Hollywood writer Earl Hamner
View Photo Gallery.
Earl Hamner, CCM '48, was creator, writer and narrator of the 1970s family-TV classic "The Waltons," an autobiographical series that aired for nine seasons and won him an Emmy. He was also the author of the novel "Spencer's Mountain," which later became a movie starring Henry Fonda; screenwriter of the original "Charlotte's Web" film; a screenwriter for the television show "The Twilight Zone;" and producer of the 1980s series "Falcon Crest." UC presented him with an Honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts degree when he served as commencement speaker in June 2008.

A member of UC’s first class of broadcasting graduates, Hamner was also on campus in 2004 to receive the Frederic Ziv Award for outstanding achievement from CCM’s electronic media division and in 2005 to participate in the UC Alumni Master’s Series. Various interviews, videos and a book excerpt of his follow:

Video: Dakota Fanning, Richard Thomas pay tribute to Earl Hamner

Video: Earl delivers commencement address

If you are having trouble viewing this video please visit the support page, here.
(Note: If you have already watched the tribure video at the top, you will want to skip the beginning of this video; simply drag the arrow button on the player to the middle of the scroll bar, where Earl’s address begins.)

Also read:

Earl Hamner’s “Twilight Zone” tale
Earl shares Hollywood insights with students
An insider’s look at hosting commencement speaker Hamner
 Hamner's complete commencement address (download pdf)
 Hamner’s take on values

Related Web sites:
Earl Hamner's official Web site
Order "The Twilight Zone Scripts of Earl Hamner"
All of Hamner’s film credits.
Lists of other famous UC alumni.
Hear the Waltons theme and audio clips from shows.