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| Mary McDonough was born in Van Nuys, California on May 4th, 1961. She first appeared on our screens as Erin Walton in The Homecoming, the role she continued to play in the series of The Waltons. She too, has continued her relationship with Earl Hamner and The Waltons, by returning to play Erin in the Waltons specials of the 1980's and 1990's. During the run of the show Mary was listed in the credits as both Mary Elizabeth McDonough and Mary Beth McDonough. I believe she now is credited as Mary McDonough.
She went on to make quite a few movies after The Waltons ended, mostly teenage films or horror films such as Midnight Offerings, Lovely But Deadly, Snowballing and Funland. Mary then suffered a period of ill health which saw her acting career virtually come to a stand still. She has since revealed that she suffers from a form of Lupus, which she believes was caused by faulty breast implants which leaked into her system, causing her severe health problems. Mary spoke about her health problems on a national talk show, to help alert other women of the problems breast implants can sometimes cause. She also tells her story at various rallies. Mary has since had them removed and is slowly regaining her health. Although she put her acting career on hold during her illness, she is slowly rebuilding a career for herself. 1997 saw her making several television appearances. We saw her as Erin in A Walton Easter, and another movie, One of Those Nights, was released in June this year. Perhaps most poignant though, was her role in ER, where she played the part of a woman suffering from lupus who is given a kidney transplant from her brother.
Mary married in 1988, but has since divorced. She is now a single Mum, bringing up her little girl Sydnee. | |
