Earl Hamner

EARL HAMNER JR. was an American writer and television producer who created The Waltons, the semiautobiographical series that ran from 1972 to 1981, and the 1980s primetime drama Falcon Crest. He is the author of Spencer’s Mountain, adapted into a film starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara, and wrote the screenplay for the 1973 animated film Charlotte’s Web.

Hamner won an Emmy for his work on The Waltons, where he served as creator, executive producer, and narrator. The University of Cincinnati awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts in 2008.

Before television, Hamner worked as a radio writer for NBC, later writing scripts for The Twilight Zone. His career encompassed fiction, screenwriting, and long-form television across several decades.

Hamner was born in Schuyler, Virginia, in 1923 and died on March 24, 2016, in Los Angeles at age 92.

Earl Hamner’s books are published by Cumberland House Publishing, an imprint of Turner Publishing.

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