Mary McDonough of ‘The Waltons’ Felt ‘Unsafe’ Doing Circus Act With Scott Baio
During a 1980 appearance on Circus of the Stars, The Waltons actor Mary McDonough traded her conservative 1930s-style dresses for a leotard as she performed an aerial act with Happy Days star Scott Baio. But the high-flying stunt wasn’t an entirely pleasant experience for McDonough, she revealed in her 2011 memoir.
Mary McDonough was excited to be on ‘Circus of the Stars’
Circus of the Stars was a CBS variety show featuring celebrities performing circus acts. It debuted in 1977 and aired annually until 1994. McDonough – known for playing Erin Walton on The Waltons – was recruited to appear on the fifth edition of the show. She and Baio performed an aerial act called “Pirates in the Sky.”
For McDonough, who had a background in dance, the chance to do circus stunts on TV was a dream come true.
“My inner daredevil and dance background made me crave doing Circus … It was a great show and I was excited when Bob Stivers asked me to perform,” recalled in her 2011 book, Lessons From the Mountain.
Unfortunately, being on Circus of the Stars didn’t live up to McDonough’s expectations
“It was a terribly disappointing experience for me,” she wrote.
‘The Waltons’ star couldn’t connect with Scott Baio
According to McDonough, the trouble began during rehearsals for the show. She and Baio headed to stuntman Bob Yerkes’s home to train for their act. But Baio’s father had some concerns.
“Two men who performed for the professional circus were there to train us,” she recalled. “Mario [Baio] looked at the rig and didn’t know if he wanted Scott doing it.”
McDonough got on the rig without any trouble. “I am a natural monkey … this was not too tough for me,” she wrote. But the elder Baio’s concerns about his son’s safety “transferred to us all and it went downhill from there.”
“I still don’t fully understand how something so fun could get so weird, but I do know Scott and I never connected,” she wrote. The two actors ended up training separately, so they never really got comfortable with each other.
McDonough did her best to build a rapport with Baio, but he wasn’t receptive.
“I tried to be encouraging, but I think Scott felt really nervous and pressured,” she wrote. “I tried to joke and tease him into relaxing, but he pulled away and the act suffered.”
Mary McDonough didn’t feel safe performing with the ‘Happy Days’ actor
At times, McDonough and Baio’s struggle to communicate led to safety issues. At one point, he made a call that led to the rig hitting McDonough in the head and the anchor rope burning her wrist.
“I was mad and hurt, and, of course, didn’t say anything,” she shared. “I felt unsafe with him as my partner and the act suffered, which can be dangerous thirty feet in the air.”
Ultimately, the Circus of the Stars taping in Las Vegas “didn’t go well,” McDonough admitted. She added that she felt she could have given a better performance and that her experience on the collegial set of The Waltons didn’t prepare her to deal with a difficult coworker.
“As a trained dancer, I knew I could do better and felt embarrassed at how it turned out,” she wrote. “I was so used to a family atmosphere where I worked, I innocently expected all other sets to be the same. Lesson learned: not all actors are committed to the ensemble.”
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