Beloved ’70s TV star who quit Hollywood to become a delivery driver resurfaces in LA looking unrecognizable

A star from one of the most iconic television series of the 1970s made a rare public appearance in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The former child actor, known for his role as the beloved redhead Ben Walton on The Waltons, looked young at 67 as he stepped out in casual clothes.

He’s wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers t-shirt and he’s faded jeansThe former star, who also starred in Bewitched, The Doris Day Show and the movie The Million Dollar Duck earlier in her career, was still sporting her signature Hollywood smile.

After The Waltons ended its nine-season run in 1981, the actor briefly continued working in retail before making a surprising career change.

He eventually left Hollywood behind to work as a delivery driver and later went on to run his own messaging service in the greater Los Angeles area.

Can you guess the actor who delivers the iconic ‘Goodnight John-Boy’ signature at the end of The Waltons episodes?

The former child actor, known for his role as the beloved redhead Ben Walton on The Waltons, looked young at 67 as he stepped out in casual clothes.

The former star, who also appeared in Bewitched, The Doris Day Show and The Million Dollar Duck earlier in her career, was still flashing her trademark Hollywood smile as she wore a Los Angeles Dodgers T-shirt and faded jeans.

If you said Eric Scott, give yourself a point.

In an interview conducted in March 2026 This is classicScott opened up about the unexpected career change that followed the end of The Waltons.

He explained that after the series wrapped, he tried his luck in retail, initially working for ‘a year in a Broadway store’.

He added that he “just wanted to see” what it was like to be a salesman who had worked in television.

‘I went to different departments. I gave it a year and said, ‘You know what? ‘I don’t like retail.’ I quit,’ said Scott.

Looking back, the actor admitted that he assumed another acting job would come along soon.

‘There was still the thought that maybe another show could come, but nothing happened. So I said, you know, I have to get back. ‘I have to make a living,’ he explained.

This turn eventually led him to work ‘for a messaging company’; He said this role offers more flexibility while keeping a foot in the industry.

Eric Scott eventually left Hollywood behind to work as a delivery driver, later going on to run his own messaging service in the Los Angeles area; Above, in 2011

Scott also stated that his mother’s presence on the set kept him going during his time as a child star.

The Waltons ended their nine-season run in 1981; Above (back row) Michael Learned, Richard Thomas and Ralph Waite; (middle row) Jon Walmsley, Ellen Corby, Will Geer, Kami Cotler, and David W. Harper; (bottom row) Judy Norton Taylor, Eric Scott and Elizabeth McDonough)

Scott described the character Ben Walton as ‘very impulsive’ and often prone to making bad decisions.

‘I thought there was flexibility here,’ he explained.

Scott stated that this move ultimately worked out better than expected and that it was now “his own”.[s] company.”

‘It was a strange transition,’ he said.

In the same interview, Scott was asked if he shared any similarities with the Waltons character, and the actor joked that he didn’t think so.

“I was obviously an idiot,” Scott joked.

He described his character as ‘very impulsive’ and often prone to making bad decisions.

‘He was also much more emotional than me,’ he said. ‘I say this, [but] I don’t know if you ask my two daughters, they might disagree. Ben definitely did a lot of different types of things and I was like, ‘What is he thinking? Why does he think this way?”

Despite his criticisms, Scott said revisiting the series became a personal time capsule, allowing him to reflect on his early acting work.

‘It’s so much fun to watch them now, to look at them and see me interpreting my own script at 16, 17, 18, 19, and how different it would be to look at it now,’ he said.

Scott also stated that his mother’s presence on the set kept him going during his time as a child star.

‘My mother was on set for me. And I thank him for being there. “And talk about centering me,” he said.

He added that it allows him to maintain a normal routine outside of filming.

‘It kept me so grounded, I finished my work and still had to clean up after the dog when I got home. And I went through Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. I’m an Eagle Scout,” Scott said.

Scott’s personal life off-screen included both joy and tragedy.

He was briefly married to actress Karey Louis and later married Theresa Fargo, with whom he welcomed daughter Ashley.

Fargo tragically died of acute myelomonocytic leukemia shortly after giving birth in 1992; Ashley was born a month early by Caesarean section so her mother could start chemotherapy.

In March 2000, Scott married Cindy Ullman Wolfen. The couple has two children: daughter Emma, ​​born in 2001, and son Jeremy, born in 2004.