Interesting profile. I was never a super fan of The Waltons. However, the cast was definitely legit. I'd seen Will Geer and Michael Lerned playing major roles at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Geer, of course, had a very prestigious classical theater company in Topanga Canyon (or an adjacent LA canyon, not certain) for decades.

Later on, my ex-wife and I became friends with Mary McDonough and John Walmsly. With Walmsly (a very skilled professional guitarist, who played with Richard Marx and others) I co-wrote the closing song on the second Walton's Christmas Album, entitled "Goodnight."

I don't think the sexuality spectrum of the Walton cast was particularly unique. The proportion on queerness was, however, somewhat ironic on a show that strove to represent conservative Souther Baptist values. But, even though so many of us in the Hollywood creative community have always been queer, the Celluloid Closet remained closed until relatively recently. Thankfully, those open-secret days are long gone, and actors and musicians can be their true selves in the public eye.