Marion Hawkes, 74; Inspired the Tomboy on ‘The Waltons’ TV Show

Marion Hamner Hawkes, 74, who inspired the strong, sometimes feisty tomboy character of Mary Ellen on television’s “The Waltons,” died of liver and kidney failure Monday at a hospice in Williamsburg, Va.

Hawkes was the sister of Earl Hamner Jr., the creator of “The Waltons” who based the show’s characters on his family and experiences growing up in rural Virginia during the Depression. The CBS series, co-starring Richard Thomas as aspiring writer John Boy, the close-knit family’s eldest son, ran from 1972 to 1981.

In the wake of the family-oriented show’s success, Hawkes published a cookbook of country-style recipes, created note cards with pictures of the Hamner family home in Schuyler, Va., and painted Blue Ridge Mountain landscapes on slates.

Hawkes graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in nursing. She worked briefly at the University of Virginia Hospital before joining her husband, Glenn Hawkes, a retired Army colonel and psychologist, on his military assignments around the country.

Hawkes, who worked occasionally as a nurse during those years, moved to Williamsburg with her husband about 10 years ago, and they worked as volunteer guides at the Colonial Williamsburg Information Center.