The-Waltons: The Two John-Boys - Earl Hamner and Richard Thomas (2024)

As A young man growing up in Schuyler Virginia, Earl Hamner dreamed of becoming awriter. He felt a desire, perhaps a need, to put to paper his feelings and experiencesliving in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the Depression. The life of that young manbecame the basis for John-Boy, the central character of The Walton's.

Earl left home right after high school to attend The University of Richmond. Armyservice called him away, but during and after his tour of duty he continued his studiesconcluding with work at Northwestern University and graduation from The University ofCincinnati. His broadcast production career began at WMBG, a Richmond radio station. Earleventually moved to New York City to work at NBC Radio and to complete his first novel:"Fifty Roads to Town", which was published in 1953. Earl met his wife, Jane, inNew York while she was an editor for Harper's Bazaar. They have two children: Scott andCaroline.

Other novels followed and the best seller "Spencer's Mountain" was made intoa Warner Brothers film starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. His next novel, 'You Can'tGet There From Here", was selected by Broadway's Richard Rogers who was working onthe musical version of the novel at the time of his death.

Earl worked in live television during its Golden Age, and when the industry moved fromNow York to California, Earl and his family moved there too, in 1961. He wrote episodesfor many of the free lance markets including "The Twilight Zone" and "CBSPlayhouse." He became active in feature films and was selected by E.B. White to writethe film adaptation of "Charlotte's Web." His other film credits include"Where The Lilies Bloom" and "Palm Springs Weekend."

"The Homecoming" was published in 1970 and became the basis for the belovedCBS Christmas special starring Richard Thomas, Patricia Neal and Edger Bergen. In theprocess of searching for the right casting, Earl, his Executive Producer Lee Rich, andProducer Robert Jacks viewed the Hal Wallis film: "Red Sky At Morning". Thatfilm starred the talented and sensitive young actor Richard Thomas, who caught theirAttention for the role of John-Boy. Richard was busy studying poetry and Chinese atColumbia University but was persuaded to do the two hour Christmas special which led tothe highly successful TV series.

Richard Earl Thomas was born in New York City in 1951 to highly talented parents. Hisfather, who was raised in Paintsville, Kentucky, pursued a career in ballet and dancedwith the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and his mother studied with the Royal Ballet ofLondon. He grew up attending private schools in New York where his parents danced for theNow York City Ballet. Richard's own show business career began at the age of seven when heplayed John Roosevelt, son of F.D.R., in a Broadway production of "Sunrise AtCampobello" His television career also began in the late 1950's with appearances onHallmark HaII of Fame, Dupont Show of the Month, Armstrong Circle Theatre and severaldaytime serials.

Richard Thomas became a nationally recognized actor through his portrayal of John-BoyWalton, a part fashioned after the real life of Earl Hamner. These two highly gifted mencombined their talents to create a unique character in what Americans have voted as theirfavorite family. In 1972, Richard won an Emmy for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series. Twoyears later, Earl received an Emmy for his writing in the series. After five seasons,Richard Thomas left the Waltons to pursue other interests.

He has devoted much of his time to motion pictures for television. These include:"The Red Badge of Courage," "The Silence," "Roots: The SecondGeneration," "All Quiet On The Western Front," "Go Towards TheLight," and the HBO mini-series, "Glory-Glory." In the early 1980's, hestarred in four successive television films: a remake of "Johnny Belinda", inwhich he played the role created by Lew Ayers in the original motion picture; cableversions of "5th of July" and Neil Simon's "Barefoot In The Park;" andthe title role in "Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story," which he alsoco-produced.

Two volumes of Richard's poetry have been published by Avon Books and he is at work onthe third.

During this time, Earl wrote and produced the series "Apple's Way,""Boone," "Thorpe," "The Young Pioneers,""Morningstar/Eveningstar," and "The Long Hot Summer." In a totalchange of pace from gentle family fare, Earl wrote and produced the pilot for "FalconCrest," the study of a rich and ruthless family of vintners in California's NapaValley. When asked how he came to write a show so different from the Waltons, EarlExplained, "My family first came to Virginia because Thomas Jefferson wanted to starta wine industry. His neighbor, Philip Mazzei, imported four Italian grape growers from atown called Lucca in Tuscany. When the vines wouldn't grow, three of the Italians wentback, but the one that stayed, Giannini, became my forbearer. Since I had wine in mybackground, I bought a vineyard near Sacramento. I thought I could write a series usingthe wine industry as my setting. I intended to tell the same kind of stories I told on TheWaltons of family life and involvement, but CBS said they didn't need a show for 8 o'clockbut something more adult. I revised my innocent approach and created stories aboutavarice, lust, ambition and manipulation. The series, starring Jane Wyman, enjoyed asuccessful run of eight years on CBS.

The 1990's began at a record pace for Richard Thomas. He appeared on stage in New Yorkin the world premier of Steven Tesich's "Square One", three movies fortelevision; co-starring with Stacey Keach in "Mission Of the Shark," "YesVirginia, There is A Santa Claus" and "Crash Landing: The Rescue Of Flight232." 1992 found Richard at the Alley Theatre in Houston starring in Robert Wilson's"Death of Danton" and the CBS Television movie "I Love You To Death: theLaura Black Story." He starred in the ABC television movie "Death In SmallDoses" (1995), the USA Network film "Linda" and the CBS Network movie,"What Love Sees (1996)."

Ben Brantley, in 1993 writing for the New York Times, said of Richard Thomas' titlerole in the Shakespeare Theatre's production of "Richard II", "Surely, noRichard II has ever given up the throne of England with quite the deviltry or vigor thatRichard Thomas brings to that Shakespeare production....lt is to Mr. Thomas' credit thathe makes the part so distinctly his own, with a fiery style that should rightfully banishforever the ghost of the gentle John-Boy Walton. John-Boy playing Richard II or Hamlet?Yes indeed! A highly respected actor who consistently aligns himself with qualityprojects, Richard Thomas moves with equal ease from stage to television to films, and asNewsday stated, "he has become one of his generation's most versatile and prolificperformers."

Much to the delight of Waltons fans everywhere, Earl and Richard have been reunited inthree Waltons Specials, "A Waltons Thanksgiving Reunion," "A WaltonWedding" and "A Walton's Easter." Off camera, there is open admiration andrespect between them and it is obvious that their friendship had spanned the years.Richard said he was thrilled at doing the sequels and being reunited with the castmembers. He believes the Waltons was and still is unique in television and a forerunner offamily oriented programing.

Richard and his second wife, Georgiana, were married in 1994. They recently celebratedthe birth of their first child. Richard's children: Richard Francisco and identicaltriplet daughters; Barbara, Gwyneth and Pilar; and Georgy's children: Brook and Kendrawere in attendance. The baby was named Montana James Thomas after Richard's grandfather.

This has been a momentous time for Earl Hamner. His fifth book, "The HollywoodZoo" will be published soon, and he is working on several other projects. TheWalton's Mountain Museum was recently dedicated to the memory of his parents. After yearsof reluctance he had finally agreed to produce the recent Waltons Specials. Each one hascaptured an audience of over 20 million viewers. The 6,000 fans who attended the openingof the Walton's Mountain Museum proved to him that the interest, perhaps the need, wasthere for more of the Waltons. He was deeply moved that day and is delighted that so manypeople feel so much affection for the family that he created twenty-five years ago. Hehopes these new episodes are of value to the fans of the show and that the American peoplewill continue to enjoy stopping in at Walton's Mountain and renewing old friendships.

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