Lynn Hamilton, ‘The Waltons' And Sanford And Son' Actress, Dies At 95
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNET
an hour ago
- CNET
Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Aug. 21
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today's Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles. There are a lot of Qs in today's Mini Crossword. 1-Across threw me for a while, but eventually it dawned on me. Need answers? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips. If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET's NYT puzzle hints page. Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword Let's get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers. The completed NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for Aug. 21, 2025. NYT/Screenshot by CNET Mini across clues and answers 1A clue: Common queries, informally Answer: FAQS 5A clue: Only four-letter country with a "Q" in its name Answer: IRAQ 6A clue: TV's "The White ___" Answer: LOTUS 8A clue: Something you might "Mark as read" Answer: EMAIL 9A clue: Late Answer: TARDY Mini down clues and answers 1D clue: ___ mignon Answer: FILET 2D clue: Burnt toast has a strong one Answer: AROMA 3D clue: Only five-letter country with a "Q" in its name Answer: QATAR 4D clue: Likely inspiration for the mythical kraken Answer: SQUID 7D clue: Sneaky Answer: SLY
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Frances Tiafoe, Madison Keys among star-studded pairings in new-look US Open mixed doubles event
When it came to finding a partner for the newly formatted mixed doubles event at this year's U.S. Open, it seemed like a no-brainer for World No. 6-ranked Madison Keys. The reigning Australian Open champion is partnered with Frances Tiafoe, with whom Keys shares an almost sibling-like relationship. 'It was pretty easy. When they announced the new format and all of the things, he was kind of the first person that popped into my head,' Keys told The Post. 'I've known him for many, many years. We lived in the same apartment building for a very long time, and I feel like I basically had to try to keep him alive. I just really enjoy being around him. I really like giving him s–t and just kind of poking fun at him. And I feel like he's also obviously a phenomenal tennis player. 'It just felt like if I was going to do this, I wanted to do it with someone who I was going to just have the most fun with.' Keys and Tiafoe are among the 16 pairings taking part in this year's event, which has gone through a drastic shake-up that has been met with intrigue and criticism. The tournament begins Tuesday with a field that was shrunk from 32 to 16 and includes some of tennis' top players in the world, including 10 major singles champions and a combined 54 Grand Slam titles among them. Carlos Alcaraz is playing with Emma Raducanu; Venus Williams will play with Reilly Opelka; and Jessica Pegula is teaming up with Jack Draper, to name a few. Jannik Sinner is slated to play with Katerina Siniakova, but after Sinner retired from the Cincinnati Open final on Monday due to illness, there is some question whether he'll still compete in the mixed doubles in Queens. The mixed doubles will take place over a two-day period — the first two rounds will be held Tuesday, followed by the semifinals and final Wednesday — all at Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadium, with the winning pair taking home a $1 million shared prize. Teams will only need to win four games in order to win a set, and there will be no advantage scoring. In the final, it will remain a best-of-three-set match, but the team will need to win six games to clinch the set. The new format hasn't come without its critics, in particular, those deemed doubles specialists, who are missing out on getting to play in the revamped tournament. Sem Verbeek, the Wimbledon mixed doubles champion, told BBC that his 'heart is bleeding' over the format change for the U.S. Open event. While the superstar pairings will draw more attention, it leaves a lot of doubles specialists missing out on competing. 'I'm not going to actively root against it for it not to be a success,' he said. 'The positive I can think of is that there's going to be more people that can see the top single stars earlier in the tournament when they are maybe a bit more accessible to the public. But as a doubles athlete, my heart is bleeding.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Jack Draper, Jessica Pegula share funny post-match exchange at US Open: ‘Old married couple'
While Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula may have said all of four words to each other before teaming up for this week's U.S. Open mixed doubles tournament, the two already sound like an 'old married couple,' one reporter joked during a hilarious back-and-forth on Tuesday. Pegula and Draper were speaking with reporters after they had defeated Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva to advance to the semifinals. Draper was asked about his seriousness on the court during the matches and what it would mean to win, he replied that 'it would mean a lot' and that 'obviously it is like a bit of an exhibition format. It's nice to play with someone.' That kicked off a funny exchange as Pegula jokingly admonished Draper for calling it an 'exhibition.' 'You shouldn't be saying that, but that's OK,' she said to him. The No. 5-ranked men's tennis player in the world was a bit confused at first, thinking that his comment about winning was what Pegula had first been referring to. 'Yeah. It's not an exhibition. I know what you're saying,' she added. 'I'm hearing that a lot, it's a bit of an exhibition, a bit of fun, why am I so locked in,' Draper continued. 'It's a good opportunity to play, do well, get a lot of points in before next week, yeah. Like, I'm enjoying being locked in. I don't know why it's a crime to be locked in.' The moment amused Pegula as she jumped back in laughing as she said, 'No, it's fine. I'm just laughing at the 'exhibition' part.' It led the reporter to chime in about the two sounding like they had known each other for quite some time. 'No, it was a great answer,' Pegula added with a smile. The pair certainly played like they've known each other for a long time as Pegula and Draper dispatched their first round opponents, 4-2, 4-2 and then sent their quarterfinal opponents home in quick order, 4-1,4-1. Pegula and Draper will face the No. 3 seed Iga Swiatek and Casper Rudd in the semifinals on Wednesday.
