'Twilight Zone' and 'Waltons' illustrate alum's creative genius

From writing scripts for "The Twilight Zone" to creating and narrating "The Waltons," Earl Hamner is a man whom millions of people know from his creative works. The electronic-media graduate has a great fondness for UC, and his alma mater has reciprocated the admiration by recognizing his achievements in several ways.

From this page, you can jump to several features on Hamner, photos, videos and an excerpt from one of his "Twilight Zone" scripts.

Brief bio

Earl Hamner, CCM '48, HonDoc '08, is the 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.

Video: Documentary on Hamner's life

As shown at 2008 commencement