Harlan Ellison, writer and award-winning fiction writer, died at age 84

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The speculative fiction writer Harlan Ellison, who has written short stories, news and reviews, has contributed to television series including "The Outer Limits," "Star Trek "and" Babylon 5 ". An action in copyright infringement against ABC and Paramount and a settlement of a similar lawsuit against "The Terminator", is dead. He was 84 years old.

Christine Valada tweeted that Ellison's wife, Susan, had asked her to announce that he had died in his sleep on Thursday.

The prolific but cantankerous author wrote the episode "Star Trek" "City on the Edge" of Forever, "in which Kirk and Spock have to go back in time to the America of America. Time of the Depression to put the Earth's history back in its right path, a goal for Kirk who sacrifices the woman he loves (played by Joan Collins) .The final scenario was rewritten by Staff members of "Star Trek" to avoid the anti-war lesson that Ellison had intended to convey about the ongoing Vietnam War, leaving Ellison unhappy.

His 1995 book "The City on Forever: The Original The newscast that became the classic episode of Star Trek contained two versions of Ellison

The author was still talking about his experience more than four decades after the broadcast of the Episode: In 2009, Ellison sued CBS Paramount Television for merchandising revenue. of the episode; Ellison is fiercely independent, proudly elitist, often angry, tenacious and downright vengeful. "

the author," They must know that not everyone is afraid and will not back down … These people are not creators; they belong to the AAA – agents, lawyers and accountants. They are not comfortable with writers – they think we are crazy. "

In a separate case, Ellison earned $ 337,000 (later reduced in a settlement) from ABC and Paramount Studios in 1980 for copyright infringement on a short story that the company had. author had written with Ben Bova, "Brillo". Ellison and Bova had been asked to develop it at ABC, but the option had been dropped; Ellison then showed it to Par executives, who said they were not interested. ABC aired a remote toll produced by Par called "Future Cop" in May 1976 and later a brief series of the same name. The premise, about the first android policeman, was identical to that of "Brillo".

In the third controversial writer's win against Hollywood, Ellison sued James Cameron and others behind "The Terminator" of 1984, claiming that the film drew material in two episodes of the series The original "The Outer Limits", "Soldier" and "Demon with a Glass Hand", which he had written and broadcast in 1964. The production company Hemdale and the distributor Orion Pictures settled in the US. court outside. required under the terms of the settlement to recognize Ellison's work in the end credits of the film. Cameron, however, labeled Ellison "a parasite."

Curiously, Ellison had little sympathy for the others who sued for copyright infringement against the studios, telling The Times, "You must realize that there are hundreds claims and most of them are not valid.It is a city of amateurs …. You have to separate these people and their complaints from professionals who really work in writing and who have viable ideas. "

Born in Painesville, Ohio, Ellison grew up in the only Jewish family in a small town where he said he had to defend himself in physical altercations on a daily basis. During the 1950s Ellison attended Ohio State U. for 18 months, served in the army and began selling sci-fi stories to pulp tycoons.

He moved to California in 1962.

Ellison was fired at his first day of employment as a writer at Walt Disney Studios after making very irreverent suggestions about the company's beloved characters.

He wrote scripts for "Route 66", "Burke's Law" and "Voyage" at the bottom of the sea, "The Man From UNCLE" and even "The Flying Nun". For a 1964 episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "Memo From Purgatory", he adapted his own non-fiction memoir for joining a

Ellison also wrote the script for the sizzling Hollywood melodrama "The Oscar" , and the post-apocalyptic cult classic "A Boy and His Dog" (1975), starring a young Don Johnson, was based on Ellison was also editor of the influential science fiction anthologies "Dangerous Visions" and " Again Dangerous Visions ".

When he dealt with Hollywood, he said without fear what he thought again and again: often causing fallout as a result. Following the release of "Star Wars" in 1977, a director of Warner Bros. asked Ellison to adapt Isaac Asimov's collection of stories "I, Robot" to the big screen [19659002] Ellison wrote a screenplay and met with studio head Robert Shapiro to discuss it when the author concluded that the executive was commenting on his work without reading it, Ellison claimed to have told Shapiro that He had "the intellectual capacity of an artichoke". Needless to say, Ellison was dropped from the project. Ellison's work was eventually released with the studio's permission, but Will Smith's movie "I, Robot" was not based on the material that Ellison wrote.

Perhaps the most famous story of Ellison, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman, "who celebrates civil disobedience against a repressive institution." Repent "is one of the most reprinted stories ever

In September 2011, however, Ellison filed a lawsuit to block the release of the New Regency thriller "In Time", with Justin Timberlake, claiming the film is too close to "Repent," Then dropped the costume.In the early 1970s, Ellison created his only television series, The Starlost, produced in Canada He was so unhappy with the changes made by the producers that he took his name from the skein, which was released in 1973. [19659002] Ellison was a creative consultant for the company. 1980s edition of "The Twilight Zone", for which he wrote several episodes, and was a conceptual consultant for the science fiction series of the 1990s "Babylon 5." He also appeared in several episodes. Ellison has adapted his story "I do not have a mouth, and I have to shout" for the video game of this name. "Dreams With Sharp Teeth", a documentary centered on Ellison and his work, received a theatrical release in 2008. Ellison and Robin Williams were interviewed. Ellison has also appeared in other documentaries, including "Masters of the Art of Comics", "Shadows in Darkness: The Legacy of Val Lewton", "Brother Theodore" (2007) and "With Great Power: The Story of Stan Lee" (2010) In addition to numerous genre awards – including Hugos, Nebulas and Edgars – Ellison has received four WGA awards for his work on television and the Silver Pen for Journalism, awarded by the International Writers Union PEN, for its "An Edge in My Voice". "Column in LA Weekly Defending the Rights of the First Amendment."

Despite the congratulations that he accumulated, however, Ellison wrote a column for Variety in November 2013 in which he stated: "I do not hate all the prizes, I wish to see them decapitated, stakes in their black and corrupt hearts, and see the decapitated remains buried at a crossroads at midnight. "

Ellison has been married five times, with at least two of those marriages lasting only a few weeks – the survivors include his fifth wife, Susan Ann Toth.