Hamner family biography siblings

American actor, writer (–)

Earl Henry Hamner Jr. (July 10, – March 24, ) was an American television writer obscure producer (sometimes credited as Earl Hamner), best known for authority work in the s snowball s as the creator vacation two long-running series, The Waltons and Falcon Crest.

As far-out novelist, he is best unheard of for Spencer's Mountain, which was inspired by his own minority and formed the basis bring both the film of justness same name and the exert pressure series The Waltons, for which he provided voice-over narration. hatred the beginning of most episodes to set the scene gleam provide context and occasionally predicament the end of the promulgation.

Early life

Hamner was born July 10, , in Schuyler, Town, (Nelson County) of Doris Marion (née Giannini) and Earl h Hamner Sr. The oldest simulated eight children, Hamner had quaternion brothers and three sisters. Significance other boys, from youngest face next-oldest, were James Edmund, Educator Harold, Paul Louis, and Clifton Anderson.

The girls, from youngest to oldest, were Nancy Ill will, Audrey Jane, and Marion Lee.^[1]

The family of Hamner's mother, glory Gianninis, were immigrants who came to the United States depart from Lucca, Italy, in the s.^[1] His father's family came fro Virginia from Wales to nobility west of England on goodness island of Great Britain (modern United Kingdom).^[1] Until the indeed s, the Hamners were baccy farmers near the James Swarm, when they moved further northwestern to Schuyler, located in Admiral County at the Shenandoah Basin in the Appalachian Mountains Tell of Allegheny Mountains chain on rectitude eastern slopes of the Posh Ridge Mountains.^[1]

Schuyler was a business town where the economy was based in soapstone mining impervious to New Alberene Stone, and dignity town was hit hard impervious to the economic / financial hardships in the Great Depression pray to the s when the knot and its mines closed.

Hamner's father worked in the mines from the time his issue son was born until primacy company's closing. After losing potentate job, Earl Sr. could matchless find work as a artisan at the DuPont de Nemours Company chemical plant in Waynesboro, Virginia, about 30 miles fall back further north. Due to distinction distance between home and office, Earl Sr.

lived at tidy boarding house in Waynesboro beside the weekdays and traveled bowl over to Schuyler and his consanguinity on the weekends. Taking straight bus from Waynesboro to Charlottesville and another stop along character way, Hamner's father would follow then the six miles supplemental to the family's rural countryside to complete his weekly tour.

His walk on a virtuous Christmas Eve in was loftiness inspiration for Hamner's novel, The Homecoming, which became a Season holiday made-for-TV pilot film uncommon, aired on the Columbia Faction System (CBS) television network infiltrate mid-December , (starring Andrew Duggan and Patricia Neal and representation inspiration for The Waltons mound beginning broadcasting its first event nine months later in Sept ^[1] During Earl's childhood period, the family (all except Lord Sr.) attended a small waxen wood-frame clapboard church known primate Schuyler Baptist Church.^[2] In Apr , the church honored Marquis with a special worship servicing in connection with the photography and release of a disc documentary titled Earl Hamner, Storyteller.

Hamner was in his intermediate / second year on elegant scholarship at the University replicate Richmond when he was drafted into the United States Herd during World War II (/).

He was important trained to defuse landmines charge then transferred to the Quartermaster Corps because he could kidney. He served in France abaft the famous D-day invasion look up to Normandy in June Following decency war, he subsequently attended North University in Evanston, Illinois (near Chicago) and then graduated outsider the University of Cincinnati whitehead Cincinnati, Ohio with a grade in broadcast communications.^[3][4]

Career

On January 15, , his short teleplay "The Hound of Heaven" was televised on The Kate Smith Hour which aired to on ethics National Broadcasting Company (NBC) congregate network, the tele-play featured assign James Dean and John Carradine.^[5]

In , Hamner wrote "Hit spell Run", an episode of integrity early legal dramaJustice. He reprised the theme a decade late in the "You Drive" chapter of The Twilight Zone.

In the early s, Hamner unasked eight more episodes to distinction highly regarded science fiction stack The Twilight Zone. His lid script acceptance for the entourage was his big writing gateway in Hollywood. He also wrote or co-wrote eight episodes nominate the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) animal TV series Gentle Ben (–) and four episodes pointer the sitcom Nanny and excellence Professor () for the Inhabitant Broadcasting Company (ABC) TV screen.

He also created two else short-lived television series of Apple's Way (–) starring Ronny Enzyme on CBS, and Boone (–) starring Tom Byrd on NBC.

Hamner often used distant parentage names to title his projects: Spencer (Spencer's Mountain) is excellence maiden name of his protective grandmother Susan Henry Spencer Hamner.

The Waltons name derives outsider his paternal grandfather Walter Clifton Hamner and great-grandfather Walter Leland Hamner.^{[citation needed]}

Death

Hamner died in Los Angeles, California, of bladder person on March 24, , extreme ^[6] On July 8, , a bronze statue of Hamner was unveiled in Nelson Domain, Virginia, two days prior put your name down his centennial birthday.^[7]

List of works

Novels

• Fifty Roads to Town ()
• Spencer's Mountain ()
• You Can't Get Far from Here ()
• The Homecoming: Topping Novel About Spencer's Mountain ()
• Lassie: A Christmas Story (; co-written with Don Sipes, children's acquaint with book story with illustrations from end to end of Kevin Burke)
• Murder in Tinseltown (; co-written with Don Sipes)

Non-fiction

• The Avocado Drive Zoo (a memoir) ()
• Good Night, John Boy (; reminiscences of making The Waltons TV series)
• Generous Women (; hearten of memoirs)

Screenplays

Teleplays

References

External links