Barbara Ayala Thomas: Who is Richard Thomas’ daughter?

Barbara Ayala Thomas is the daughter of Richard Thomas. Barbara Ayala Thomas’s father is an American actor who is best known for his leading role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama The Waltons, for which he won an Emmy Award, and received a nomination for another and two Golden Globe Awards. He also starred in the miniseries adaption of Stephen King’s It and played Special Agent Frank Gaad on FX’s spy thriller series The Americans.

Barbara Ayala Thomas: Bio Summary

Who is Richard Thomas’s daughter?

Barbara Ayala Thomas is the first born of triplets born to actor Richard Thomas and his wife  Alma Gonzales. She was followed at one-minute intervals by Gwyneth Gonzales and Pilar Alma. As of 2024, Barbara is 42 years old. Apart from her triplet siblings, Barbara Ayala Thomas also has two other siblings, Richard Francisco Thomas, and Montana James Thomas.

ALSO, READ; Alma Gonzales: Truth about Richard Thomas’ ex-wife

How did Barbara’s parents meet? Thomas and Gonzales first met in the 1970s at the Fez, a Middle Eastern nightclub in Los Angeles specialized in folk dancing. Alma caught the actor’s eye while she was dancing with friends. He took her to a Betty Boop cartoon festival on their first date and they were married on Valentine’s Day 1975. In 1976, they had a son, Richard Francisco, and their triplet daughters—Pilar, Barbara, and Gwyneth—were born in 1981.

Barbara Ayala and her twin’s birth came as a surprise to the actor, almost shocking. This is because the actor and his then-wife, Gonzales, were confident that they would have twins. Twins ran in both sides of their family, and when Barbara Ayala Thomas’ mother, Gonzales did her sonogram at the third and seventh months, the doctors confirmed the babies were twins.

At the time of Barbara Ayala Thomas and her siblings’ birth, the father was away from home. The movie star was filming in New York, but he had to drop everything for the sake of his girls. After the girls’ births, they were given the monikers John Girl I, John Girl II, and John Girl III by fans until Thomas announced their beautiful names which were gleaned from the family.

When the triplets were born, Thomas was already thinking of them as possible performers. “Barbara is going to be an opera singer, Gwyneth a dancer and Pilar an actress.” But if things don’t work out that way, no matter. “They’ll probably end up owning a Chevrolet franchise in Van Nuys, and none of them will ever set foot in the theater,” Richard Thomas said of the triplets. “I’ll be prepared for that too.“

Alma was brought up Catholic and Richard a Baptist, but Barbara and her siblings had a non-denominational upbringing.

ALSO, READ; Pilar Alma Thomas: All About Richard Thomas’ daughter

Barbara Ayala’s parents separated in May 1992 after 17 years of marriage and divorced on 22 June 1993. Their father moved on very quickly and married Santa Fe art dealer Georgiana Bischoff on November 20, 1994, and their half-brother, Montana, was born in 1996. Bischoff has two daughters, Brooke and Kendra, from previous marriages. Barbara Ayala Thomas’ father Richard Thomas had 5 biological children. Thomas and Georgiana currently reside in Manhattan, New York.

ALSO, READ; Richard Francisco Thomas:Inside the life of Richard Thomas’ son

How are Richard Thomas’s daughters today?

Much is not known about Barbara Ayala Thomas and her siblings. Richard Thomas’s children have been living far away from the camera, unlike their father. In a 1993 interview, Thomas gushed about his kids, noting that his oldest son had no interest in acting, but his daughters “were crazy about theatre.” However, it seems none followed in his footsteps.

ALSO, READ; Alma Gonzales: Truth about Richard Thomas’ ex-wife

Barbara Ayala Thomas’ father received his first major film roles, appearing in Winning (1969) with Paul Newman, about auto racing, and Last Summer (also 1969) with Bruce Davison and Barbara Hershey, a summer coming-of-age movie. He starred in the Universal Pictures/Hal Wallis Production Red Sky at Morning (1971). Thomas played the lead role in 1971’s Cactus in the Snow, an independent film which is hard, if not impossible, to find or buy via VHS, DVD, or any other format. It is considered a lost film.