Earl Henry Hamner, Jr. (born July 10, 1923), is an American television writer and producer (sometimes credited as
Earl Hamner), best known for his work in the 1970s and 1980s on the long-running
CBS series
The Waltons and
Falcon Crest. As a novelist, he is best known for
Spencer's Mountain, which was inspired by his own childhood and formed the basis for both the film of the same name and the television series
The Waltons, for which he provided
voice-over narration.