Amos Stevens
New Member
Real-life 'Mary Ellen Walton' dies
Sister of 70s TV creator was 74
Thursday, November 25, 2004 Posted: 6:21 AM EST (1121 GMT)
WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia (AP) -- Marion Hamner Hawkes, a tomboy-turned-nurse who inspired the character of Mary Ellen on television's "The Waltons," has died following a long illness. She was 74.
Hawkes, who died Monday, was the sister of the show's creator, Earl Hamner Jr., who based the characters on his family and experiences growing up in rural Virginia during the Depression.
And just like the character in the show, Hawkes was the oldest daughter who was every bit as rough-and-tumble as her brothers.
Hawkes graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in nursing and spent years working in the field. Like Hawkes, the character of Mary Ellen also grew up to become a nurse.
"The Waltons," a ratings hit for CBS from 1972 to 1981, told the stories of a large, close-knit family in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains through the narrative of the oldest son, John Boy, an aspiring writer.
Over the years, thousands of "Waltons" fans trooped to the Nelson County town of Schuyler to visit Hamner's real-life boyhood home, which was the model for the one depicted in the show. Hamner eventually sold the home.
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Copyright 2004 The Associated Press
Sister of 70s TV creator was 74
Thursday, November 25, 2004 Posted: 6:21 AM EST (1121 GMT)
WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia (AP) -- Marion Hamner Hawkes, a tomboy-turned-nurse who inspired the character of Mary Ellen on television's "The Waltons," has died following a long illness. She was 74.
Hawkes, who died Monday, was the sister of the show's creator, Earl Hamner Jr., who based the characters on his family and experiences growing up in rural Virginia during the Depression.
And just like the character in the show, Hawkes was the oldest daughter who was every bit as rough-and-tumble as her brothers.
Hawkes graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in nursing and spent years working in the field. Like Hawkes, the character of Mary Ellen also grew up to become a nurse.
"The Waltons," a ratings hit for CBS from 1972 to 1981, told the stories of a large, close-knit family in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains through the narrative of the oldest son, John Boy, an aspiring writer.
Over the years, thousands of "Waltons" fans trooped to the Nelson County town of Schuyler to visit Hamner's real-life boyhood home, which was the model for the one depicted in the show. Hamner eventually sold the home.
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Copyright 2004 The Associated Press
