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Lynn Hamilton, ‘The Waltons' And Sanford And Son' Actress, Dies At 95
JERSEY CITY, NJ - DECEMBER 02: Actress Lynn Hamilton attends the 40th Anniversary Reunion Of ''The ... More Waltons'' at Landmark Loew's - Jersey City on December 2, 2011 in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by) Getty Images
Lynn Hamilton, who is remembered as Verdie Grant Foster on family drama The Waltons and Donna Harris, Fred's (Redd Foxx) girlfriend on sitcom Sanford and Son , died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Chicago. She was 95.
Born April 25, 1930, Hamilton began her career in community theatre in Chicago and debuted on Broadway in Only in America in 1959. She appeared in three other Broadway plays, several Off-Broadway plays and spent three years with the New York Shakespeare Festival, eventually segueing to television with guest appearances on series like Room 222 , Then Came Bronson , Mannix and Gunsmoke .
Hamilton initially debuted as the landlady in the seventh episode of Sanford and Son before being upgraded to Fred's love interest. She appeared in 22 episodes through the six seasons of the Norman Lear sitcom and began an also recurring on The Waltons as the family's neighbor Verdie Grant, who John-Boy (Richard Thomas) teaches to read. Eventually Verdie marries Harley Foster (Hal Williams) and ultimately appears in 17 episodes through the nine-season run of The Waltons.
SANFORD AND SON — "The Engagement/The Member of the Wedding" Episode 9 — Aired 11/9/73 — Pictured: ... More (l-r) Dorothy Meyer as Aunt Flossie, Esther Sutherland as Aunt Minnie, Redd Foxx as Fred G. Sanford, Lynn Hamilton as Donna Harris, Demond Wilson as Lamont Sanford, DeForest Covan as Woodrow 'Woody' Anderson, Mel Bryant as Uncle Jake, Bobby Johnson as Uncle Edgar — Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank NBCUniversal via Getty Images
LOS ANGELES - AUGUST 30: THE WALTONS Lynn Hamilton as Verdie Foster, left and Joan Pringle as ... More Esther on "The Illusion". Image dated August 30, 1978. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) CBS via Getty Images
Additionally, Hamilton was reunited with Hal Williams in five episodes of Marla Gibbs sitcom 227 , she played Cissie Johnson, one of the ex-cons on the 1991-92 syndicated nighttime soap Dangerous Women and appeared in multiple episodes of daytime drama Sunset Beach and legal drama The Practice.
Other TV show guest spots included The Rockford Files , The Golden Girls , Murphy Brown , Sisters , NYPD Blue , Curb Your Enthusiasm and Judging Amy . Hamilton appeared in the reunion TV movies A Waltons Thanksgiving Reunion and A Walton Easter in 1993 and 1997, respectively. And her final on-air appearance was in an episode of the crime drama Cold Case in 2009.
Hamilton was married to poet and playwright Frank Jenkins ( Driving While Black in Beverly Hills ) from 1964 until his death in 2014.
