Waltons patriarch Ralph Waite dies

Ralph Waite, who played the kind-and-steady patriarch of a tight-knit rural Southern family on the TV series The Waltons, died on Thursday, his manager said. He was 85.

Waite, who lived in the Palm Springs area, died at midday, manager Alan Mills said. Mills, who did not know the cause of death, said he was taken aback because Waite had been in good health and was still working.

Waite appeared last year in episodes of the series NCIS, in which he played the dad of star Mark Harmon’s character. He also appeared in Bones and Days of Our Lives.