An Exclusive Interview with Earl Hamner, Jr. (2024)
Though many know Earl Hamner as the voice of the older, more mature John-Boy heard at the beginning of every episode of The Waltons, Hamner’s ties to the much-loved series go deeper. In fact, they go down to its very roots. As the creator and writer of the show, he based the characters of the Walton family members, neighbors, tradespeople and the town itself on his own life and family growing up in Schuyler, Virginia during the Depression era.
“My mother and father were very much as I have portrayed them,” he says, “My mother was very religiously oriented. But my father was a self-confessed heathen. And yet they had a wonderful marriage, there was a great deal of love between them.”
Schuyler was a company town. Most of the residents rented small houses from the soapstone quarry where they were employed, including Hamner’s father, a gruff, but loving man whose home-spun wisdom far exceeded his classroom education.
“My father only went to school up until the second grade then he had to start work to help support his family. My grandfather had infantile paralysis, so my father had to help the family. He was rough-hewn but he was wise, and I use this in one of the episodes,” Hamner says, “When I left home, my father felt he had to give me a ‘son and father’ lecture. So he took me aside, and he said, and these are his very words, ‘Son, when you’re away from here, look every man straight in the eye, pay all debts, and don’t run with bad women.’ That was my father.”
Though his parents did not have the opportunity to pursue higher education, they took school very seriously.
“Actors have the ability to give you great gifts, and Ralph’s gift to me was his image of my father.”
“My mother was a little better educated. She had graduated from high school, and she used to help each of us with our homework. We sat around the kitchen table, and each kid did their homework, and she helped them. She said later because of eight children, she had been to high school eight times!” Hamner laughs at the memory.
In addition to the Walton characters, other roles, such as the “recipe-making” Baldwin sisters and General Store owner, Ike Godsey were also inspired by real people. The Baldwin sisters were loosely based on a mother-daughter duo that was well-known in Hamner’s family because “they had a love of alcohol.” Hamner changed the relationship, gave them sweet personalities and made them a bit loftier and more elegant than their down-home, real-life counterparts.
“But there were two ladies who were bootleggers, but being a writer, I romanticized them considerably.”
A clerk at a store down the road from the Hamner home gave life to the character of Ike Godsey. The store, though rebuilt after a fire destroyed it in the early 90s still pays homage to the series that made it famous.
Hamner says, “It’s a little filling station that also supplies groceries and things to local folks. They have a big sign outside saying, ‘Ike Godsey’s country store.’ It’s become a tourist stop. People often go by there. And they usually end up having an ice cream cone and soft drinks. I’m happy because it brings some income to the area.”
Another fan attraction to Schuyler, Virginia is Walton’s Mountain Museum, housed in the high school from which Hamner graduated. According to their website, they host as many as 90,000 guests in a year from 50 states and 20 foreign countries. So Hamner’s hopes for bringing income to his home town seem to be coming true.
For many who watched The Waltons during its original run and, now on INSP, the Walton family represented family life based on love, values and morals with a good deal of humor and compassion. Even in the face of dire economic times, the family and community supported each other through hardship, disappointment and tragedy and joinedtogether to celebrate the happy occasions, the triumphs, no matter how small.
Hamner says the atmosphere on the set was exactly like that of one big extended family. He tells the story of the child actors and a certain grandmother.
“They thought of themselves as brothers and sisters, and I’ll never forget Ellen Corby, the grandmother, who off-camera was grandma, as well. I remember her very well shouting to one of the children, ‘Stop that running on the set! You’re gonna fall over a cable and kill yourself!’”
He and the cast have built close personal relationships over the years. They keep in touch and reunite regularly for fan events and special occasions such as weddings and births. The most recent gathering, however, was a sad one, as they attended the memorial service for Ralph Waite, who played John Walton, Sr. Hamner felt a kinship with Waite. They were friends, and they touched each other’s lives on more levels than just that of actor and writer.
“He was a very deep man, a very gifted actor. Actors have the ability to give you great gifts, and Ralph’s gift to me was his image of my father.”
Hamner goes on to say that Waite was able to grasp his father’s rough-hewn quality and simultaneously imbue the character of John Walton, Sr. with sensitivity, allowing him to love and guide his family and to support his wife.
“Ralph was able to portray a man he never met, but with such sympathy and yet with restraint…He was human, and I think Ralph projected that quality so beautifully.”
With Waite’s death memories of another deeply-felt loss resurfaced for Hamner.
“We were friends as well as actors, and when he died,” Hamner says, “I felt, in a way, that my father…” He pauses briefly, “I had lost my father again.”
While Waite gave Hamner the gift of seeing his father in the character of John Walton, Sr., Hamner, in turn, gave his father and a loving family to people worldwide with “The Waltons.” At 90, he still writes every day and is currently working on a stage version of his book, Spencer’s Mountain.
Earl Hamner lived through some of the hardest times this country has known. He pursued his passion and achieved a successful Hollywood career, yet there are no airs about him. He speaks eloquently, with humility, from the heart, the words of a writer.
“I had such a good life. “With the exception of the loss of friends and family, I’ve had no real sadness, and I’ve been an affirmative person. I think if I had any great contribution to [The Waltons] it has been an affirmative, loving positive approach to life.”
In addition to the Walton characters, other roles, such as the “recipe-making” Baldwin sisters and General Store owner, Ike Godsey were also inspired by real people.
People have been asking for more than four decades if "the family is real" and "is there a 'real' Walton's Mountain?" The answer is yes. Though the names might be different Earl Hamner based the show on his memories of growing up in rural Virginia with his family during the depression.
The series was based upon the book "Spencer's Mountain" by Earl Hamner Jr., who also narrated each show. While the television series took place on a fictional "Walton's Mountain," in Virginia, and the book on "Spencer's Mountain" in Wyoming, both are actually based on Hamner's hometown of Schuyler, VA.
The love stories carried over behind the scenes. Ma and Pa Walton — Ralph Waite and Michael Learned — quietly fell on love on set. And remember Jason and Toni, who we just mentioned in the prior paragraph? Well, actors Jon Walmsley and Lisa Harrison tied the knot in real life in 1979!
All of the Waltons were based on real people — Hamner's family, his grandfather and grandmother, his father and mother, and his brothers and sisters, of whom there were seven in the show but eight in real life.
Popularly known as The Waltons House, the Hamner House is the childhood home of Earl Hamner, Jr., novelist and creator of the TV series, The Waltons and was listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2004. The Walton Hamner House is open seven days a week and guided tours begin every half hour from 10am until 4pm.
ANSWER: Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) married Dr. Curtis Willard in the 1977 season, and they had a baby. Then Curt was killed at Pearl Harbor in the 1978 season, and Mary Ellen found new love with Arlington Wescott "Jonesy" Jones (Richard Gililand) while taking premed courses.
Elizabeth breaks both legs in a fall from a log pile. When she comes home from the hospital, the family must adjust to her injuries and devise ways to help her walk again, something the Doctors aren't sure she'll be able to do.
The new owners, Carole Johnson of Ukiah, California, Ray Castro of New Jersey, and Kirstin DeMaio of Michigan, plan to open it up for tours. The Waltons Hamner House opens Friday and tickets will be available at the Walton Mountain Museum across the street.
“Many of the places mentioned on the series actually do exist in Schuyler.” While filmed on location in California, the fictional Walton family would have been at home in the tiny town of about 300 residents 40 minutes southwest of Charlottesville, Va., in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
In the foothills of the lovely old Blue Ridge Mountains… … Lies the small town of Schulyer, Virginia, home of the Hamner family – the real-life family on which the Waltons were based. The mountain town of Schuyler is home to about 400 residents, and there the two-story Hamner family home still stands.
Studios that destroyed the farmhouse used in the TV series The Waltons was set by an arsonist, according to Burbank, Calif., fire officials. Burn patterns indicated that a flammable substance was splashed around a chicken coop on the set and inside the house, an arson investigator said Wednesday.
In The Waltons episode "The Revelation," John-Boy proposes to his girlfriend Daisy, and when she said yes, it was a real moment on the show. But by the episode's end, Daisy has called off the wedding, and the next time we see her, Daisy is just an old flame to John-Boy, never to be rekindled.
Michael Learned (born April 9, 1939) is an American actress, known for her role as Olivia Walton in the long-running CBS drama series The Waltons (1972–1981). ...
Michael Learned
Learned in a publicity photo as Olivia Walton, 1972
They reprised their roles as the Baldwin sisters for TV movies A Walton Wedding (1995) and A Walton Easter (1997). Helen Kleeb passed away just shy of her 97th birthday in late December, 2003. Two years later, Mary Jackson died shortly after her 95th birthday in December of 2005.
Ellen Corby (Grandma) 1999 age 87 natural causes in Woodland Hills, CA. Dorothy Stickney (Miss Emily) 1998 age 101 at her home in NYC. Cleavon Little (Hawthorne Dooley) 1992 age 53 of colon cancer in Sherman Oaks, CA. Woodrow Parfrey (Ike Godsey) 1984 at age 61 of a heart attack in LA.
Ralph Waite was fired from his role due to budgetary issues. The show had become more expensive as Waite aged, and at the same time the ratings started to decline.
Audrey Hamner, on whom the character of Erin is based, lives in Vinton, Virginia, and has retired as a Donor Resources Consultant with the American Red Cross. She has five children and six grandchildren. The model for Ben Walton came from two brothers. Bill Hamner (l) died in 1989.
Photo Source www.DelsJourney.com. Here's "Ike Godsey's General Merchandise" (known in real life as the S&H Grocery Store). Unfortunately, it burned down a few years later, though a new store has sprung up in its place. Photo Source www.DelsJourney.com.
Outside of acting, Thomas is a happily married family man in his hometown of New York. He has a son, Montana, with his wife Georgiana Bischoff and four children from his first marriage to Alma Gonzales -- Richard Francisco, Pilar, Barbara, and Gwyneth.
Wal-Mart heir and philanthropist John T. Walton died Monday in Wyoming, when the experimental, ultra-light aircraft he was piloting crashed, the Associated Press reports.
More recently, he recurred as Deputy Director Van Cleef on NCIS: New Orleans and as Bodie Lord on Tell Me Your Secrets. He also narrated The Waltons' Homecoming.
Mary Ellen marries Dr. Curtis Willard and they have 1 child, John Curtis, before he is lost and presumed dead after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Eventually she remarries Arlington Westcott Jones "Jonesy" and together they have 2 children, Clay and Katie.
The final episode, titled “The Revel,” aired on June 4, 1981. In the episode, John-Boy goes to New York to pursue his writing career but arrives to find that his manuscript has been rejected. His publisher's secretary gives him enough money to return home and advises him to start a new book.
Olivia is leaving Walton's Mountain, hustled off with tuberculosis to an Arizona sanatorium while her family somehow forges a path between unbearable grief and unbearable stoicism.
The top 10 richest families in 2022 by estimated wealth are: The Waltons with $212 billion24. The Mars family with $142 billion. The Kochs with $124 billion.
The character Jim Bob had one ambition: to learn to fly an airplane. While he was medically unfit for the Air Corps, in the final movies he had indeed become a pilot, flying crop dusting and charter flights. The only sibling on the series who had his own room in the house was John-Boy.
Earl Hamner Jr., creator of the hit CBS-TV series The Waltons, attended Richmond College during Boatwright's tenure, and named the fictional Boatwright University where the character of John-Boy Walton attended college after him.
The Waltons are the richest family in America thanks to their stake in Walmart, the world's largest retailer by sales. About half of Walmart's stock is held by seven heirs of founders Sam Walton (d. 1992) and his brother James "Bud" (d. 1995).
The main story is set in Walton's Mountain, a fictional mountain community in the fictitious Jefferson County, Virginia. The real place upon which the stories are based is the community of Schuyler in Nelson County, Virginia.
The original truck is housed in the Walmart Heritage Museum in Bentonville. The museum's director, Alan Dranow, called Walton's truck a “symbol of humility” and frugality.
Interiors for The Waltons were filmed on Stage 26 and Stage 20 of The Warner Bros. Studio which was known during the original series as The Burbank Studios.
The house will have a similar porch and first floor as the home portrayed in the popular '70s TV show, said Ray Castro, who co-owns the Waltons Hamner House with Carole Johnson, both long-time fans of the show.
On their honeymoon, Mary Ellen is in a car accident, where she undergoes serious internal injuries and is told she will never be able to have children. Two movies later, in "A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion," Mary Ellen is the mother of two young children.
Just outside the Hamner front door is The Walton's Mountain Bed and Breakfast Country Store. This is the building that the Walton's garden shed is modeled after where John -Boy would write and print The Blue Ridge Chronicle. Earl Hamner used it himself.
Ellen Corby died in 1999, but she is remembered as Grandma Walton on the hit television show, The Waltons. Her work on the show earned her three Emmy awards. Yet her career almost ended in 1976 after a stroke that left her with aphasia.
A stroke in 1977 forced Ms.Corby to curtail her work on the series. She was seen only occasionally and made her last appearance in 1979, although she was part of the 1997 special ''A Waltons Easter.
Based on the author's own family background and childhood experiences, and the basis for the classic motion picture featuring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara, Spencer's Mountain is a moving celebration of familial love and commitment in the face of overwhelming odds.
Ronnie Claire Edwards (February 9, 1933 – June 14, 2016) was an American actress, best known for playing Corabeth Walton Godsey on the TV series The Waltons. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. Dallas, Texas, U.S. ... Television.
Edwards joined the series near the end of season three as the cousin of John (Ralph Waite), coming to Walton's Mountain after the death of her character's mother. Corabeth eventually married Ike Godsey (Joe Conley), and they adopted a daughter.
Henry Fonda plays Clay Spencer, one of nine children who have grown up on a mountain homesteaded by their father. His dream is to build a home on the mountain for his family, wife Olivia (Maureen O'Hara), and their nine children.
“Many of the places mentioned on the series actually do exist in Schuyler.” While filmed on location in California, the fictional Walton family would have been at home in the tiny town of about 300 residents 40 minutes southwest of Charlottesville, Va., in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
In the foothills of the lovely old Blue Ridge Mountains… … Lies the small town of Schulyer, Virginia, home of the Hamner family – the real-life family on which the Waltons were based. The mountain town of Schuyler is home to about 400 residents, and there the two-story Hamner family home still stands.
In The Waltons episode "The Revelation," John-Boy proposes to his girlfriend Daisy, and when she said yes, it was a real moment on the show. But by the episode's end, Daisy has called off the wedding, and the next time we see her, Daisy is just an old flame to John-Boy, never to be rekindled.
Always trying to find new ways to earn sales from his customers he also runs the post office, a pool hall and a barber shop out of the store. When he suffered a heart attack the Walton children took shifts running his store while he recuperated. Ike would marry John Walton's cousin Corabeth.
Introduction: My name is Edwin Metz, I am a fair, energetic, helpful, brave, outstanding, nice, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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