Michael Learned (born April , ) is an American actress, known for her
role as Olivia Walton in the long-running CBS drama series The Waltons
(â€"). She has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead
Actress in a Drama Series four times, which is tied for the record of
most wins with Tyne Daly. Three of the wins were for The Waltons (, ,
), while the other was for Nurse ().Learned was born in Washington,
D.C., the daughter and oldest child of Elizabeth Duane "Betti" (née
Hooper) and Bruce Learned, a diplomat. Her maternal grandfather was an
attaché for the United States Embassy in Rome.She lived on a
Connecticut farm with her five sisters for the first years of her
life. Learned said that her parents never explained why she received a
masculine first name, her father telling her elusively: "if I had been
a boy, I would have been called Caleb, but I was a girl, so I was
called Michael."When she was , Learned moved to Austria, where her
father worked for the U.S. State Department. At this time, she
attended Arts Educational School, Tring, now Tring Park School for the
Performing Arts in Tring, Hertfordshire, England. During this time,
she discovered the theater and decided to make acting her life's work.
role as Olivia Walton in the long-running CBS drama series The Waltons
(â€"). She has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead
Actress in a Drama Series four times, which is tied for the record of
most wins with Tyne Daly. Three of the wins were for The Waltons (, ,
), while the other was for Nurse ().Learned was born in Washington,
D.C., the daughter and oldest child of Elizabeth Duane "Betti" (née
Hooper) and Bruce Learned, a diplomat. Her maternal grandfather was an
attaché for the United States Embassy in Rome.She lived on a
Connecticut farm with her five sisters for the first years of her
life. Learned said that her parents never explained why she received a
masculine first name, her father telling her elusively: "if I had been
a boy, I would have been called Caleb, but I was a girl, so I was
called Michael."When she was , Learned moved to Austria, where her
father worked for the U.S. State Department. At this time, she
attended Arts Educational School, Tring, now Tring Park School for the
Performing Arts in Tring, Hertfordshire, England. During this time,
she discovered the theater and decided to make acting her life's work.
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