> Shows > Heartland > About Bill Landry

About Bill Landry

Bill Landry is the voice, host/narrator, and co-producer of The Heartland Series, which airs on the NBC affiliate in Knoxville, Tennessee.  Since it began in 1984 in celebration of the people and the land of the Appalachian region, over 1,800 short features have been produced, including 150 half-hour episodes that air Saturday’s  as Heartland Tonight at 7:30 p.m., on WBIR-TV, Channel 10.

A graduate of Trinity University, the Dallas Theatre Center, with a Master of Fine Arts degree, and a BA in literature from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Bill has received 2 Emmy Awards for directing episodes of the Series.  The Series has won numerous national and international awards, including 5 Emmy Awards, 3 Iris Awards, and numerous outdoor, Civil War, history and media awards, and is generally regarded as the most highly awarded   local television program in the region’s history.    Bill has also received the “Education in Appalachia Award’ from Carson Newman College and an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Lincoln Memorial University.

Bill Landry has also written and performs his one-man play  Einstein The Man,  which he has been presented over 1,000 times in 38 states and 2 provinces of Canada.   In 2000, the script of  Einstein The Man was distributed throughout the state by the Tennessee by the Department of Education.  In 2003, his production of  The George Washington Carver Project  DVD – was distributed statewide as well, with an introduction by Governor, Phil Bredesen.

In association with The Great Smoky Mountain National Park,   Bill’s new, multi-media presentation “William Bartram – An Unlikely Explorer” about the life and adventures of  ‘Puc Puggy, The Flower Hunter,’ premiered during Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge, and is being presented to colleges, universities, and educational and theatrical organizations throughout the region.  In addition, Bill recently produced “Deep Roots of Sevier County” for the 100th Anniversary of the Sevier County Bank, and is also teaching a Theater/Media production course for Roane State Community College.

Bill will conclude his work on “The Heartland Series” in September 2009.  He would like to write a book about his adventures and  like Bilbo Baggins, after a bit of rest, continue new adventures.   He lives happily in Happy Valley near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with his wife, Becky.  They have three grown sons.