‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN’

‘Sanford and Son’ Actress Dead at 95

Lynn Hamilton also appeared in ‘The Waltons’ and ‘Roots: The Next Generations.’

Lynn Hamilton, an actress who starred in Sanford and Son and The Waltons, has died at the age of 95. Her former manager and publicist confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that she died at home in Chicago of natural causes. In addition to starring as Donna Harris—Fred Sanford’s girlfriend and later fiancée—in Sanford and Son and Miss Verdie in The Waltons, Hamilton also starred in Roots: The Next Generation, Dangerous Women, and several theater productions, having made her acting debut on Broadway in Only in America in 1959. Hamilton made her film debut that same year in John Cassavetes’ Shadows, and appeared in two films starring Sidney Poitier, Brother John (1971) and Buck and the Preacher (1972). She was married to playwright and poet Frank Jenkins for 49 years, from 1964 until Jenkins’ death in August 2014. The couple worked on several stage productions together during their marriage. Judy Norton, who played Mary Ellen Walton on The Waltons, shared a message on social media about her former co-star: “So sad to hear of the passing of our beloved Lynn Hamilton, who shared her grace and talent with us as Verdie Grant. Godspeed. Til we meet again.”