Earl Henry Hamner Jr. was 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 series The Waltons and Falcon Crest. As a novelist, he was best known for Spencer's Mountain, 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.