1910-11-22 ( 114 years old ) in Milford, Michigan, USA
One of those strikingly familiar matrons you just can't place, character actress Mary Jackson is probably best known for her recurring role as one of the delightfully eccentric bootlegging sisters, "Miss Emily" Baldwin, on the series The Waltons (1971) that ran for nine seasons. She was born November 22, 1910 in rural Milford, Michigan, and earned a bachelor's degree from West Michigan University in 1932. A Depression-era school teacher for one year before pursuing her interest in theater, she returned to college (this time Michigan State University) in a fine arts program. She started out on the Chicago stage and in summer stock before migrating to the larger stages in New York and Los Angeles.
Film and TV roles did not come her way until well into middle age. Guesting on such TV shows as "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Twilight Zone," "My Three Sons," "Hazel," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Barnaby Jones" and "Highway to Heaven," she usually appeared as ladylike small-town citizens. She was also part of the ensemble in Peter Bogdanovich's first low-budget film thriller Targets (1968), which was Boris Karloff's last feature. In the 70s she started gathering up character bits here and there, such as her nuns in the all-star epic Airport (1970) and the horror Audrey Rose (1977). A variety of pleasant, maternal parts came her way, including Lynn Carlin's mother in the Blake Edwards' western Wild Rovers (1971) and Jane Fonda's in the comedy caper Fun with Dick and Jane (1977). She supported Fonda again in the Vietnam-era drama Coming Home (1978), was among the cast in the cultish Big Top Pee-wee (1988) and had a noticeable role in Steve Martin's Leap of Faith (1992).
As for "The Waltons" success, character actress Dorothy Stickney played the part of Emily in the initial TV pilot along with Josephine Hutchinson as older sister Mamie. When the series came to fruition, Mary and actress Helen Kleeb, another one of those "I've seen her before" character faces, took over the spinster roles. Both she and Kleeb continued their sister act periodically in several Walton "reunion" TV-movies, which included assorted weddings and holiday gatherings. Both ladies made their final TV appearances in A Walton Easter (1997). Kleeb died of natural causes in 2003 at age 96. Mary passed away two years later at age 95 of complications from Parkinson's disease. - IMDb Mini Biography
Movies
A Family Thing
1996-03-29
Ozone
1994-01-04
A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion
1993-11-21
Leap of Faith
1992-12-18
The Exorcist III
1990-08-17
Skinned Alive
1990-02-01
The Case of the Hillside Stranglers
1989-04-02
Big Top Pee-wee
1988-07-22
Meet the Munceys
1988-05-22
My Town
1986-05-25
A Day for Thanks on Waltons Mountain
1982-11-22
Some Kind of Hero
1982-04-02
Between Two Brothers
1982-03-09
A Wedding on Waltons Mountain
1982-02-02
A Small Killing
1981-11-24
The Two Lives of Carol Letner
1981-10-14
Letters from Frank
1979-11-22
A Death in Canaan
1978-03-01
Coming Home
1978-02-15
Audrey Rose
1977-04-06
Fun with Dick and Jane
1977-03-18
Our Time
1974-04-10
Blume in Love
1973-06-17
Kid Blue
1973-01-31
Terror at Red Wolf Inn
1972-09-27
The Failing of Raymond
1971-09-27
Wild Rovers
1971-06-23
Airport
1970-03-25
Targets
1968-08-15
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
1967-10-17
Friendly Persuasion
1956-11-25
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