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.

She was originally billed "Miss Michael Learned" on The Waltons (1972) not out of ego or demand, but for the simple fact that Ms. Learned was unknown to the public at the time she won the role of Olivia and the powers that be did not want the audience to be confused about her gender.

Mother of 3 sons: Chris, Caleb and Lucas Donat.

Won four acting Emmy awards: three for The Waltons (1972) and one for her subsequent series Nurse (1981).

Stage-trained at San Francisco's ACT company where she frequently appeared with her first husband, actor Peter Donat. They married when she was 17.

Eldest of six sisters, she lived on a farm during her first ten years of life.

She was a mere 11 years older than Richard Thomas, who played her oldest child John-Boy on "The Waltons," and more than 12 years younger than Patricia Neal who originated the role of Olivia Walton (and who won a Golden Globe for it) in the TV movie pilot "The Homecoming.".

Married to Canadian-American actor Peter Donat, by whom she had 3 children, until their divorce.

She was awarded the 1983 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Performance for "A Month in the Country" at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Marian Seldes, Christina Rouner and she were awarded the 1996 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance for "Three Tall Women" at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Mother-in-law of Traci Wald Donat (daughter of Helen Reddy), who married her son Lucas Donat on July 20, 1984.

In an obvious play on her unique name, Michael Learned once portrayed a widow named "Mike" (Yardner) on a 1973 episode of Gunsmoke.

Surname is pronounced LEAR-NED (not in the same way as "you learned something").

Canadian actress Sherry Miller looks just like her.