The real life John-Boy, Earl Hamner Jr., who created 'The Waltons,' dies at age 92 (2024)

FAQs

Is the real John-Boy Walton alive? ›

He was 92. Hamner died in Los Angeles and had recently been battling pneumonia, said Ray Castro Jr., a friend of Hamner's who produced a documentary, Earl Hamner Storyteller, about the writer. Castro said he learned about Hamner's death from the writer's daughter, Caroline.

The actor, now 71, embraces his early stardom on “The Waltons.”

They have been married for over 30 years. Nancy and Garnett are both retired and enjoy their time travelling, planting flowers and working in their backyard garden. Earl Henry Hamner, Sr. died in 1969 before The Waltons were created.

Real lives

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.

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.

He meets Janet Gilchrist who is an editor for Harper's magazine. The two are married on Walton's Mountain.

Setting. 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 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!

Thomas and Georgiana currently reside in Manhattan, New York. Two of their children (Montana and Kendra) also reside in New York City.

What happened to the real Erin Walton? ›

She kept acting after The Waltons.

After it ended, she continued acting in movies and on TV. She has appeared in small parts on a number of popular series, including The Love Boat, ER, Ally McBeal, The West Wing, Will&Grace, and many more. She also had a recurring role on The New Adventures of Old Christine.

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.

“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.

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 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.

71 years (13 June 1951)

Richard Thomas / Age

Walton's management of the family finances, including running Stawberry Hill, after her husband's death around 1855. There are, however, few items relating directly to plantation management or to the more than 100 slaves the Walton's owned.

NFL approves sale of Broncos: Walmart heir Rob Walton is now the NFL's richest owner by more than $40 billion.

Richard Thomas

Daisy had given birth to the little girl, Melissa, three years ago, and had put her up for adoption. Daisy and her mother had argued because Daisy had refused to marry the man she did not love. Melissa, however, had been raised by Daisy's mother.

When did Grandma Walton died on the show? ›

14 April 1999

Ellen Corby / Date of death

Open weekends in April thru December: Saturdays 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM and Sundays 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Group tours other times: Call 434-263-8400 www.oakland-museum.org.

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.

"I hope that you'll remember this house as I do," Earl Hamner narrates in the closing moments of the final episode of The Waltons.

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.

Learned, 81, was married four times. She and her first husband, actor Peter Donal, were divorced in 1972. That coincided with the first season of “The Waltons”. Meanwhile, Ralph Waite, had been divorced for six years before the start of the show.

Richard Thomas

American

Richard Thomas / Nationality

“The Waltons” ran for nine seasons and 221 episodes, ranking as high as No. 2 in the Nielsen ratings.

What illness did Olivia have on The Waltons? ›

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.

Learned reportedly decided to quit thinking she had enough money to sustain herself and her children but it proved otherwise in the future as she herself confessed. Michael Learned's exit from The Waltons was announced through tuberculosis of her character, Olivia Walton and her subsequent stay at the sanatorium.

Hamner's surviving three siblings — Paul Hamner, Nancy Hamner Jamerson and Audrey Hamner — were among the family members who attended the event in Schuyler — “right where it all started,” said Paul Hamner, who came in from New Jersey for the occasion.

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 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.

When it came time for pretty Erin Walton to get hitched on The Waltons, she was torn between two men. The eighth season episode "The Lost Sheep" starts with the military man Ashley Longworth Jr. coming up the mountain early one morning to ask for Erin's hand. She enthusiastically and immediately said yes.

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 Waltons Hamner House is open seven days a week and guided tours begin every half hour from 10am until 4pm.

The Walton family also had electricity and indoor plumbing, including a modern bathroom — a luxury my mother didn't have until she was much older.

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.

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.

Who owns The Waltons House? ›

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.

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.

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.

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.

The actor, now 71, embraces his early stardom on “The Waltons.”

When Robert Wightman was introduced as the new John-Boy on The Waltons, his face was covered in bandages, and he didn't speak in his first appearance.

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.

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.

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.

Where is Walton's Mountain in real life? ›

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. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that the Walton's Mountain Museum is located right here in Schuyler, VA.

Walton died on Sunday, April 5, 1992 (three months shy of Walmart's thirtieth anniversary), of multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in Little Rock, Arkansas. The news of his death was relayed by satellite to all 1,960 Walmart stores. At the time, his company employed 380,000 people.

Walton's three surviving children, Alice, Jim and Rob, daughter-in-law Christy and Christy's son, Lukas, own just under half the retailer, giving them a combined net worth of about $212 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

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.

Elizabeth Tyler Walton Cutler

Elizabeth (Kami Cotler) is the youngest child of John and Olivia Walton. She was born in fall 1927 and age 6 when the series began.