the real walton family
“There were eight of us. Tall, lean, fine-boned, red-headed youngsters growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia during the Depression. My father called us ‘his thoroughbreds,’ and put us on a pedestal. CBS called us The Waltons, and put us on television.” - Earl Hamner
Earl Hamner, Jr. - John-Boy Walton
The characters and the stories in The Waltons television series were not entirely fictional. Earl Hamner based the show on his memories of growing up during the Great Depression with his seven siblings in the Hamner House in Schuyler, Virginia. When he was a young man, dreaming of becoming a writer, a magazine editor, Mina Barton, advised him to write about something from the heart that he was passionate about. She told him to "Write about what you know!" Earl followed this advice throughout his career as an author and a screenwriter. Perhaps, The Waltons is still popular fifty years after its creation because it was written from the heart about real people and events.
Once, when asked if he was John-Boy Walton, Earl Hamner replied that he and John-Boy had many similarities in their lives. He said that: they both grew up in the rural Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia; they were both the eldest sons of large families of modest means; and they both were writers who as young men wanted to see the horizons beyond which they had spent their formative years. He said that John-Boy's parents had instilled values in him like faith, hard work, and devotion to family and friends. Earl Hamner concluded his answer by saying, "I like to think there is a little bit of John-Boy in all of us."
Once, when asked if he was John-Boy Walton, Earl Hamner replied that he and John-Boy had many similarities in their lives. He said that: they both grew up in the rural Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia; they were both the eldest sons of large families of modest means; and they both were writers who as young men wanted to see the horizons beyond which they had spent their formative years. He said that John-Boy's parents had instilled values in him like faith, hard work, and devotion to family and friends. Earl Hamner concluded his answer by saying, "I like to think there is a little bit of John-Boy in all of us."
The Hamner Siblings and their walton counterparts
Marion Hamner - Mary Ellen Walton
James Hamner - Jim Bob Walton
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Clifton Hamner - Jason Walton
Bill and Paul Hamner - Ben Walton
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Audrey Hamner - Erin Walton
Nancy Hamner - Elizabeth Walton
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the hamner and walton parents
Doris Giannini Hamner - Olivia Walton
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Earl Hamner, Sr. - John Walton
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"My mother and father were very much as I have portrayed them. 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." - Earl Hamner