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Earl Hamner Jr.

 

 
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Earl Hamner Jr.
 
 
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Earl Henry Hamner, Jr. (born on July 10, 1923 in Schuyler, Virginia
Schuyler, Virginia

Schuyler is an unincorporated area in Nelson County, Virginia, Virginia, United States, close to Charlottesville, Virginia.In 1882, the community -- originally "Walker's Mill" -- was named for Schuyler George Walker, local mill operator, and the area's first Postmaster....
) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 writer
Writer

A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms....
 and producer
Television producer

The primary role of a television producer is to control all aspects of production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking....
 (sometimes credited as Earl Hamner), best known for his work in the 1970s and 1980s on the long-running CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
 series The Waltons
The Waltons

The Waltons is an United States television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 Spencer's Mountain, starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara....
 and Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest

Falcon Crest is an United States primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990....
. As a novelist, he is best known for the novel Spencer's Mountain
Spencer's Mountain

Spencer's Mountain is a 1963 in film family film written, directed, and produced by Delmer Daves from a novel by Earl Hamner. The novel and film became the basis for the popular television series The Waltons, which followed in 1972 in television....
, which was inspired by his own childhood and formed the basis for both the film of the same name and the television series The Waltons, for which he provided voiceover
VoiceOver

VoiceOver is a feature built into Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X operating system since version Mac OS X v10.4. By using VoiceOver, the user can access his or her Apple Macintosh by using speech and the Computer keyboard....
 narration.

He based the cantankerous Walton family grandparents in the popular television series on his own maternal Italian-American grandparents, Ora Lee and Colonel Anderson Gianniny, an anglicized
Anglicisation

Anglicisation or anglicization is a process of conversion of verbal or written elements of any other language into a more comprehensible English language for an English speaker....
 version of the Italian surname "Giannini".

Earl Hamner also contributed eight episodes in the early 1960s to the classic CBS science fiction
Science fiction

Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology. Science fiction is found in books, art, television, films, games, theatre, and other media....
 series The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)

The Twilight Zone is a science fiction anthology series United States television series created by Rod Serling. The original series ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964 and remains television syndication to this day....
.






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Earl Henry Hamner, Jr. (born on July 10, 1923 in Schuyler, Virginia
Schuyler, Virginia

Schuyler is an unincorporated area in Nelson County, Virginia, Virginia, United States, close to Charlottesville, Virginia.In 1882, the community -- originally "Walker's Mill" -- was named for Schuyler George Walker, local mill operator, and the area's first Postmaster....
) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 writer
Writer

A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms....
 and producer
Television producer

The primary role of a television producer is to control all aspects of production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking....
 (sometimes credited as Earl Hamner), best known for his work in the 1970s and 1980s on the long-running CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
 series The Waltons
The Waltons

The Waltons is an United States television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 Spencer's Mountain, starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara....
 and Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest

Falcon Crest is an United States primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990....
. As a novelist, he is best known for the novel Spencer's Mountain
Spencer's Mountain

Spencer's Mountain is a 1963 in film family film written, directed, and produced by Delmer Daves from a novel by Earl Hamner. The novel and film became the basis for the popular television series The Waltons, which followed in 1972 in television....
, which was inspired by his own childhood and formed the basis for both the film of the same name and the television series The Waltons, for which he provided voiceover
VoiceOver

VoiceOver is a feature built into Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X operating system since version Mac OS X v10.4. By using VoiceOver, the user can access his or her Apple Macintosh by using speech and the Computer keyboard....
 narration.

He based the cantankerous Walton family grandparents in the popular television series on his own maternal Italian-American grandparents, Ora Lee and Colonel Anderson Gianniny, an anglicized
Anglicisation

Anglicisation or anglicization is a process of conversion of verbal or written elements of any other language into a more comprehensible English language for an English speaker....
 version of the Italian surname "Giannini".

Earl Hamner also contributed eight episodes in the early 1960s to the classic CBS science fiction
Science fiction

Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology. Science fiction is found in books, art, television, films, games, theatre, and other media....
 series The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)

The Twilight Zone is a science fiction anthology series United States television series created by Rod Serling. The original series ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964 and remains television syndication to this day....
. His first script acceptance for the series was his big writing break in Hollywood.

He created two less successful series, Boone
Boone (TV series)

Boone is a 13-week dramatic television series which was broadcast on NBC from 1983?1984. It starred, principally, Tom Byrd and Barry Corbin....
 on NBC (1983-1984), starring Tom Byrd
Tom Byrd (actor)

Thomas Byrd, usually known as Tom Byrd, is an United States actor, born in the Philippine Islands on May 18, 1960....
 and Barry Corbin
Barry Corbin

Leonard Barrie "Barry" Corbin is an United States actor with more than one hundred credits in film and television and several in computer games....
, and Apple's Way
Apple's Way

Apple's Way is a television dramedy which aired on CBS from 1974-1975. It was created by Earl Hamner, Jr., who also produced The Waltons and Falcon Crest for CBS and the less successful Boone on NBC....
 (1974-1975) on CBS with Ronny Cox
Ronny Cox

Daniel Ronald "Ronny" Cox is an United States character actor, singer/songwriter, and guitarist....
.

Hamner offered sound advice to aspiring writers: "Writing is all about rewriting".

List of Works

Novels
  • Fifty Roads to Town (1953)
  • Spencer's Mountain (1961)
  • You Can't Get There From Here (1965)
  • The Homecoming (1970)


Non-fiction
  • The Avocado Drive Zoo (a memoir) (1999)
  • Good Night, John Boy (reminiscences of making The Waltons TV series) (2002)
  • Generous Women (collection of memoirs) (2006)


Screenplays
  • Spencer's Mountain (1963)
  • Palm Springs Weekend (1963)


Teleplays
  • Highway (1954)
  • The Hunt
    The Hunt

    "The Hunt" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone ....
     (1962) for "The Twilight Zone
    The Twilight Zone

    The Twilight Zone is an United States television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror fiction, often concluding with a macabre or Twist ending....
    "
  • A Piano in the House
    A Piano in the House

    "A Piano In the House" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone ....
     (1962) for "The Twilight Zone"
  • Jess-Belle
    Jess-Belle

    "Jess-Belle" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone ....
     (1963) for "The Twilight Zone"
  • Ring-a-Ding Girl
    Ring-a-Ding Girl

    "Ring-a-Ding Girl" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone....
     (1963) for "The Twilight Zone"
  • You Drive
    You Drive

    "You Drive" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.Opening NarrationPart OnePart Two...
     (1964) for "The Twilight Zone"
  • Black Leather Jackets
    Black Leather Jackets

    "Black Leather Jackets" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone....
     (1964) for "The Twilight Zone"
  • Stopover in a Quiet Town
    Stopover in a Quiet Town

    "Stopover in a Quiet Town" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone....
     (1964) for "The Twilight Zone"
  • The Bewitchin' Pool
    The Bewitchin' Pool

    "The Bewitchin' Pool" is the final episode of the American television series The Twilight Zone....
     (1964) for "The Twilight Zone"
  • Heidi (1969)
  • Appalachian Autumn (1970)
  • Aesop's Fables (1971)
  • The Homecoming (for CBS, 1971)
  • Where the Lilies Bloom (1972)


External links

  • The Hamner Theater in Nelson County, VA.
  • A biography of Earl Hamner, Jr. by Brandy Davis