go do auditions for
them. And I never did that because we got hired for The Homecoming. And then when they decided to
turn that into a series, along with it, we went, which was wonderful.
Bridgett: Yeah. All the kids, all the ones that played the children went. And then they replaced the parents
or was it that was probably I mean, those were that was Patricia Neal. I mean, my gosh, you know, I
can I could she was she was an Oscar winner, I think, you know, I think she was. So,
yeah, I mean, I could understand that. And I’ve read books, so I know she kind of had some tough
things going on in her life. But when that is amazing, the audition, I’m thinking with the seven of
you in there, were they your different ones? Like. You said groups of seven. So did.
Like Richard Thomas, was he in that group?
Colleen: Were any of them in your group?
Bridgett: Yes, that’s the word I’m trying to get out.
Judy Norton: Honestly, I don’t remember. Richard was not there.
He wasn’t present for any of the auditions. I believe he’d already been cast. So they didn’t bring
him in to read with us or anything.
Earl Hamner, who created the show, was in the room. The director for the homecoming Fielder Cook, was in the room. The casting director, Pam Polofroni. The producers, Robert Jacks.
So there was five or six people in the room. I don’t know if Pam read some of John Boy’s lines
because I don’t remember them bringing in an actor for the role of John Boy because it was cast.
And I had three auditions. I went in… for an initial one.
Then I had a first call back. And so I don’t remember anybody I initially auditioned with because I
didn’t know any of the cast members prior to that. So it wasn’t like, oh, I know you and we’re
auditioning together. I saw other young actresses that I would audition against regularly in my age
range. So I saw some of them there. But they didn’t go in the room with me because they would have
also been auditioning for Mary Ellen. Then with the second audition,
there might have been somebody that I’d seen at a previous one, but I don’t think it was
necessarily any of the final group. I just don’t remember. And then we had a third time we were
called in, and that time there was only six of us. And they literally,
we didn’t read. We went into the room and they looked at us all together. And this is something,
again, that never happens. Then somebody, I don’t know if it was Earl Hamner, the producer,
said, you are the six children we want to cast.
Bridgett: Wow.
Judy Norton: Yeah. So that never happens. You never get told in the room that you got the job.
And then you’re kind of like, you never quite trust. It’s like, well, I don’t know. That’s what
they said.
They haven’t told my agent. Nobody’s officially told me. I don’t have a contract. It could change.
They could take it away.
Bridgett: And how were you 13 when that? OK,
so you’re 13 and you might have been around enough to know this might not happen.
But the younger ones may not know that, you know.
Judy Norton: I was speaking with Kami,
the youngest, who played Elizabeth, with her mom at one point because I talked about that.
I have a YouTube channel, which we’ll talk about as well.
But I did a segment and I was talking about the process of the auditioning. And I guess her mom saw
the segment and she said, it’s funny because Kami was like six. So Barbara,
her mom said, well, yeah, Kami told me that, but I never knew if Kami correctly interpreted
that because she was six. And so Barbara was saying, oh, wow, so that really did happen.
It’s like, yeah, that really happened.
Colleen: That’s funny. And that’s so, like you said,
unique for it to happen that way. And, you know, you were on nine seasons and you kind of grew up
on the show. And I think it’s such a different experience doing that in the 70s than doing it now
when there’s social media and everything else. Did you guys really grow up close as you were on the
show? Because you were basically siblings every day on the show taping.
Judy Norton: Yeah, we bonded super close
by the time we did four weeks of filming on The Homecoming. By the time we were done with that,
I was devastated when we finished the filming. Oh, I’m never going to see him again. Because we
didn’t know at that point. There was rumor, maybe they wanted to turn it into a series, but it
wasn’t definite. So I was crushed that this,
my family, my siblings, you know, I wasn’t going to maybe see them again.
So by the time we, the kids started the series, I mean,
we started like picked up where we left off and that included Richard Thomas and Ellen Corby
because she was in The Homecoming. But, you know, so we quickly as a group got to know,
oh, these are our new parents. And, you know, and off we went. So we’re still family.
We still I literally have been texting back and forth this morning with Mary McDonough, who played
Erin, because I had a question for her. And we’ve got another group text going about a Walton
event we’re going to be doing. So this is constant. It’s wonderful. Yes.
Bridgett: Yeah,
I do. I follow a lot of you on social media and I see the events you have. We’re in the Nashville
area and every time they come to Nashville, I’m out of town. So I’m like,
Oh no, I’m out of town again. And I know you all were like Johnny Cash’s farm or something a few
years ago. And, but I do love to see how you all support each other. Like if somebody’s having a
play, how people will show up or you get the different gatherings together. And I really do.
love to see that it just I don’t know bring something back to a different time right that you can
just kind of go back to that time again.
Colleen: Were you surprised when you started doing these kind of not comic-con but these type of reunions the responses you were
getting people?
Judy Norton: uh yeah it’s been, yes, in some cases bigger crowds than we expected and it depends
on the area we are in and whether it’s something that is just a Walton thing or it’s a bigger sort of
celebrity autograph show or something. I think the longevity of it is what is the most
touching that people have watched the show and you know and that’s what we hear all
the time is what the show has meant to people and for how long, you know,
that’s and yeah, that that is always just so heartwarming to hear.
Bridgett: And,
you know, that show, we watched it as a family. Now, not all 12 of us at once,
because we all 12 didn’t live at the same house at once because some were married by the time
another one was born. So that’s just got how it worked. But we would watch it. And it was relatable
to so many different ages. So I was very, I loved seeing someone my age on a show.
But there were a lot of themes that were very serious. And I was a kid. Those themes went right
over my head. Like, you know, was there any particular event or episode that really,
like, took a lot from you or meant the most to you?
Judy Norton: Oh, gosh.
What a great question.
Wow. I mean, there were certain ones that were tougher to tackle,
some that were kind of daunting. The one with the drug addiction was,
you know, I guess I worried about it seeming real because I was fortunate to never go through.
any sort of addiction personally. So the research for that or the research for when I was supposed
to have a baby, you know, and it’s like, okay, this is, you know, researching what would this labor
be like? So things like that. Then there were things because of being a teenager myself,
there were episodes that were maybe a little too close to home. And I felt a little too emotionally
or mentally exposed by having to play something that was very realistic to that age,
to being a teenager and the struggles and the insecurities and all of that. So those were maybe
kind of tough for me as well.
Then there were ones that…
I don’t know, you know, the family dynamics, you know, because it was different within the filming
of it and the scenes that you might have a wonderful time doing that I might then see and go,
eh, it’s just a scene. But there was something maybe special about it as we were filming it.
I always say that the one we, there was a horse race and I’ve been a horse person since I got
introduced to it during the Waltons by a costumer. And so when we got to do all these episodes
where I was like riding horses and we had this race and stuff, that was so fun for me. I didn’t
think it was one of our best episodes, but the filming of it was like, wow, this is so cool.
Bridgett: And you still do that. That is that is amazing because that does not look easy.
Colleen: No, it does not. Another thing that I thought was interesting for the time back then is that, you know, when speaking with Melissa Gilbert a couple of years ago, she talked about how Almanzo, the actor who played Almanzo, was seven years her senior, seven or eight years. And it was uncomfortable because she was a teenager. And then you’re filming scenes with a husband who’s 20 years your senior. What was that like? I don’t think they would do that today.
Maybe younger people are a little more advanced than we were back then. But that had to have been
an odd… And he was married, if I’m not mistaken. What was that like?
Judy Norton: You know,
it was fine. It really was. Because our show never really crossed boundaries.
So I never felt… And he was such a gentleman. And so there was nothing,
I never felt like he was, ooh, hey, you know, like being a lech in some way, completely
professional. And so we just played the scenes as we felt the characters would.
And people seem to feel like they’re really, that they bought this chemistry on screen.
And when I looked at the initial episode, I’m like, I get it. You know, I get how you were rooting
for them to get together because you saw this attraction. And so I was pleased that that came
across on screen. And, you know, it just goes to show that you don’t necessarily have to be in love
with somebody to play that on screen. You know,
he certainly wasn’t somebody that I would have had a relationship with in real life.
We weren’t dealing with an underage sort of thing. But, you know, that can happen too because
typically, I mean, my first kiss on the show, I was maybe 15 and he was probably in his early 20s
at least. So, but I don’t know. I just, I didn’t think anything of it.
You know, it was the 70s.
We’ll just leave it there.
Colleen: And like you said, the show didn’t really go down that path.
Judy Norton: No, we weren’t hopping. I wasn’t hopping in bed with men. It was like the most that happened was
there was a kiss, you know, and how passionate that kiss was would vary. you know,
depending on the circumstances of the scene, the actor you were working with, your connection and
how comfortable you both were with it, you know, what the director might be asking for.
And so it was, yeah, I didn’t have any of those. really uncomfortable experiences.
And I know maybe some of the other, I think Mary McDonough has talked about some things that she
had because she was three years younger than me. So she had a lot more relationships as her
character than I did. So I think it was a little different.
And then you have differences in personalities and just what people are, you know, things that I
was uncomfortable with might not have been things that she was uncomfortable with or vice versa.
Bridgett: Yeah. And, you know, so the show was on in the 70s, but it’s set in the 30s.
And your character was really a progressive or a tough girl,
which was so nice to see. You know, at the time, I didn’t realize how important
that was to see a female character. Were you a tomboy?
I know you sing very athletic, you know, with the horseback riding. I didn’t know if you did the
horse jumping, but you just said you learned that on the set of The Waltons. But were you like that
before you even took this role? I was, but, you know, that was what I mentioned,
you know, like the audition process. And it was, there was an interesting… dichotomy that I
experienced because I was a tomboy and I was totally into sports from the time I was young.
Those were all my hobbies were sports. I had dance as a child, you know, because of doing theater
and, you know, so I had different lessons and things like that. But always loved sports.
But in, so in real life, I might have this, this fearlessness on certain things,
but as a child auditioning, it was It was really intimidating,
you know, to be a young girl, a child, and having to go into these rooms and audition in front of
what was almost always men. You know, I mean, it still can be predominantly men. But at that point,
it was, you know, the producers, the directors, maybe the casting person was a woman.
But so that was like incredibly intimidating for me.
It really held me back and it was very, sometimes the material was uncomfortable for me.
And so I really struggled with that. And I know sometimes my father,
I had a bit of a stage father. You know, he would take, if he would take me to it, he was very,
he was tough. He was judgmental in a lot of ways. He just felt like, well, what, you know, what’s
your problem? You know, you just, what do you mean you didn’t try hard enough or you weren’t, you
got to go in there and you got. And so then I’d feel that pressure. That, you know, I wasn’t living
up to expectations. And I would kind of, looking back at it, I would realize that the only roles I
got cast for were very frightened children. You know, if the child was supposed to be. I remember
one of my first auditions and there was all these girls in the room. They kind of lined us all up.
And I was kind of standing by myself because I didn’t know anybody. And, you know, just very…
timid and everything. Anyway, I ended up getting the role because that’s what they wanted. They
wanted somebody who was, and the other girls were chatting with each other and I was feeling like
left out, like, oh, I wish I could talk to somebody.
And so, you know, my father would use these things against me in some ways, like, well, you know,
you’re not going to get work if you do this or you don’t do that. And so it was sort of sitting
there like, and he wasn’t necessarily meaning it to, he was just, he thought he was like trying to
push me or get me, it’s like, get over it. It wasn’t harsh and abusive or anything,
but it was just, I was really sensitive, and I think sometimes that is not uncommon with
performers, that you need a certain sensitivity, you need a certain accessibility to your emotions
and your feelings to portray things realistically. But it was just a little too real for me
sometimes
because it’s a tough industry for children, you know. Oh, yeah. And the expectations and
the pressures and how to evaluate just the people,
because all of a sudden you’re getting your, I mean, even in the 70s, you know, it’s not as bad as
now with social media, but you began to realize, oh, people think I’m a big deal, you know?
Bridgett: Yeah. And to be so young, to be so young with that happening, you know, and I think it’s.
It’s really with this show was so nice. And just talking with different people that we’ve had on
our show, that you all had a group. And I do hear that from people that were on Little House on the
Prairie, because you’ve had other children on your set. Sometimes you you’re the only kid on the
set. And that’s got to be hard, but that you all had each other on there.
And the growth of Mary Ellen, you know, you start out with the homecoming and she’s 13.
And then she’s having, you know, she’s married. She’s having a baby. She’s got a career. Her
husband runs off or disappears at World War II. And that was wild.
You know, just that whole thing. And I feel like Mary Ellen’s character was really a great message
to women. Or she was just a really good character for women back, especially not only in the 70s,
but especially somebody from the 30s that I’m going to. do this career and just the things you all
go to. And I’ve got to talk a little bit. I just want to ask you about different episodes that
really shook me. There was the episode where you’re about to have your baby and they have the
shower and the tea leaves and the girl Cassie steals your baby.
Oh my gosh. We, my family talked about that. For like weeks, because I had sisters that were having
children. I became an aunt when I was four. That, yeah,
I mean, I was four. But that episode, just leading up to that,
how hard was that one? Because that’s one that just really stands out for me. I don’t know. You
know, just how the whole poem, I mean, I could remember it. Look upon the face of death and never
feel your baby’s breath. Were you were traumatized by that whole
thing? At the time, I was just more worried about the baby, of course, and about you having your
baby. And now I’m like, all right, who did this to Cassie? Why is Cassie pregnant?
Like, that’s what I think about now. Was that ever addressed? Like who the father of Cassie’s baby
was?
Judy Norton: Okay. No, I think on the Waltons that may have,
yeah, it was a little, it was really left ambiguous. And I think, you know, you could have looked
at it depending on how you want to, how dark was that? You know, was that an incestuous situation?
So I think they weren’t quite ready to go down that far
and get into what and why, but here was a young woman struggling with her own mental health and
stuff. So it was an interesting one to do.
There was a lot of really tough things about the episode because there was that whole evening when
she goes to Cassie and then Cassie freaks her out and she goes running through the woods and
there’s a storm and there’s we shot that on a Friday night and I was soaking wet for four hours
because they had these big huge rain birds on and I was supposed to be drenched and I’m wearing all
this pregnancy padding and this wool sweater and this and it was all like just drenched and so it
was heavy and it was uncomfortable and yeah they could put a blanket around me in between takes but
they weren’t going to strip me down and dry me off and dry my clothes so you’re just you’re just
uncomfortable it was it was miserable and then because we had they were simulating lightning
strikes so there was this huge the machine that does that is loud so they couldn’t record sound.
So later on, I had to go into a recording studio the dubbing and do and replace that dialogue and it was all the okay good now
you’re heavy breathing you’re running through the woods and you’re breathing heavy and now
you scream because Kurt comes to find me and the lights from his van hit me and I scream.
So here I am in a recording studio, like doing heavy breathing and screaming. It’s like,
how stupid did that feel?
Colleen: Nobody thinks about all this background stuff that goes into it,
they’re just affected by the scene.
Judy Norton: They put it together with the sound and the music and the creepy stuff. It’s very effective.
But a lot of times when you’re filming it, it doesn’t… Some scenes can feel very real.
And some can just feel like you’re working to find a way for the believability to come through
because the scene isn’t doing it for you.
When I had that baby, I mean, I was 19 on the show when John Curtis was born.
I mean, I didn’t have my son until I was like 38. So it’s like I spent years playing a parent with
no personal experience of what it meant to be a parent and, you know, just doing my best to sort of
understand that kind of connection and love and protectiveness and stuff like that and
hoping that it was believable. And, you know, I remember feeling the difference when I had my son
and then I was doing shows where I was playing a parent and my child was in some sort of jeopardy
and just like going, oh, this is like, I don’t have to like figure it out.
You know, how would this be? It’s just like immediate as a parent to feel that,
you know, to feel those emotions.
You know, it’s like, to me, listening to Cassie,
it’s like I had to sort of buy into how creepy that was when I was filming it,
like how odd is this? You know, you try and find how you can relate to that in some way because
that wasn’t necessarily who I was in real life at that point in time,
you know.
Bridgett: Well you did a good job!
Judy Norton: Thank you. Thank you. You know, I look back at certain things and
knowing me and knowing how I felt about filming certain things, I might go, am I buying that or
not? Because I would watch myself differently.
Bridgett: I don’t know how old I was when that episode came out, but my sisters and I,
we bought it all.
Judy Norton: Yay, success.
Colleen: You finished that show,
you were still very young. And were you worried about typecasting at that point?
Were you worried? I know you started singing and doing some theater, which is wonderful. But coming
out of that, you were still so young. Were you worried that, oh, is this the main part of my career
now done? Or am I just getting started on what I want to do?
Judy Norton: Absolutely. No, I was I had no idea
what it would be and what direction. And I knew I mean, typecasting is a very real thing,
you know, particularly when you’ve played an iconic character for nine years.
It’s, I understand it. And we were in a different era of television. We were into nighttime
soaps. So, you know, casting directors would say to my agent, well, you know, we can’t,
you know, they’ll go, oh, well, that’s Mary Ellen and we need Bob Mackie gowns. You know, it’s sort
of like, you know, they just felt like even if they dressed me up, people would go, oh, there’s
Mary Ellen wearing a gown. So that’s why I kind of went and did theater.
Because, I mean, I see this with young people who, they don’t transition well.
The stories we hear about child actors and addiction or,
you know, crime or, you know, just like really losing their way.
And I feel like, you know, there can be this connection that happens where the work becomes your
identity. And when that, and that you look at that as a young person, it’s hard to evaluate,
are people your friend because they’re your friend? Or are they… Using you,
I mean, the people that disappear from your life when you’re no longer on a hit TV series is
remarkable. It’s like all of a sudden, fair weather friends, you know, they’re gone. You know,
they’re not interested in you or wow, now I’m typecast and I’m trying to find my way and reinvent
myself. Gone, you know, and the media can be mean, you know?
Yeah.
you know and nowadays with social media so to not have a real good foundation on who you are and
your own mental health and what you use what tools you use when it’s just you.
People may not be giving you good advice and all of that.
And you’re looking at what’s your self-worth and it’s that self-worth has got to be something you
carry with you regardless of what the external perception is about,
are you successful? Am I having a good point in my life? So it’s a challenging business and it can
be very unforgiving and it can be very hard. When you’ve got that, as I said, you need to be
emotionally accessible. So you don’t want to be blocking off all your emotions and not feeling
things because you need it for the work, but it can make you very sensitive too.
People’s comments and the press said this or, you know, and how do you, the critics said
that. So you really, really need to find a way to
have that inner strength yourself.
Bridgett:. And it sounds like too, like we just hear from
different people that we’ve had on the show and their reactions. You were young, so you might be going
back to high school sometimes and I think it was Alison Arngrim who talked about how people, treated her
in school and just assumed she was mean yes because she played Nellie. I
think she was in a parade once and somebody threw a milkshake or something at her or hit her right
in the face, just terrible, to be so young and that’s gotta be
difficult. But I was also going to ask you about your YouTube show. I wanted to talk about that as
well. So it’s behind the scenes with Judy Norton. How did that come about? How did you start doing
that? And how has that been?
Judy Norton: Yeah, that that came about during COVID.
When I was supposed to go direct a film and COVID hit and we couldn’t do it.
It never ended up happening. But in the meantime, we’re all sitting home going, okay, what do I do?
And so I started just watching seminars and workshops and stuff about marketing and PR and stuff.
And I thought, well, you know, maybe I can learn more about how to promote myself because with
social media, I’m like, I’m such, I’m such an illiterate on it.
Bridgett :we get it.
Colleen: We understand. Yeah. Yeah.
Judy Norton: So. I watched some webinar thing and they were talking about how YouTube
could be a platform to start with. Because they were talking more about if you want to develop some
product or if I’d wanted to teach an online acting class. So I went,
well, I don’t really know that I want to do that, but maybe there’ll be something I do want to do.
So maybe getting something happening on YouTube would be a starting place and then I could. figure
out what I wanted to do with that. So I thought, well, what the heck am I going to talk about? And
Kami Cotler had done, her daughter was taking an editing thing. And so to help her
her daughter we’re going to shoot something, mom. And so Kami talked about one of the
episodes, the first episode we filmed. And I went, well, the Waltons, I can certainly talk about
the Waltons. And I thought, well, there might be some people out there who are interested in that
because I saw that Kami’s video had a lot of interest. So I thought, well, I’ll talk about behind
the scenes of the Waltons. And so it sort of started there. And yes,
people were interested. And so it just developed. And there were so many things about it that I
discovered that I didn’t anticipate, which was the community. I mean, as you mentioned,
these events, you go out and you meet the community and people talk to you and, or people send you
letters or, you know, they reach out to you on social media and, and, you know,
and I really started building this community because I, you know, I would read all the comments and
I would try to respond to everybody. So I’d really hear their stories of what the show meant. And
so it started to. And I wanted an opportunity to reach out to people.
And I would hear these people saying they were unsettled, they were scared,
they were, you know, what was happening in the world. And so I felt like there was this opportunity
to try to help people, to sort of collectively go, hey, we’re all experiencing the same things.
And if I could help maybe uplift them, give them some hope, give them a sense of community through
this YouTube channel because they would then chat with each other and maybe bring some
positive. And because I would hear people get real negative about what was happening
because of COVID or in the world or they were getting older and they were in an impoverished area.
So I felt like it was an opportunity to maybe share some positive things and try to help people in
that way. So it became much more than, oh, well, let me tell you a little bit about a scene that
happened. And then they would ask questions. And so I started these segments that were Ask Judy.
I would literally answer people’s questions. You know, Colleen wanted to know blah, blah, blah. And
I would do a segment where I’d take four or five, six different questions or comments, and I’d
share them and answer them and do research to try and answer them. And so it’s just kind of
evolved. And I’ll do interviews with cast members, initially just all the immediate cast,
and then trying to reach out to guest stars or people who, you know, even had a little scene or had
some connection. So it’s… Yeah, it’s been a fascinating and very rewarding sort of experience.
It’s a ton of work, as you know, putting together shows and everything that goes with it,
the research and then the after putting it together. But it’s something that I can fit in amongst
whatever else I’m doing.
Bridgett: Yeah. And people love that. I mean,
people are really drawn to going back to a show that they really liked.
I think people just really like to hear from the people that they
watched on TV. They just like to hear what they have to say and just making a connection.
I think that makes them feel better. It’s just a fun thing.
I enjoy it. Less alone.
Judy Norton: Yeah. I think in this day and age with all the tools that we
have, which are great, it can leave us more isolated because you don’t have to go out to talk to
people. Before the Waltons, we didn’t even have telephones. So if you’re going to talk to people,
you had to write a letter or you had to go present yourself in person. You sat down,
you had tea, you sat around the kitchen table. You met up and now it can be a person can go for
ages and never leave their house. And so I don’t know that that’s healthy.
And some people may not have a choice. They may be housebound, but, you know, then you try and find
a way for them to. And I admire that, you know, we have these tools and people can feel a sense of
connection. But, you know, I think it’s important because we’re more connected than we want to be
sometimes with world events.
Colleen: You know,
you mentioned healthy and you look fabulous. I’m more curious about the inside.
How do you stay healthy? How do you keep yourself happy and healthy at this stage of life?
Well, you know,
you know sports have always been an outlet for me to get out stay physical interact
with the world um and you know being active I think also helps us you know because I think when you stay
physically healthy, also your mental health can impact your physical health,
definitely. You know, if your mental health goes down the tubes, it can have a really
negative impact. There’s the whole aspect of, you know, psychosomatic illnesses and things like
that that. So you can deal with things like that.
I try and eat healthy. I stay physically active as I get older.
And, you know, it’s like, well, you know, I don’t have the same degree of muscle tone. So trying
to, you know, it’s like, well, let me try and keep some muscle on and let’s try and stay active.
So those are just core basic things because, you know. Getting older ain’t for,
you know. Who is it said getting old is not for sissies?
Bridgett: I was watching you jump horses.
Judy Norton: Yeah. I grew up in Kentucky
I was not a horse rider. Like most of them were saddlebred or, well,
the thoroughbreds for the racing horses.
Judy Norton: That’s what mine is.
Bridgett: Oh, yours is a saddlebred?
Judy Norton Mine is a thoroughbred. Thoroughbred.
Bridgett:What’s his
name?
Judy Norton: COZ. COZ. Oh, COZ.
Bridgett: they have a Nashville Steeplechase.
So I’ve gone to the Kentucky Derby, but then I’ll go to Steeplechase,
and I’m like, oh, that’s a lot harder. It looks a lot harder.
They all look hard. They all look hard to me. But when I watch that steeplechase race, I’m like,
oh, my goodness. They tracks longer. They’re jumping those hedges.
And some of those riders fall off. It’s terrifying.
So I’m extremely impressed.
Judy Norton: Yeah, I started.
I mean, it’s something throughout my entire life. I’ve taken on different sorts of challenges and
sports challenges.
I like to take on challenges and find a way,
again, to push myself through it. It’s like, okay, this is scary. So great, I can face this and I
can work out how to accomplish this on a gradient that isn’t overwhelming.
And so, yeah, I mean, I started jumping horses also when I was like 15.
And, but so I did that and I did some competing, but then I moved about,
I moved during COVID as well. So let’s add one more thing to the equation. So relocated and uh
brought a horse with me and then the new trainer that I work with does three-day eventing so
I had which I’d never done. I went okay well, you know start learning some, so I
started learning dressage, which is not as frightening as jumping but just incredibly technical
and frustrating because it’s so hard to do and then cross-country jumping so you’re talking about
steeplechase, so this is then out in a big open field with big solid jumps.
You go up through divisions. I’m perfectly happy in this in this
division at this point in my life, I don’t need to break anything thank you very much. I feel
like I can make mistakes and you know, live through them.
Colleen: But you’re enjoying it.
Judy Norton: I am. And it’s exhilarating. And, you know,
which is kind of what I’ve found with a lot of the challenges I’ve taken on is, you know,
when you accomplish something, and this is just a visceral sort of thing with sports that I guess, like when I learned to skydive or when I did flying trapeze or,
you know, jumping the horses or, you know, different sorts of things like that, that it’s like,
okay, this is scary. This is scary. This is scary, but okay, I’m going to do it. So, you know,
to get the conviction to just do it. And then you kind of stop thinking about it. You just, you’re
in the moment and it’s like, I got to do this, you know? And the great thing with horses is
I can feel when, if I’m, timid about something, it’s like that translates to the horse.
So it’s like this big neon light that goes, your rider’s not sure. And the horse goes,
well, if you’re not sure, I’m not sure.
Bridgett: I have heard that about horses being extremely intuitive.
You know, you’re learning. I feel like you’re a continual learner. You’re a lifelong learner.
Judy Norton: I believe that. I think that we need to, and more so as we start getting older,
is you need to still have goals and dreams. And I mean,
you can always be learning. You can always be reading and studying and watching some,
you know, new video documentary, whatever. go out to a class,
go to, but also just, I think it’s important to continue to set goals because it puts the future
there. If you start going, well, life’s over, I have nothing else.
I have no more goals. And maybe the goals change that they’re no longer physical goals.
Like I’m going to climb Mount Everest. Not that that was ever a goal of mine.
But. You know, if they’re, well, this year I want to learn a new language. I want to start learning
or I want to learn to play a musical instrument or I want, you know, they don’t have to be
overwhelming physical goals, but you can still choose those.
Or I want to, you know, meet some new people. I want to start a new club. I want to do a book club.
And I think that those things that you’re reaching towards keep you engaged in life and in putting
a future there because you set a goal and you’ve got a future out there that you’re aiming towards.
Colleen; So my last question for you would be, what’s your next goal?
Judy Norton: Well, I mean, I have short-term projects because I’m always kind of doing that.
So on my YouTube, I am this close to having 100,000 subscribers.
So that’s big,
Colleen: Congratulations.
Judy Norton: Thank you.
Colleen: You’ll get the silver plaque.
Judy Norton: I hear I get some sort of poster or plaque or something.
And then, you know, they say, oh, and then it’ll build faster. I’m like, well, that would be nice.
But so that I’m doing a concert version of the musical MAME
in September. So, you know, learning, I’m in the process of learning that script, learning that
music. So, you know, that’s a short term goal to, you know, to be prepared and to go do that,
which will be tremendous fun.
I’ve done some concert work. So I’m working with someone locally that
putting together sort of a one woman concert thing.
We haven’t set a specific date.
As a performer, you can be very sort of at the effect of what’s going on because it seems like you’re always waiting for someone to hire you. So the things that I can do
that to be proactive about creating projects and things like that and I can make the decisions about what the scale of that is, you know, how involved,
how many hours a day, how much time, you know, I’ll toy with. I want to start a theater project or something like that locally. And then I’m like, that’s a lot of work.
And, you know, and the horses continue to be a goal, you know, how many shows do I want to do?
Which shows am I prepping for? So those types of things. People say, would I do another TV series? And I’m like, well I’m not saying I wouldn’t, but it isn’t as simple as saying I would for it to materialize.
If only it were that simple. I love the people who say, well, why don’t you do another series?
It’s like, darn, why didn’t I think of that? Let me just get right on that.
Let me make a phone call. You know, it’s not,
I mean, I really appreciate people feeling like I have the kind of power that I could just say “oh I think I’ll do that and make a phone call and it’ll happen but yeah well not that simple.”
Colleen: We appreciate so much coming on we’re going to make sure to have the links of your YouTube channel and
also your website because there’s that’s a great resource to keep up with what you’re doing. If people want because I have a couple CDs and I have photos
and things like that so if people are interested in getting my CD signed or a photo
that’s signed they can do that through my website. Some of my castmates
are very active on, particularly Facebook, if people want to know what events the Waltons have
coming up. We’re just about to finalize two events for next June.
Bridgett: Oh, wow. Okay. Any in Nashville?
Judy Norton: We’re going back to Pigeon Forge, I think. So it’s not too far.
We did that in May of this year and it was hugely successful. But these things sell out too.
Colleen: People don’t realize that it sells out pretty quickly. You can’t wait. You got to jump on it.
Judy, thank you so much for joining us today. This was a pleasure. And hopefully, please come back
anytime and talk about what you’re doing and the new goals you’re setting.