Richard Thomas
Richard Thomas (born June 13, 1951) is an American actor, best known as budding author “John-Boy” in the CBS Television Series The Waltons. Thomas can also be heard providing the voiceover in recent Mercedes-Benz and Aleve commercials.
Thomas was born in New York City, the son of Richard Thomas (born circa 1925) and the former Barbara Fallis. His parents were each dancers with the New York City Ballet and owned the New York School of Ballet. He attended The McBurney School in Manhattan.
Thomas was seven when he made his Broadway debut in Sunrise at Campobello (1958) playing John Roosevelt, son of future U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Thomas has been married twice, first to Alma Gonzales and then to Georgiana Bischoff. He married Alma Gonzales on Feb 14th,1975, and the marriage lasted for almost two decades, but ended in divorce in 1993. A year after he and Gonzales divorced, Thomas married Georgiana Bischoff on Nov 20th, 1994. He and Alma had one son, Richard Francisco, born 1976 and triplet daughters Barbara Ayala, Gweneth Gonzales and Pilar Alma who were born August 26, 1981; he and Georgiana have one son, Montana James, born July 28, 1996.
In 1980, Thomas made his first Broadway appearance in more than twelve years when he stepped in as a replacement in Lanford Wilson’s Fifth of July. In 1993, he played the title role in a stage production of Richard II.
Thomas has appeared in a quartet of performances at Hartford Stage in Connecticut: Hamlet (1987), Peer Gynt (1989) and Tiny Alice (1996).
His recent New York stage credits include The Public Theater’s production of As You Like It (2005), Michael Frayn’s Democracy on Broadway (2004) and the Primary Stages’ production of Terrence McNally’s The Stendhal Syndrome (2004).
He has served as national chairman of the Better Hearing Institute and hosted the PAX TV series, It’s a Miracle.
In 2006 Thomas began a national tour of Reginald Rose’s acclaimed play, Twelve Angry Men, along with George Wendt at the Shubert Theater in New Haven, Connecticut, playing the pivotal role of Juror Eight opposite Wendt’s Juror One.
Thomas can also be heard providing the voiceover in recent Mercedes-Benz, BB&T and Aleve commercials. In the summer of 2008, Thomas made commercials for the Zaxby’s restaurant chain.
Richard Thomas will be featured in Race, a new play by David Mamet on Broadway in the fall. He joins James Spader in the play, directed by Mamet, which begins previews Nov. 17 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City.
