‘John-Boy’ in ‘Ballantrae’ cast

Press, 24 December 1986, Page 15

‘John-Boy’ in ‘Ballantrae’ cast

A lavish telling of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, “The Master of Ballantrae,” screens tomorrow (Christmas Day) on Two at noon. This swashbuckling tale is set in. the period of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, and the action shifts from the Scottish Highlands to the North American wilderness. Its all-star cast includes Richard Thomas as Henry Durie, Michael York as James Durie, Sir John Gielgud as Lord Durrisdeer, and Finola Hughes as Alison Graeme. “The Master of Ballantrae” is about two brothers who wage a bitter, life-long battle for control of their father’s vast estates in eighteenth century Scotland, and this television epic received a special commendation award from “Parent’s Choice” magazine. While filming “The Master of Ballantrae” in the United Kingdom, Richard Thomas found the British public still think of him as “JohnBoy” from “The Waltons,” an image he has been shaking in the United States by appearing in a succession of critically and publicly acclaimed television motion pictures. The “John-Boy” image is sure to fade further after audiences see Thomas portray the Scottish Henry Durie in “The Master of Ballantrae.” Thomas was born in

New York City on June 13, 1951. His parents, Richard Thomas 111 nd Barbara Fallis, soon moved the family to Havana, Cuba, where they danced with Alicia Alonzo’s ballet company. When living in Cuba became difficult because of political considerations, the family returned to New York, where Richard’s mother and father

danced with George Balanchine’s famed New York City Ballet While still a child, Thomas toured Europe with his parents for two years as they performed with different ballet companies.

When Thomas was six, his father worked with a summer repertory theatre company in upstate New York, and Richard made his stage debut in “Damn Yankees” and “Anything Goes.”

That autumn, when Thomas was in the first grade, his teacher, Mildred Green, who moonlighted as an agent for

child actors, received a call from the producers of Broadway’s “Sunrise at Campobello.” They were desperate to find a replacement for the young boy playing John Roosevelt, so Green took Thomas to an audition. He won the role and played it for a year. At the age of 10, Thomas starred in a network children’s series and at 11 he was on Broadway again in Eugene O’Neill’s “Strange Interlude.” As a teenager, he appeared in "Richard III,” and in several “Hallmark Hall of Fame” specials, with actors like Hume Cronyn,

Christopher Plummer and Julie Harris. Thomas starred at the age of 18 in the Hal Wallis film, “Red Sky at Morning,” in a role that inspired Earl Hamner, jun., to cast Richard in “The Homecoming — A Christmas Story,” the television film that served as the pilot for “The Waltons.” Thomas was studying Chinese at Columbia University when he was offered the role of JohnBoy.

During his five years on “The Waltons,” Thomas authored a book, “Poems by Richard Thomas,” and made his directing debut (“The Song” episode of “The Waltons”). During production hiatuses, he starred as The Dauphin in a stage production of George Bernard Shaw’s “St Joan,” as the young soldier in a TV version of Stephen Crane’s "Red Badge of Courage,” and as an ostracised cadet at West Point in the TV movie, “The Silence.” - Thomas’s other theatrical motion picture credits include “Winning,” “Last Summer,” “9/30/55,” “Cactus in the Snow,” “Battle Beyond the Stars” and “You’ll Like My Mother.” His television movie credits include “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “To Find My Son,” "Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story,” “No Other Love,” "Berlin Tunnel: 21,” and the miniseries, “Roots: The Next Generation.” Thomas married Alma Gonzales on February 14, 1975. They have a seven-year-old son, Richard Francisco Thomas V, and two-year-old triplet daughters, Barbara, Gwyneth and Pilar. Thomas’s leisure activities include playing the dulcimer, breeding champion toy Brussels Griffons and King' Charles Spaniels, ballet, photography and continuing his study of Chinese. He is a wine connoisseur and still enjoys writing poetry.