Ronnie Claire Edwards, Corabeth on TV’s The Waltons,’ dead at 83

Ronnie Claire Edwards, who played Corabeth Godsey on the hit TV series “The Waltons,” has died. She was 83.

Edwards died Tuesday in her sleep at her Dallas home, according to her longtime friend and business partner Marty Van Kleeck, who was at her side. The cause of death was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Van Kleeck said Thursday.

Edwards was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She has been acting professionally since 1963 and is best known for the role of the domineering Corabeth Walton Godsey, the prickly wife of storekeeper Ike Godsey played by Joe Conley, in the CBS television series The Waltons, created by Earl Hamner, Jr..

Edwards played Charlene’s mother, Ione Frazier, on two episodes of CBS’s Designing Women. She played Aunt Dolly in Hamner’s series Boone, which aired on NBC from 1983–84. She co-starred in the 1985 NBC series Sara opposite Geena Davis. She briefly appeared on an episode of PBS’s Antiques Roadshow (2008) from Dallas, Texas, when she brought in for appraisal a chair formerly owned by P. T. Barnum. She also appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Thine Own Self” and the 1999 remake of Inherit the Wind.

In 2008, HBO decided not to air the television series 12 Miles of Bad Road, in which Edwards had a role. She subsequently retired from acting.

Edwards was the author of several books, including memoirs published in 2012. In 2000, The Knife Thrower’s Assistant: Memoirs of a Human Target, was published. She had previously created and performed a one woman show under the same title, which she took to the Edinburgh Fringe in 1993. She also co-wrote a musical play, Idols of the King, as a tribute to Elvis Presley’s career, legacy, and most passionate fans.