‘The Waltons’ Star Dies of Alzheimer’s: Sian Barbara Allen Was 78

Sian Barbara Allen, the Golden Globe-nominated actress best known for her appearance on The Waltons, has died.

Allen passed away in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Monday after a battle with Alzheimer’s, according to an online obituary. She was 78.

Remembered as “of the most popular television actresses of the 1970s and 80s and Golden Globe nominee,” Allen was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on July 12, 1946, attended the Pasadena Playhouse on a scholarship after graduating high school and was later hired as one of the last contract players at Universal Studios.

She made her screen debut in 1971 in episodes of shows such as O’Hara, U.S. Treasury, Alias Smith and Jones, and Gunsmoke, per her IMDb profile, and went on to make her big screen debut just a year later in the film You’ll Like My Mother, which also starred Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy, and Richard Thomas. Her role as Kathleen Kinsolving, a mentally challenged, nonspeaking girl, earned her a Golden Globe nomination for most promising new actress.

The actress went on to reunite with Thomas in 1973 on The Waltons, CBS’ n historical drama that aired for nine seasons from 1972 through 1981. Allen starred as Jenny Pendelton, the love interest of Thomas’ John-Boy, in two episodes of the show’s first and second seasons in 1973.

Outside of The Waltons, Allen also starred in shows such as The Incredible Hulk, Hawaii Five-0, Columbo, The Rockford Files, Marcus Welby, Md, Bonanza, and Cagney and Lacey, among others. Her big screen credits include Billy Two Hats (1974), Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973) and The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976). She also became the first woman to pen a script for the TV series Baretta in 1978.

Outside of her onscreen appearances, Allen also starred in numerous theater productions, including 1976’s Our Town, where she played Emily Webb. She later named her daughter after the character.

She stepped away from acting in 1990 following her last on-screen credit L.A. Law, instead focusing on politics. Per her obituary, she “lived her final year of life in North Carolina, surrounded by all of her favorite things, new friends, and more time with Emily than she’d had in 35 years.”

Paying tribute to her online, Allen’s sister Meg Pokrass wrote on Facebook, “My wonderful sister, actress Sian Barbara Allen died peacefully today after a long illness … This loss is too hard.”

Allen is survived by her daughter Emily Fonseca; sisters Hannah Davie and Meg Pokrass; nephew Miles Bond; ex-husband Peter Gelblum; and grandson Arlo Fonseca, who “”made her laugh more than anyone could dream.”