Sci-Fi Writer Was 84 – Variety

The speculative fiction writer Harlan Ellison, who has written short stories, news and reviews, has appeared on television series including "The Outer Limits," "Star Trek" and "Babylon 5". and a settlement in a similar lawsuit on "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 step back in time to America's Great Depression to put the Earth's history back on track, a goal that for Kirk means sacrificing the woman he loves (played by Joan Collins) The final script was rewritten by "Star Trek" staff members to avoid the anti-war lesson that Ellison had intended to convey about the ongoing Vietnam War, leaving Unhappy Ellison

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 from his experience more than four decades after the broadcast of the episode: In 2009, Ellison sued CBS Paramoun t Television in search of merchandising revenue. of the episode; a settlement was reached six months later.

In Relation

The author of a 1980 LA Times profile stated: "Ellison is fiercely independent, proudly elitist, often angry, tenacious and downright vengeful."

Speaking of the Hollywood establishment, Ellison told the author: "They 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 has earned $ 337,000 (later reduced in a settlement) from ABC and Paramount Studios in 1980 for copyright infringement on a short story that the author had written with Ben Bova, "Brillo Ellison and Bova had been asked to develop it at ABC, but the option had been dropped, and Ellison later showed it to Par executives, who said they did not want it. ABC released a coin-operated electronic service called "Future Cop" in May 1976 and later a short series of the same name. roid, was identical to that in "Brillo".

In the third win of the controversial writer against Hollywood, Ellison sued James Cameron and others behind "The Terminator" of 1984, claiming that the film was shooting material in two episodes of the original series "The Outer Limits", "Soldier" and "Demon With a Glass Hand" that he had written and broadcast in 1964. The production company Hemdale and the distributor Orion Pictures have settled the terms amicably 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 base. 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.

He wrote scripts for "Route 66", "Burke's Law" and "Travel at the bottom of the sea "," The Man "(19659002). D'UNCLE "and even" The Flying Nun. "For a 1964 episode" The Alfred Hitchcock Hour "," Memo From Purgatory ", he adapted his own non-fiction memoir to joining a street gang in Brooklyn.

The storyline of one Hollywood's scorching "Oscar" melodrama and the post-apocalyptic cult classic "A Boy and His Dog" (1975), starring a young Don Johnson, was based on a novel by Ellison

of the highly influential sci-fi anthology s "Dangerous Visions" and "Still Dangerous Visions."

When he dealt with Hollywood, he said without fear exactly what he still thought and again – often causing spin-offs as a result.As a result of the release of "Star Wars" in 1977, a director of Warner Bros. asked Ellison to adapt Isaac Asimov's collection of stories. " I, Robot "on the big screen

Ellison wrote a script and met with studio head Robert Shapiro to discuss 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.

The most famous story of Ellison has not been adapted to the screen. ! Said the Ticktockman, "who celebrates civil disobedience against a repressive institution." Repent "is one of the most reprinted stories of all time.

In September 2011, however, Ellison filed a lawsuit for block the release of New Regency's "In Time" thriller with Justin Timberlake, claiming that the film was 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 years edition 1980 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 has also appeared in several episodes. In 1995, Ellison adapted his story "I do not have a mouth, and I have to scream" for the video game of that 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 to Defend 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 just do I hate all the rewards shows, I wish to see them beheaded, stakes run through their black and corrupt hearts, and see the beheaded remains buried at a crossroads at midnight. "

Ellison has been married five times, with at least two such marriages lasting only weeks or months." Survivors include his fifth wife, Susan Ann Toth.