By this time he was also working sporadically again on Broadway. In 1964 he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for "110 in the Shade". In 1972, he played the part of "Bear Claw" in "Jeremiah Johnson" along with Robert Redford. In 1972, he was cast as Zebulon Walton, the family patriarch on "The Waltons," a role he took over from Edgar Bergen, who played the character in the pilot. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for "The Waltons" in 1975.