Jerome Bixby
Encyclopedia
Drexel Jerome Lewis Bixby (January 11, 1923 in Los Angeles, California
– April 28, 1998 in San Bernardino, California
) was an American
short story
writer, editor and scriptwriter, best known for his work in science fiction
. He also wrote many western
s and used the pseudonyms D. B. Lewis, Harry Neal, Albert Russell, J. Russell, M. St. Vivant, Thornecliff Herrick and Alger Rome (for one collaboration with Algis Budrys
). He is most famous for the 1953 story "It's a Good Life
" which was the basis for a 1961 episode
of The Twilight Zone
and which was included in Twilight Zone: The Movie
(1983). He also wrote four episodes for the Star Trek
series: "Mirror, Mirror", "Day of the Dove", "Requiem for Methuselah", and "By Any Other Name". With Otto Klement, he co-wrote the story upon which the classic sci-fi movie Fantastic Voyage
(1966), television series, and novel by Isaac Asimov
were based.
from Summer 1950 to July 1951, and editor of Two Complete Science Adventure Novels from Winter 1950 to July 1951.
His best-known television works include two Star Trek: The Original Series
episodes: 1967's "Mirror, Mirror
", which introduced the series' concept of the "Mirror Universe
"; and 1969's "Requiem for Methuselah", about "Flint", a 6,000-year-old man. But his short story "It's a Good Life
" (1953), adapted as a teleplay
for The Twilight Zone
by Rod Serling
, is arguably his most generally known work to reach the small screen. It was popular enough to be revisited in the 1983 Twilight Zone film
, and famous enough to be parodied in the Simpsons
Halloween 1991 episode "Treehouse of Horror II
". His 1968 Star Trek episode "Day of the Dove" is also much respected by fans of science fiction. Bixby also conceived and co-wrote the story for the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage
,
Bantam Books
obtained the rights for a paperback novelization
based on the screenplay
and approached Isaac Asimov
to write it.
Jerome Bixby's last work, a screenplay The Man From Earth
, was conceived in the early 1960s and completed on his deathbed in April 1998. In 2007, Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth
(as it is now called) was turned into an independent motion picture executive produced by his son Emerson Bixby, directed by Richard Schenkman
and starring David Lee Smith, William Katt
, Richard Riehle
, Tony Todd
, Annika Peterson, Alexis Thorpe
, Ellen Crawford
and John Billingsley
.
Bixby wrote the original screenplay for 1958's It! The Terror from Beyond Space
, which was the inspiration for 1979's Alien
. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
seventh season (1999) Mirror Universe episode, "The Emperor's New Cloak", is dedicated to Bixby's memory.
Twilight Zone stories
Films
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
– April 28, 1998 in San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer, editor and scriptwriter, best known for his work in science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
. He also wrote many western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
s and used the pseudonyms D. B. Lewis, Harry Neal, Albert Russell, J. Russell, M. St. Vivant, Thornecliff Herrick and Alger Rome (for one collaboration with Algis Budrys
Algis Budrys
Algis Budrys was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names "Frank Mason", "Alger Rome", "John A. Sentry", "William Scarff", and "Paul Janvier."-Biography:...
). He is most famous for the 1953 story "It's a Good Life
It's a Good Life
"It's a Good Life" is a short story by Jerome Bixby, written in 1953. In 1970 it was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the 20 finest science fiction stories ever written...
" which was the basis for a 1961 episode
It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)
"It's a Good Life" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is based on a 1953 short story of the same name by Jerome Bixby.-Synopsis:...
of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
and which was included in Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 science fiction horror film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis as a theatrical version of The Twilight Zone, a 1959 and '60s TV series created by Rod Serling. Those starring in the film are: Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers,...
(1983). He also wrote four episodes for the Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
series: "Mirror, Mirror", "Day of the Dove", "Requiem for Methuselah", and "By Any Other Name". With Otto Klement, he co-wrote the story upon which the classic sci-fi movie Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage is a 1966 science fiction film written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby.Bantam Books obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached Isaac Asimov to write it....
(1966), television series, and novel by Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
were based.
Career
He was the editor of Planet StoriesPlanet Stories
Planet Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published by Fiction House between 1939 and 1955. It featured interplanetary adventures, both in space and on other planets, and was initially focused on a young readership. Malcolm Reiss was editor or editor-in-chief for all of its 71...
from Summer 1950 to July 1951, and editor of Two Complete Science Adventure Novels from Winter 1950 to July 1951.
His best-known television works include two Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
episodes: 1967's "Mirror, Mirror
Mirror, Mirror (TOS episode)
"Mirror, Mirror" is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is a second-season episode, #33, production #39, and was broadcast for the first time on October 6, 1967, and repeated on April 12, 1968. It was written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Marc Daniels...
", which introduced the series' concept of the "Mirror Universe
Mirror Universe (Star Trek)
The Mirror Universe is a fictional parallel universe in which the plots of several Star Trek television episodes take place...
"; and 1969's "Requiem for Methuselah", about "Flint", a 6,000-year-old man. But his short story "It's a Good Life
It's a Good Life
"It's a Good Life" is a short story by Jerome Bixby, written in 1953. In 1970 it was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the 20 finest science fiction stories ever written...
" (1953), adapted as a teleplay
Teleplay
A teleplay is a television play, a comedy or drama written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a television plays from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films...
for The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
by Rod Serling
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
, is arguably his most generally known work to reach the small screen. It was popular enough to be revisited in the 1983 Twilight Zone film
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 science fiction horror film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis as a theatrical version of The Twilight Zone, a 1959 and '60s TV series created by Rod Serling. Those starring in the film are: Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers,...
, and famous enough to be parodied in the Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
Halloween 1991 episode "Treehouse of Horror II
Treehouse of Horror II
"Treehouse of Horror II" is the seventh episode of The Simpsons third season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 31, 1991. It is the second annual Treehouse of Horror episode, consisting of three self-contained segments, told as dreams of Lisa, Bart and Homer. In the...
". His 1968 Star Trek episode "Day of the Dove" is also much respected by fans of science fiction. Bixby also conceived and co-wrote the story for the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage
Fantastic Voyage is a 1966 science fiction film written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby.Bantam Books obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the screenplay and approached Isaac Asimov to write it....
,
Bantam Books
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
obtained the rights for a paperback novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
based on the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
and approached Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
to write it.
Jerome Bixby's last work, a screenplay The Man From Earth
The Man from Earth
The Man from Earth is a 2007 science fiction film written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Richard Schenkman. The film stars David Lee Smith as John Oldman, the protagonist of the story. The screenplay for this movie was conceived by Jerome Bixby in the early 1960s and was completed on his death bed...
, was conceived in the early 1960s and completed on his deathbed in April 1998. In 2007, Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth
The Man from Earth
The Man from Earth is a 2007 science fiction film written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Richard Schenkman. The film stars David Lee Smith as John Oldman, the protagonist of the story. The screenplay for this movie was conceived by Jerome Bixby in the early 1960s and was completed on his death bed...
(as it is now called) was turned into an independent motion picture executive produced by his son Emerson Bixby, directed by Richard Schenkman
Richard Schenkman
Richard Schenkman is an award-winning American screenwriter, film producer, film director and occasional actor. Throughout his career, he has frequently also been credited as "George Axmith".-Awards:...
and starring David Lee Smith, William Katt
William Katt
William Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...
, Richard Riehle
Richard Riehle
-Life and career:Riehle was born in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, the son of Mary Margaret , a nurse, and Herbert John Riehle , an assistant postmaster. He attended the University of Notre Dame....
, Tony Todd
Tony Todd
Anthony T. "Tony" Todd is an American actor and movie producer, known for his height of 6'5", and deep voice. He is well known for playing the Candyman in the horror movie franchise of the same name, William Bludworth in Final Destination and for guest starring roles on numerous television...
, Annika Peterson, Alexis Thorpe
Alexis Thorpe
Alexis Ann Thorpe , is an American actress, eldest of four children, who grew up in Yorba Linda and whose first professional role was at the Canyon Lake Theatre as Wendy in Peter Pan. She is known for her role as Cassie Brady on the American television daytime drama Days of our Lives, which she...
, Ellen Crawford
Ellen Crawford
Ellen Crawford is an American actress. Most recently, she co-starred as Edith, in The Man from Earth. She also played Nurse Lydia Wright on ER from 1994–2003 and then again in 2009 for the series finale...
and John Billingsley
John Billingsley
John Billingsley is an American actor, known for his role as Doctor Phlox on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise.-Career:...
.
Bixby wrote the original screenplay for 1958's It! The Terror from Beyond Space
It! The Terror from Beyond Space
It! The Terror from Beyond Space is a 1958 black and white science fiction film directed by Edward L. Cahn.-Plot:The film opens with a nuclear-powered spaceship perched on the cratered surface of an alien world. A voice-over tells us that the year is 1973 and that this is the planet, Mars. This...
, which was the inspiration for 1979's Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
seventh season (1999) Mirror Universe episode, "The Emperor's New Cloak", is dedicated to Bixby's memory.
Filmography
Star Trek episodes- "Requiem for Methuselah" (1969) (writer)
- "Day of the Dove" (1968) (writer)
- "By Any Other Name" (1968) (story, teleplay)
- "Mirror, Mirror" (1967) (writer)
Twilight Zone stories
- "It's a Good LifeIt's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)"It's a Good Life" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is based on a 1953 short story of the same name by Jerome Bixby.-Synopsis:...
" (1961) (short story) - Third segment ("It's a Good Life"), Twilight Zone: The MovieTwilight Zone: The MovieTwilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 science fiction horror film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis as a theatrical version of The Twilight Zone, a 1959 and '60s TV series created by Rod Serling. Those starring in the film are: Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers,...
(1983) (story)
Films
- "The Man From EarthThe Man from EarthThe Man from Earth is a 2007 science fiction film written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Richard Schenkman. The film stars David Lee Smith as John Oldman, the protagonist of the story. The screenplay for this movie was conceived by Jerome Bixby in the early 1960s and was completed on his death bed...
" (2007) (writer)
External links
- Jerome Bixby in Gary WestfahlGary WestfahlGary Westfahl is a scholarly author and reviewer of science fiction. He has written reviews for the Los Angeles Times, Internet Review of Science Fiction and Locus Online. He is a professor at the University of California in Riverside....
's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Film