Bio
Earl Hamner, Jr. is an American television writer and producer, best known for his work in the 1970s and 1980s on the long-running series The Waltons and Falcon Crest.
As a novelist, he is best known for the novel 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.
Hamner also served as the unseen narrator of The Waltons.
He based the cantankerous Walton family grandparents in the popular television series on his own maternal Italian-American grandparents, Ora Lee and A. Gianniny, an anglicized version of the Italian name "Giannini".
A recurring character named Connie Giannini (Carla Borelli) appeared on Falcon Crest.