It has been 44 years since Richard Thomas quit The Waltons, the show that catapulted him to TV stardom. His character, John-Boy Walton, became one of the most iconic characters in TV history.

However, he quit the show in its prime, leaving everyone to wonder why he did so. He stayed busy even after leaving The Waltons and did a lot of TV and movies, as well as theater, in the coming years.

But as he grew older, his popularity grew thinner. After going from playing lead characters to supporting ones over the years, many do not know about his whereabouts today, so much so that many have even started asking if the actor has died.

Richard Thomas Almost Died in 1977

The many questions on the internet like "Did Richard Thomas die?" do nothing more than allude to his long-standing fan following. After all, he did come really close to dying in 1977.

That year, he took on a movie role while on a break from filming The Waltons. The movie was called September 30, 1955, and he was to play Jimmy J.

James Bridges, the director of the movie, explained during his interview with MeTV that Thomas almost died while doing his own motorcycle stunt for a scene. The actor lost control of the motorcycle and was on a direct collision course with a truck.

Richard Thomas on the set of 'The Waltons' in 1973. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

He jumped off the bike before he crashed into the truck, but still injured himself quite badly. His injury had to be written into The Waltons storyline.

That was in 1977, when the show was at its peak in terms of popularity. It was Thomas's fifth season with the series and his last one according to his contract.

He decided not to renew his paperwork and decided it was time for him and his character to have a change in scenery. So, in 1978, he just left, with no other offers on the table and an uncertain future.

Thomas was fine regardless and had no trouble with jobs, neither in Hollywood nor on Broadway.

Is Richard Thomas Still Alive?

Yes, Thomas is still alive and kicking. He is still doing movies and TV shows, as well as theater.

As of 2022, the actor is busy with Ozark, a well-received Netflix show. He became a part of the series in January 2022 and has appeared as Nathan Davis in nine episodes as of this writing.

Richard Thomas is remarkable in Ozark’s long awaited final seven, turning a seemingly predictable origin story villain into someone more complicated. No spoilers. — Hal Corley (@Halcyon270) May 2, 2022

On the theater front, he starred as Atticus Finch in a Broadway stage production tour of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird in April 2022.

Thomas has landed regular acting gigs since the very beginning of his career. Right before Ozark, he did The Waltons: Homecoming, a TV movie where he played the narrator, in 2021. As of now, he has 125 acting credits.

The actor's personal life, too, is going well. He lives with his second wife, Georgiana Bischoff, in Manhattan, New York. They have seven children together.

He had four children with his first wife, Alma Gonzales — a son and triplet daughters. She had two daughters from her two previous marriages. They had a son together in 1996.

All of his children are now grown up and doing their own thing. As of 2020, two of them lived in California; three lived in bend, Oregon, and two in New York.

During an interview with Smashing Interviews in November 2014, he revealed their youngest daughter was an aspiring actress, and their oldest daughter was a postproduction officer. He was also busy helping his youngest kid with his college applications.