George Clayton Johnson

George Clayton Johnson

Johnson in 2006
Born July 10, 1929
Cheyenne, Wyoming, US
Occupation Draftsman, telegraph operator, writer
Period 1959–present
Genre Science fiction
Notable works Logan's Run

George Clayton Johnson (born July 10, 1929 in Cheyenne, Wyoming) is an American science fiction writer most famous for co-writing the novel Logan's Run with William F. Nolan (basis for the 1976 film). He is also known for his work in television, writing screenplays for such noted series as The Twilight Zone, such as "Nothing in the Dark", "Kick the Can", "A Game of Pool" and "A Penny for Your Thoughts", and Star Trek, the first aired episode of the series, "The Man Trap". He also wrote the story on which the 1960 and 2001 films Ocean's Eleven were based. His work has appeared in numerous anthologies by editors such as Dennis Etchison, Jason V Brock, and Christopher Conlon. He was the proprietor of Cafe Frankenstein, and co-created the comic book series Deepest Dimension Terror Anthology with cartoonist Jay Allen Sanford for Revolutionary Comics, which adapted his stories from The Twilight Zone (including unproduced teleplays) and stories by his friends and contemporaries such as Larry Niven, Robert Bloch, and Dennis Etchison.

Biography

Born in a barn, he had to repeat the sixth grade and dropped out of school entirely in the eighth. He briefly served as a telegraph operator then draftsman in the United States Army, enrolled at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) under the G.I. Bill, quit to return to his travels around the U.S., working as a draftsman, before becoming a writer.

In 1960 the first story Johnson ever wrote served as the basis for the Rat Pack movie Ocean's 11, although most of the details were changed for the film. He joined the Southern California School of Writers that included Theodore Sturgeon, William F. Nolan, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury. Through them he met Rod Serling, to whom he sold his first story ("All of Us Are Dying", produced as "The Four of Us Are Dying") and, later, his first teleplay ("A Penny for Your Thoughts").

For me, fantasy must be about something, otherwise it's foolishness... ultimately it must be about human beings, it must be about the human condition, it must be another look at infinity, it must be another way of seeing the paradox of existence.
—George Clayton Johnson quoted in The Twilight Zone Companion

Filmography

Twilight Zone episodes

George Clayton Johnson wrote the following stories for The Twilight Zone series:

The Lost Twilight Zone episode

In 1960, George Clayton Johnson submitted a story to The Twilight Zone called "Sea Change" which was purchased by Rod Serling. The premise of the story was, "Off the coast of California, there's a man in a boat. Through an accident his hand is cut off. Miraculously, he re-grows a new hand. But what he doesn't realize is that out there in the kelp beds, the hand is re-growing a new man..."

Serling planned to produce "Sea Change" for the 1960 season, but General Mills, a sponsor for The Twilight Zone at the time, rejected it for being too violently graphic. Serling was then forced to call Johnson and ask him to buy the story back (for $500.00), which Johnson did. "Sea Change" is currently under option to Chas Holloway who plans to produce it in 2014.

Star Trek episode

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Film appearances

Charles Beaumont: The Life of Twilight Zone's Magic Man (As himself. JaSunni Productions, LLC, 2009. Directed by Jason V Brock.)

The AckerMonster Chronicles! (As himself. JaSunni Productions, LLC, 2012. Directed by Jason V Brock.)

"The Twilight Zone; The Definitive Edition, Vols 1 through 5" (As himself. Published by Image Entertainment, Produced and Directed by Chas Holloway)

Bibliography

Fiction collections

All of Us Are Dying and Other Stories (Subterranean Press, 1999).

Anthologies in which Johnson's fiction has appeared

The Ring of Truth (Featured in Drastic Measures Anthology, Blueberry Lane Books, 2010).[1]

References

  1. ↑ http://thehorrificallyhorrifyinghorrorblog.com/2012/01/04/drastic-measures-exclusive/

External links