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IMDbPro

Michael Learned

  • Actress
  • Writer
  • Soundtrack
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Michael Learned
Story of the Milwaukee Monster told from the perspective of the victims and police incompetency that allowed the Wisconsin native to go on a multiyear killing spree.
Play trailer2:31
Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022)
15 Videos
60 Photos
Four-time Best Actress Emmy Award winner Michael Learned was born on April 9, 1939 in Washington, D.C. The oldest of six daughters of a U.S. State Department employee, she was raised on her family's farm in Connecticut. The family moved to Austria when she was age 11, and it was while attending boarding school in England that she fell in love with the theater and decided to become an actress.

Learned married Oscar winner Robert Donat's nephew Peter Donat, a Canadian citizen, when she was 17 years old, a marriage that lasted 17 years and produced three sons. She learned her craft while acting for the Shakespeare Festivals in both Canada and the U.S. while simultaneously raising a family. She and her husband Peter acted together with San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in the early 1970s. Her breakthrough came when she was appearing in an ACT production of Noël Coward's "Private Lives", where she was spotted by producer Lee Rich, who cast her as Olivia Walton in his new television series about a Depression era family, The Waltons (1972).

Learned won three Emmy Awards playing the role, and another Emmy for her next foray into series TV, Nurse (1981). She escaped typecasting as Olivia Walton (although she re-prised the role that made her famous in a 1995 TV-movie reunion) while appearing on numerous shows and TV movies, including top-drawer, made-for-TV specials such as the 1986 adaptation of Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1987) with co-star James Whitmore.
BornApril 9, 1939
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BornApril 9, 1939
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See rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Won 4 Primetime Emmys

Photos60

Michael Learned and Evan Peters in Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022)
Michael Learned in Who's the Boss? (1984)
Michael Learned and John Wesley in Second Acts (2019)
Michael Learned
Michael Learned
Michael Learned
Michael Learned
Michael Learned in Living Dolls (1989)
Michael Learned in Living Dolls (1989)
Michael Learned
Michael Learned
Michael Learned and Ralph Waite in The Waltons (1972)

Known for

The Waltons (1972)
The Waltons
7.6
TV Series
  • Olivia Walton
Jason Scott Lee in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
7.0
  • Vivian Emery
  • 1993
Nurse (1981)
Nurse
8.0
TV Series
  • Mary Benjamin
Second Acts (2019)
Second Acts
8.2
Short
  • Lee Marston
  • 2019

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Evan Peters in Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022)
    Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
  • Second Acts (2019)
    Second Acts
  • Life Interrupted (2017)
    Life Interrupted
  • The Parcel (2014)
    The Parcel
  • Unplugged
  • After Life (2013)
    After Life
  • Eileen Davidson, Bryton James, Joshua Morrow, Gina Tognoni, Justin Hartley, Melissa Claire Egan, and Peter Bergman in The Young and the Restless (1973)
    The Young and the Restless
  • Matthew Perry in Mr. Sunshine (2011)
    Mr. Sunshine
  • Maurice Benard, Ingo Rademacher, Julie Berman, Steve Burton, Tyler Christopher, Nancy Lee Grahn, Rebecca Herbst, Kelly Monaco, Kirsten Storms, Laura Wright, Dominic Zamprogna, and Chad Duell in General Hospital (1963)
    General Hospital
  • Cold Case (2003)
    Cold Case
  • John C. McGinley, Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison, Neil Flynn, Ken Jenkins, and Judy Reyes in Scrubs (2001)
    Scrubs
  • Samantha Hanratty, Kaitlyn Dever, and Shelby Harmon in An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (2009)
    An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong
  • The Killer (2007)
    The Killer
  • Jennifer Carpenter in Lethal Eviction (2005)
    Lethal Eviction
  • Susan Lucci, Debbi Morgan, Rebecca Budig, Cameron Mathison, and Darnell Williams in All My Children (1970)
    All My Children

Writer

  • The Waltons (1972)
    The Waltons

Soundtrack

  • The Waltons (1972)
    The Waltons
    • ...

Videos19

The Killer
Full Movie 8:39
The Killer
Official Trailer 2
Trailer 2:31
Official Trailer 2
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:45
Official Trailer
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Trailer 1:14
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (Dutch Subtitled)
Trailer 2:30
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (Dutch Subtitled)
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (Spanish/Spain Subtitled)
Trailer 2:31
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (Spanish/Spain Subtitled)
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (German)
Trailer 2:31
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (German)
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (Latin America Market Subtitled)
Trailer 2:31
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (Latin America Market Subtitled)
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1
Trailer 2:29
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (French)
Trailer 2:31
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (French)
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (Italian)
Trailer 2:31
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Season 1 (Italian)
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Dutch Subtitled)
Trailer 2:45
Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Dutch Subtitled)

Personal details

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    • Official Site
    • Second Acts
    • April 9, 1939
    • Washington, District of Columbia, USA
    • April 1991 - present
    • Traci Wald Donat
    • Lily Donat(Grandchild)
  • Other works
    She stars in the play 'Driving Miss Daisy" at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in La Mirada, California.
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    She is the godmother of Christopher Plummer's daughter, Amanda Plummer. As a matter of fact, Amanda's middle name is Michael, after her.
    • Blonde hair and blue eyes

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