Television scriptwriter, born in Syracuse, New York, USA. He studied at Antioch College, then began writing radio scripts before securing a radio staff job in Cincinnati. The author of over 200 television plays, he first wrote for television in 1951, and won the first of six Emmy Awards for Patterns (1955). He created, wrote, and hosted the popular anthology series The Twilight Zone (195964) and Night Gallery (19703), and frequently narrated documentaries on scientific and nature subjects.
| Rodman Edward Serling | |
|---|---|
| Rod Serling | |
| Born |
December 25, 1924 Syracuse, New York, USA |
| Died |
June 28, 1975 Rochester, New York, USA |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
| Spouse | Carol Serling (1948-1975) (his death) |
Rodman "Rod" Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, most famous for his science fiction anthology series The Twilight Zone. Serling later became a novelist), he was born in Syracuse, New York to Samuel and Esther Serling, but was raised in Binghamton, New York, where he later graduated Binghamton High School.
Military service
Rod Serling served as a U.S. Army paratrooper and demolition specialist with the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, U.S. 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific Theater in World War II from January 1943 to January 1945.
Due to his wartime experiences, Serling suffered from nightmares and flashbacks for the rest of his life. Though he was rather short (5'4") and slight, Serling was also a noted boxer during his military days .
Early writing career
Upon leaving the military, Serling entered Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Biographers note that through his career, Serling was inspired by legendary radio and TV playwright Norman Corwin.
In 1951, Serling started to break into television by writing scripts for Fireside Theater, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Lux Video Theater, Kraft Television Theatre, Suspense and Studio One.
In 1955, Kraft Television Theatre presented another of Serling's scripts, the seventy-second to make it to air. The show was Patterns and it changed Rod Serling's life. The installment's producer, Martin Manulis, noted for a PBS biography of Serling that after the live broadcast, CBS chairman William S. The show's director, Ralph Nelson, wrote and directed a television drama four years later for the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse about mounting Requiem for a Heavyweight called The Man in the Funny Suit, in which Serling appeared as himself.
But tired of seeing his scripts neutered and mangled (removing any political statements, ethnic identities, even the Chrysler Building being removed from a script sponsored by Ford), Serling decided the only way around this interference was to create his own show.
The Twilight Zone
In 1959, CBS aired the first episode of a groundbreaking series, The Twilight Zone. Serling fought hard for creative control, hiring writers he admired (such as Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont) and launched himself into weekly television.
Serling drew on his own experiences for many episodes, with frequent stories about boxing, military life and aircraft pilots, all incorporating Serling's firsthand knowledge. The series also incorporated Serling's progressive views on racial relations and other social issues, all somewhat veiled by the sci-fi/fantasy elements of the shows. Occasionally, however, Serling could be quite blunt, as in one episode where America's racism and hatred causes a dark cloud to form in the South before eventually spreading elsewhere. Serling was also rather progressive on matters of gender, with many stories featuring quick-thinking, resilient women, although he also wrote plenty of stories featuring memorably shrewish, nagging wives.
The show lasted five seasons (four seasons in a half-hour format, one full season as an hour long drama), winning awards for Serling and his writers, as well as critical acclaim. After five years and 156 episodes, 92 of them written by Serling himself, Serling was tired.
Serling sold his rights to the series to CBS.
A possible motive for Serling washing his hands of the rights for a quick buck could be tied to his incessant entanglement in lawsuits for plagiarism in regards to his story ideas for episodes.
Night Gallery
In 1969, NBC aired a Serling-penned pilot for a new series, Night Gallery. Set in a dimly lit museum, the pilot film featured Serling (as on-camera host) introducing three tales of the macabre, unveiling canvases that would later appear in the subsequent story segments.
The series, which premiered in December 1970 (its brief first season rotated as one spoke of a four-series programming wheel titled Four in One), focused more on gothic horror and the occult than did The Twilight Zone. Although discontented with some of producer Jack Laird's script and creative choices, Serling maintained his stream of submissions and ultimately wrote over a third of the scripts for the series.
By season three, however, Serling began seeing many of his script contributions rejected.
While the series has its own cult following, it is not as widely known as The Twilight Zone and is generally regarded as a pale shadow of Serling's previous series.
Fiction
Serling wrote a number of short stories in the science fiction and horror genres, which were collected into three volumes of Twilight Zone stories (1960, 1961, 1962), two of Night Gallery stories (1971, 1972) and a collection of three novellas, The Season to be Wary (1968).
A critical essay on Serling's fiction can be found in S. Joshi emphasises Serling's moralism and the streak of misanthropy which runs through his work, and argues that, far from being merely re-written scripts, many of Serling's stories can stand as genuinely original and meritorious works of prose fiction.
Later years
Subsequent to The Twilight Zone, Serling moved onto cinema screens.
Serling had taped introductions for a limited-run summer comedy series on ABC, Keep On Truckin', which was scheduled to begin its run several weeks after his death;
He also wrote the pilot episode for a short-lived Aaron Spelling series called The New People in 1969.
Late in his life, Serling taught at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York where he resided for many years.
Late in life, Serling did a lot of voice-over work for various projects.
After his death, several Serling scripts were produced: Rod Serling's Lost Classics (1994), a TV movie based on several unfilmed Twilight Zone scripts;
Awards and Honors
During his lifetime, Rod Serling received six Emmys and his biggest successes in writing include:
Patterns (1955) Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956) The Comedian (1957) A Town Has Turned to Dust (1958) The Velvet Alley (1958) The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964 television series) Night Gallery (1970 - 1973 television series) Planet of the Apes (1968 co-written with Michael Wilson)Legacy
More than 30 years after his death, Serling was digitally resurrected for an episode of the TV series Medium that aired on November 21, 2005. The episode, which was partially filmed in 3-D, opened with Serling introducing the episode and instructing viewers as to when to put on their 3-D glasses. This was accomplished by taking an old Twilight Zone introduction and digitally manipulating Serling's mouth to match new dialogue spoken by an impersonator. The subject matter of the episode, involving paintings coming to life, was also a nod to both Twilight Zone and Night Gallery.The episode of Medium borrowed the introduction from The Twilight Zone Season 3, Episode 10 (Episode 75), titled "The Midnight Sun". The ride puts guests into an unaired episode of the Twilight Zone, where they are introduced to the story by Rod Serling.
Over the years, a number of pop/rock songs have included Rod Serling and/or Twilight Zone tributes. their promotional video clip even had lead singer Alan Paul standing beside a door floating in space, mimicking Rod Serling for the introduction. On "Threatened", a track from his 2001 album Invincible, pop superstar Michael Jackson used samples from classic Rod Serling Twilight Zone narrations as introduction and conclusion to the song, as well as a montage of clips to make Serling rap in the middle section of the tune. Michael Straczynski chose Ed Wasser - who had played a bit part in the series' two-hour pilot TV movie - for the role because of his slick looks, charm, and vocal mannerisms that reminded him of a young Rod Serling.
Serling was ranked #1 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends" (1 August 2004 issue).
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