Bill Landry is the voice, host, narrator, and co-producer of The Heartland Series, which has aired on WBIR-TV for nearly thirty years. Since its beginnings in 1984, over 1,900 short features have been produced, including 150 half-hour specials. Bill has written, produced, and acted in many of the episodes.
Receiving an MFA from Trinity University at the Dallas Theater Center and a BA in literature from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Bill has gone on to receive two Emmy Awards for directing The Heartland Series, the Education in Appalachia Award from Carson-Newman University, and an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Lincoln Memorial University.
For over thirty years Bill has written, produced, and performed his one-man play, Einstein the Man. He has presented the play over 1,000 times in thirty-eight states and two provinces of Canada.
In 2009, Bill premiered his DVD production of William Bartram – An Unlikely Explorer for the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, which tells the tale of the little known eighteenth-century explorer, adventurer, and naturalist.
In 2011, Governor Bill Haslam appointed Landry to the Tennessee Historical Commission. Deeply rooted in the Appalachian region, Bill has served on the boards of Fish Hospitality Pantries, Beck Cultural Exchange, the Clarence Brown Theater, the Princess Theater Foundation in Harriman, and the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore, Tennessee. In 2011, his book, Appalachian Tales & Heartland Adventures was published by Celtic Cat Publishing, and is now in its third printing.
Bill works as a spokesman for WBIR-TV and for several other companies including Hallsdale Powell Utility District. He continues to write, direct, and produce video documentaries, and gives lectures and speeches, including his popular presentations of “An Evening with Bill Landry.”
Author of:
Appalachian Tales & Heartland Adventures
Stories from twenty-five years of the most successful East Tennessee TV show. The highly-acclaimed memoir by Bill Landry, the voice and face of The Heartland Series on WBIR, Channel 10. The book features 100 stories and 200 photographs about the Series.
Tellin’ It for the Truth
Bill Landry’s second collection features 16 stories, many of which have never been published. They include his longer favorite stories about a race riot and a life and death outdoor adventure.
Buddy: Dog of the Smoky Mountains
Buddy may be the best known dog in the Smoky Mountains. This is a story for everyone. Buddy demonstrates life’s lessons children of all ages can enjoy and appreciate. It’s the story of . . . well, a dog’s life of being a dog.