George Clayton Johnson

2025-05-15T00:04:08Z

2603:9001:4500:1C09:F145:1295:7753:6A75: /* Writing career */ Editorializing

{{Short description|American writer (1929–2015)}}
{{Other people|George Johnson}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = George Clayton Johnson
| image = File:A_photo_of_author_George_Clayton_Johnson.png
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption = Johnson in 2014
| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|7|10}}
| birth_place = [[Cheyenne, Wyoming]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2015|12|25|1929|7|10}}
| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| occupation = Writer
| yearsactive = 1959–2015
| genre = {{hlist|Science fiction|magical realism|fantasy|literary|Western|horror}}
| notableworks = {{ubl|''[[Logan's Run]]''|''[[Ocean's 11]]''|''[[The Twilight Zone]]''|''[[Star Trek]]''}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Lola Johnson|1952}}
| children = 2
| awards = {{ubl|Inkpot Award (1976)|Balrog Award (1983)}}
| website =
| portaldisp =
}}

'''George Clayton Johnson''' (July 10, 1929 – December 25, 2015) was an American science fiction writer, who co-wrote with [[William F. Nolan]] the novel ''[[Logan's Run]]'', the basis for the MGM [[Logan's Run (film)|1976 film]]. He also wrote television scripts for ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' (including "[[Nothing in the Dark]]", "[[Kick the Can]]", "[[A Game of Pool (1961)|A Game of Pool]]", and "[[A Penny for Your Thoughts (The Twilight Zone)|A Penny for Your Thoughts]]"), and the first telecast episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'', entitled "[[The Man Trap]]".<ref name="Star Trek">{{cite web|url=http://www.startrek.com/article/remembering-george-clayton-johnson-1929-2015|access-date=December 23, 2015|work=startrek.com|title=George Clayton Johnson 1929—2015}}</ref> He also wrote the story and screenplay<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lott W. Brantley III and Associates represent the Literary Estate of George Clayton Johnson. |url=https://wbmtagency.com/estate/ |access-date=2019-09-14 |website=Lott W. Brantley III and Associates |language=en}}</ref> on which the 1960 film ''[[Ocean's 11]]'' and [[Ocean's Eleven|its 2001 remake]] were based.

==Early life==
Johnson was born in a barn in [[Cheyenne, Wyoming]],<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news |date=September 19, 2019 |title=WBMT Literary Film and Television |url=https://www.wbmtagency.com/estate |access-date=September 19, 2019 |work=Official Website}}</ref> was forced to repeat the sixth grade, and dropped out of school entirely in the eighth. He briefly served as a [[telegraph operator]] and [[draftsman]] in the [[United States Army]], then enrolled at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now [[Auburn University]]) under the [[G.I. Bill]], but quit to return to his travels around the U.S., working as a draftsman, before becoming a writer.<ref name="ABC News">{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/logans-run-author-george-clayton-johnson-dead-86-35954301|access-date=December 26, 2015|date=December 25, 2015|first=John|last=Rogers|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|publisher=[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]|title='Logan's Run' Co-Author George Clayton Johnson Dead at 86}}</ref>

==Writing career==
{{quote box
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|quote = "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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/827852-for-me-fantasy-must-be-about-something-otherwise-it-s-foolishness|title=George Clayton Johnson, Quotes|access-date=December 23, 2015|work=Good Reads}}</ref>
|salign = right
|source = —Johnson quoted in ''[[The Twilight Zone Companion]]''}}
Between 1956 and early 1957, he created the story entitled "Ocean's Eleven" beginning with a 40,000 word attempt at a novel. During this time he asked his friend Jack Golden Russell, a former WWII paratrooper, if he could add ideas of authenticity to the tale, later crediting him for his contributions to the story. Johnson then thought of approaching the story as a screenplay. Under the name "George Johnson", he solely authored the script for the [[Rat Pack]] film ''[[Ocean's 11 (1960 film)|Ocean's 11]]'', although most of the details were changed for the actual film. The story and screenplay were optioned to [[Peter Lawford]] and his wife, [[Patricia Kennedy]] in 1957.<ref name="Emmy TV Legends">{{cite web |title=George Clayton Johnson |url=https://www.wbmtagency.com/estate |access-date= |work=Lott W. Brantley III and Associates}}</ref>

From 1959 onward, Johnson's work began to regularly appear in magazines such as ''[[Playboy]]'', ''[[Los Angeles (magazine)|Los Angeles]]'', ''The Twilight Zone Magazine'', ''[[Rogue (magazine)|Rogue]]'', and ''Gamma'', and he began to write stories and scripts for TV. In 1959, Johnson wrote the story "I'll Take Care of You" for ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]''. Later, Johnson joined the Southern California School of Writers that included, among others, [[William F. Nolan]], [[Charles Beaumont]], [[Richard Matheson]] and [[Ray Bradbury]].<ref name="NBC News">{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/george-clayton-johnson-writer-first-star-trek-episode-dies-86-n485996|title=George Clayton Johnson, Writer of First 'Star Trek' Episode, Dies at 86|publisher=[[NBCUniversal]]|agency=Reuters|access-date=December 26, 2015|work=[[NBCNews.com]]|date=December 25, 2015}}</ref>

Through them he met [[Rod Serling]], to whom he sold his story "All of Us Are Dying", which was produced as "[[The Four of Us Are Dying]]", scripted by Serling. Eventually, after selling other stories and having them scripted by other writers for the show, Johnson asked Serling to let him attempt a teleplay for the series, which was "[[A Penny for Your Thoughts (The Twilight Zone)|A Penny for Your Thoughts]]". Later, after completing more scripts for ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'', he worked as a writer for other television series, including ''[[Honey West (TV series)|Honey West]]'', ''[[Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV series)|Wanted Dead or Alive]]'', ''[[Route 66 (TV series)|Route 66]]'' and ''[[Kung Fu (1972 TV series)|Kung Fu]]''. Johnson also wrote the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' episode "[[The Man Trap]]", which was the first episode telecast.<ref>[[#cushmanosborn2013|Cushman & Osborn (2013)]]: p. 176</ref> Johnson briefly had a L.A.-based radio program called "The Writer and the Story" which featured interviews with authors, including Charles Beaumont and William F. Nolan.<ref>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1531642/ Charles Beaumont: The Life of Twilight Zone's Magic Man {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> As his career progressed, Johnson formed, in the 1960s, a loose, short-lived federation with fellow authors and friends Matheson, [[Theodore Sturgeon]], and others called "The Green Hand". The intent was to leverage their works in the fashion of a union within the Hollywood system for TV production. The enterprise fell apart after a few months.<ref name="Journal">{{cite web|url=http://journal-store.com/bookstore/dark-discoveries-issue-14/|access-date=December 26, 2015|work=Journal Store|date=March 30, 2015|title=Dark Discoveries – Issue #14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227025359/http://journal-store.com/bookstore/dark-discoveries-issue-14/|archive-date=December 27, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> In his later years, he wrote comic books and was a frequent guest at science fiction and comics conventions. Johnson co-created the comic book series ''Deepest Dimension Terror Anthology'' with cartoonist and author [[Jay Allen Sanford]].<ref name="NBC News"/>

==Personal life==
Johnson married Lola Brownstein on October 10, 1952, in Los Angeles, and fathered two children, Paul and Judy.<ref name="ABC News"/><ref name="NBC News"/><ref name="Agency">{{cite web|title=George Clayton Johnson|url=http://wbmtagency.com|work=wbmtagency.com|access-date=December 25, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150426152749/http://wbmtagency.com/|archive-date=April 26, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref> He was a vocal advocate for the [[Legal history of cannabis in the United States|legalization of marijuana]].<ref name="NBC News"/> Along with his writing output, Johnson was instrumental to the early development of [[San Diego Comic Con]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsfromme.com/2015/12/23/george-clayton-johnson-r-p/|access-date=December 26, 2015|work=[[News From Me]]|title=George Clayton Johnson, R.I.P.}}</ref> He was also a longtime vegetarian.<ref name="Journal"/>

===Death===
Johnson died on [[Christmas|Christmas Day 2015]],<ref name="Agency"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=George Clayton Johnson, Writer of First 'Star Trek' Episode, Dies at 86|url=https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/george-clayton-johnson-died-dead-star-trek-logans-run-1201667540|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|publisher=[[Penske Media Corporation]]|access-date=December 25, 2015|language=en-US|first=Dave|last=McNary|date=December 25, 2015}}</ref><ref name=hrepobt>{{cite news|title=George Clayton Johnson, 'Twilight Zone' and 'Star Trek' Writer, Dies at 86|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/george-clayton-johnson-dead-twilight-850954|newspaper=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|publisher=[[Prometheus Global Media]]|access-date=December 25, 2015|first=Mike|last=Barnes}}</ref> of [[bladder cancer|bladder]] and [[prostate cancer]] at a Veterans Administration Medical Center hospital in [[North Hills, California]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Derschowitz|first1=Jessica|title=George Clayton Johnson, Star Trek and The Twilight Zone writer, dies at 86|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/26/george-clayton-johnson-obituary-star-trek-twilight-zone-logans-run|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=December 26, 2015|publisher=[[Time Inc.]]}}</ref> He is interred at [[Riverside National Cemetery]].

==Partial bibliography==

===Novels===
* ''[[Ocean's 11]]'' (1960) – Novelization (based on the story by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell and screenplay by "George Johnson")<ref name=nytobit/>
;The Logan series
* ''[[Logan's Run]]'' (1967) – Novel (with [[William F. Nolan]])<ref name=nytobit/>
* ''Jessica's Run: A New Sequel for the Logan's Run Universe'' <small>(George Clayton Johnson's long rumored personal sequel to ''Logan's Run'' said to be "in development";<ref>{{cite web |title=Jessica's Run |url=https://www.wbmtagency.com/stories |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |website=Lott W. Brantley III and Associates}}</ref> yet to be published)</small>

===Television and film scripts===
* ''Icarus Montgolfier Wright'' (with Ray Bradbury; 1962)<ref>{{cite news|title=Logan's Run author George Clayton Johnson dies at 86|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35185526|access-date=December 28, 2015|work=BBC News|date=December 27, 2015}}</ref>
* ''[[Logan's Run (film)|Logan's Run]]'' (1976)<ref name=nytobit/>

====''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''====
* "I'll Take Care of You" (1959; story by)<ref name=hrepobt/>

====''The Twilight Zone''====
* "[[The Four of Us Are Dying]] (1960; story by)<ref name=nytobit/>
* "[[Execution (The Twilight Zone)|Execution]]" (1960; story by)<ref name=hrepobt />
* "[[A Penny for Your Thoughts (The Twilight Zone)|A Penny for Your Thoughts]]" (1961; teleplay)<ref name=zapobit>{{cite news|last1=McNary|first1=Dave|title=Writer of first 'Star Trek' episode, George Clayton Johnson, dies at 86|url=http://zap2it.com/2015/12/writer-star-trek-george-clayton-johnson-dies-at-86/|access-date=December 28, 2015|work=Zap2it|date=December 26, 2015|archive-date=December 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227024259/http://zap2it.com/2015/12/writer-star-trek-george-clayton-johnson-dies-at-86/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[The Prime Mover]] (1961; story; uncredited) <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://twilightzonevortex.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-prime-mover.html|title = The Twilight Zone Vortex: "The Prime Mover"|date = July 4, 2014}}</ref>
* "[[A Game of Pool (The Twilight Zone, 1959)|A Game of Pool]]" (1961; teleplay)<ref name=nytobit/>
* "[[Nothing in the Dark]]" (1962; teleplay)<ref name=nytobit/>
* "[[Kick the Can]]" (1962; teleplay; also featured in the 1983 movie ''The Twilight Zone: The Movie'')<ref name=nytobit/>
* "[[Ninety Years Without Slumbering]]" (1963; story by, as Johnson Smith)<ref name=nytobit/>
* In 1960, Johnson submitted a story to ''The Twilight Zone'' called "Sea Change" which wasn't used but was later adapted for Johnson's 1994 comic book series ''Deepest Dimension Terror Anthology''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sandford|first1=Jay Allen|title=Deepest Dimension Terror Anthology: Inside Story of a Local Twilight Zone Spin-Off|url=http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/05/deepest-dimension-terror-anthology-twilight-zone/#|access-date=28 December 2015|work=San Diego Reader|date=5 September 2007}}</ref>

====''Route 66''====
* "Eleven, the Hard Way" (1961; written by)<ref name=zapobit/>

====''Honey West''====
* "The Flame and the Pussycat" (1965; teleplay)<ref name=hrepobt/>

====''Star Trek''====
* "[[The Man Trap]]" (1966; teleplay; first aired episode of the series)<ref name=zapobit/>

====''Kung Fu''====
* "The Demon God" (1974; teleplay)<ref name=zapobit/>

===Film, TV and documentary appearances===
* ''[[Sea Hunt]]'' ("Sub Hatch" [Season 4, Episode 19]; 1961) as "USCG Lt. Hartwell"<ref name=legacyobit>{{cite web|title=George Clayton Johnson (1929–2015)|url=http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/notable-deaths/article/george-clayton-johnson-1929-2015|publisher=Legacy.com|access-date=December 28, 2015|date=December 26, 2015}}</ref>
* ''[[The Intruder (1962 film)|The Intruder]]'' (dir. [[Roger Corman]]; 1962) as villain "Phil West"{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
* ''[[Archive of American Television]]'' (2003) as himself<ref name="Emmy TV Legends"/>
* ''Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone's Magic Man'' (dir. [[Jason V Brock]]; JaSunni Productions, LLC; 2010) as himself<ref name=legacyobit/>
* ''The AckerMonster Chronicles!'' (dir. Jason V Brock; JaSunni Productions, LLC; 2012) as himself<ref name=legacyobit/>

===Fiction collections===
* ''Writing for The Twilight Zone'' (Outre House, 1980)<ref name=awardsdb>{{cite web|title=George Clayton Johnson|url=http://www.sfadb.com/George_Clayton_Johnson|publisher=Science Fiction Awards Database|access-date=December 28, 2015}}</ref>
* ''George Clayton Johnson Twilight Zone Scripts & Stories'' (Streamline Pictures, 1996)<ref>{{cite web|title=Twilight Zone (television program)|url=http://librarycatalog.wgfoundation.org/browse/browseBookSubject.ashx?id=394|publisher=Writers Guild Foundation|access-date=December 28, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130021454/http://librarycatalog.wgfoundation.org/browse/browseBookSubject.ashx?id=394|archive-date=January 30, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* ''All of Us Are Dying and Other Stories'' ([[Subterranean Press]], 1999)<ref>{{cite web|title=All of Us Are Dying and Other Stories|url=https://subterraneanpress.com/store/product_detail/all_of_us_are_dying_and_other_stories|publisher=Subterranean Press|access-date=December 28, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107003726/https://subterraneanpress.com/store/product_detail/all_of_us_are_dying_and_other_stories|archive-date=January 7, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==Awards and nominations==
{| class= "wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Association
! Category
! Work
! Result
! ref
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1976
| [[Inkpot Award]]
| Lifetime achievement
| {{Plain list |
* [[Screenwriter]]
* [[Script (comics)|Comic book writer]]
}}
| {{won}}
| <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/inkpot.php|title=Inkpot Awards|publisher=Comic Book Awards Almanac|editor-first=Joel|editor-last=Hahn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130173442/http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/inkpot.php|archive-date=November 30, 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=December 28, 2015}}</ref>
|-
| [[Nebula Award]]
| [[Nebula Award for Best Script]]
| ''[[Logan's Run]]''
| {{nom}}
| <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Nebula1977.html |title=The Locus Index to SF Awards: 1977 Nebula Awards |work=[[Locus (magazine)|Locus]] |access-date=December 28, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605231450/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Nebula1977.html |archive-date=June 5, 2011 }}</ref>
|-
| 1977
| [[Hugo Award]]
| [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation]]
| ''Logan's Run''
| {{nom}}
| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1977-hugo-awards/ |title=1977 Hugo Awards |publisher=World Science Fiction Society |access-date=December 28, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507164635/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1977-hugo-awards/ |archive-date=May 7, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1980
| rowspan="4" | [[Balrog Award]]
| rowspan="4" | Best works and achievements of [[speculative fiction]]
| ''[[A Penny for Your Thoughts (The Twilight Zone)|A Penny For Your Thoughts]]'' (''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'') (S 2:Ep 16)
| {{nom}}
| <ref name="Balrog Award"/>
|-
| ''[[Nothing in the Dark]]'' (''The Twilight Zone'') (S 3:Ep 16)
| {{nom}}
| <ref name="Balrog Award"/>
|-
| 1981
| ''Sea Change'' (''The Twilight Zone''){{ref|1|1}}
| {{nom}}
| <ref name="Balrog Award"/>
|-
| 1982
| ''All of Us Are Dying'' (Twilight Zone May 1982){{ref|2|2}}
| {{won}}
| <ref name="Balrog Award">{{cite web|url=http://www.sfadb.com/George_Clayton_Johnson|title=George Clayton Johnson|publisher=Science Fiction Awards Database|access-date=December 28, 2015}}</ref>
|-
|}
;Notes
{{refbegin}}
# {{note|1}}Unused script by Johnson not selected for the original television series.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://twilightzonevortex.blogspot.com/2012/01/rod-serlings-twilight-zone-magazine.html|title=Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine|access-date=December 28, 2015|work=The Twilight Zone Vortex|date=January 27, 2012}}</ref>
# {{note|2}}Story was turned into a [[teleplay]] by Serling to the episode named ''[[The Four of Us Are Dying]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://twilightzonevortex.blogspot.com/2011/11/four-of-us-are-dying.html|title=The Four of Us Are Dying|access-date=December 28, 2015|work=The Twilight Zone Vortex|date=November 9, 2011}}</ref>
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last1=Cushman|first1=Marc|last2=Osborn|first2=Susan|title=These are the Voyages: TOS, Season One|year=2013|publisher=Jacobs Brown Press|location=San Diego, CA|isbn=978-0-989-23811-3|ref=cushmanosborn2013}}
{{refend}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Memory Alpha}}
*{{IMDb name|id=0425138}}
*{{ISFDB name|name=George Clayton Johnson|id=George_Clayton_Johnson}}
*{{cite journal|url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue355/interview.html |first1=Cristopher |last1=Hennessey-DeRose |first2=Michael |last2=McCarty |date=February 9, 2004 |title=All of us are dying, but writer George Clayton Johnson is still living it up |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040404042334/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue355/interview.html |archive-date=April 4, 2004 }}
*{{The Interviews name|george-clayton-johnson|George Clayton Johnson}}
*[https://www.wbmtagency.com/estate The Literary Estate of George Clayton Johnson]

{{Inkpot Award 1970s}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|California|Film|Television}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, George Clayton}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American military personnel]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:Auburn University alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from Cheyenne, Wyoming]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:American male television writers]]
[[Category:Television writers from California]]
[[Category:Burials at Riverside National Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:Inkpot Award winners]]
[[Category:Telegraphists]]
[[Category:American draughtsmen]]
[[Category:American cannabis activists]]
[[Category:Deaths from bladder cancer in California]]
[[Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in California]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Wyoming]]

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George Clayton Johnson