Erin from 'The Waltons' Is 'Gorgeous' at 61 after She Was Called Fat — She Divorced & Found New Love at 50

• Mary Elizabeth McDonough is famous as "Erin Walton" from the hit series "The Waltons."
• At the peak of her career, the actress was diagnosed with lupus.
• The disease negatively affected her career and ended her first marriage.

Mary Elizabeth McDonough is a renowned actress famously known for her role as Erin Walton, the second youngest of John-Boy Walton's three sisters in "The Waltons."

The actress is still remembered from her 70's show and recently shared a picture with one of her high school friends on Instagram.

The women were matching, wearing all-black outfits, and the 61-year-old kept it simple with a black t-shit and dark blue jeans with her hair let down and no makeup.

Her friend was on the opposite spectrum. She wore a long black ruffled dress with a matching jacket, long wavy hair, and a full face of makeup. But the long-time friends both had big smiles on their faces.

Mary Elizabeth McDonough Looks Chic at 61

The two women were praised for aging well and for how good the picture looked. McDonough was also complimented on her simple style. One fan said, "Gorgeous ladies, love the looks, and Mary McDonough, you always look your best! So chic"

Despite the ups and downs, the actress has experienced with her health, she still looked young at 61. McDonough was only ten years old when "The Waltons" aired, and by the time it ended, she was 21, which meant she grew up on television.

The show did many things for McDonough and gave her an idea of how she wanted to build her family life, but it also added pressure on the future of her acting career.

The Illness That Almost Ended Her Life and Career

McDonough lives with the rare disease of lupus. Her condition comes with rheumatoid-like arthritis and skin rashes that flare up whenever she is in the sun for too long. However, the actress lived with the condition for years and was only diagnosed in 1995, affecting her acting career and marriage.

McDonough speculated that her condition stemmed from a breast implant procedure she had in 1984. The actress got a new pair of breasts hoping they would help advance her career.

"The Waltons" star was willing to do everything for a long-lasting acting career. It had been her childhood dream to be on TV, and she remembered begging her mother to allow her to audition for the show.

Her audition was initially for "The Homecoming," a movie that became a pilot for "The Waltons." Since it aired in 1972, McDonough grew up on the screen until its end in 1981.

At the time, she was 21 and admitted to not having self-esteem. She lived through an era where everyone her age was getting breast implants, so she did the same.

However, McDonough started developing unusual symptoms after a surgery that was meant to commemorate the beginning of an exponential career.

She started getting the flu and stiff joints, a feeling of needles poking through her body, then a rash on her face, and immense fatigue. She was referred to a cardiologist and a dermatologist, and doctors struggled to in point her problem.

However, in the midst of figuring out her diagnosis, directors started telling her agents that she looked tired, which was the start of her career going downhill.

In addition to her career, her marriage with actor Rob Wickstrom also came crashing down. The two tied the knot in 1988 and divorced in 1995.

McDonough explained that her illness was hard on Wickstrom because it limited some of the things she used to do. But the actor said he did not leave his ex-wife because of lupus.

He confessed that he felt helpless as the actress also tried navigating her illness. "There were nights I'd just hold her, and she'd cry from the pain and frustration," he said.

Fortunately, the split was peaceful. McDonough continued to live with their daughter Sydnee and the former couple remained friends and good co-parents.

However, the end of the marriage was devastating because McDonough and Wickstrom's families were close. She had his sister as her bridesmaid, and her father-in-law walked her down the aisle.

McDonough also left a good impression from the first day Wickstrom brought her around his family. Her father-in-law said she looked taller than she appeared on television but found her "very vivacious, and friends and pleasant."

McDonough started raising awareness about lupus and was inspired to do so because of her daughter. She confessed that Sydnee had shown symptoms of the disease, like, weak joints, fatigue, and unexpected vomiting.

As a mother, she could not bear watching her child endure the pain. She emotionally expressed, "My daughter never chose this. This makes me incredibly angry."

However, this experience taught McDonough something meaningful, to love herself. She confessed that she based beauty on Erin Walton's character but lived vicariously through her. "There was a whole inside me," said the actress.

But when the acting was taken away and realizing that implants had to come out because they contributed to her health issues, she had an epiphany that she needed to find her voice and build confidence.

As someone in the public eye who has had a negative experience with plastic surgery McDonough said she received a lot of emails from people who were thinking about implants but were scared of how their bodies would react to them.

McDonough’s Life after a Failed Surgery and Finding Love Again

McDonough still continued to act after getting the necessary treatment for her condition, but like most actors, she was pressured by Hollywood standards.

The actress confessed that she would put herself on a strict diet to lose weight fast because she was told she was fat, which turned into her developing body issues. She continuously compared herself to Erin Walton, "I thought my only value was being Erin Walton," she said.

She found herself returning to Erin and trying to get back to her body, presenting her as the ideal image of beauty. "I developed my own body issues," admitted the actress.

"Erin was supposed to be the pretty one, so there was a lot of pressure for me to look a certain way and weigh a certain amount," she continued to open up, but she realized that the perfection she was striving for was impossible.

McDonough still remembered the close-knit family of "The Waltons" and how relatable it was. She even said the series "This is Us" reminded her of her former show.

But since the ending of the iconic series, McDonough has appeared in shows like "Will and Grace" and "The West Wing." The actress might have had a long battle with lupus, but good things happened, too, like meeting her second husband, Don.

She confessed that her brother convinced her to marry again, and 15 years after her divorce, she walked down the aisle. Before she got married, she recalled, "My brother Michael said I should marry him quick before he realized he was living with four women."

But his advice turned out to be the best. The actress said she regards Don as the highest in her heart and true love. In her memoir, she candidly wrote, "To my Don – my mate, partner, best friend, and love," Mary wrote. "I feel more appreciation than I am capable of expressing. I love you more than you know."

The actress still continues to live a healthy life, and despite the pain of watching her career decline, she appreciates having Don and her daughter on her side.

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