George Clayton Johnson
| George Clayton Johnson | |
|---|---|
Johnson in 2006
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| Born |
July 10, 1929 Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S. |
| Died | December 25, 2015 (aged 86) North Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Genre | Science fiction, magical realism, fantasy, literary, Western, and horror |
| Notable works | Logan's Run, Ocean's 11, The Twilight Zone, Star Trek |
| Notable awards | Inkpot Award Winner, 1976; Balrog Award Winner, 1983 |
| Years active | 1959–2015 |
| Spouse | Lola Johnson (m. 1952–2015; his death) |
| Children | Paul Johnson and Judy Olive |
George Clayton Johnson (July 10, 1929 – December 25, 2015) was an American science fiction writer, best known for co-writing with William F. Nolan the novel Logan's Run, the basis for the MGM 1976 film. He was also known for his television scripts for The Twilight Zone (including "Nothing in the Dark", "Kick the Can", "A Game of Pool", and "A Penny for Your Thoughts"), and the first telecast episode of Star Trek, entitled "The Man Trap". He also wrote the story on which the 1960 and 2001 films Ocean's Eleven were based.
Johnson was born in a barn in Cheyenne, Wyoming, 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.
"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."
In 1959, Johnson wrote the story "I'll Take Care of You" for Alfred Hitchcock Presents. From 1959 onward, Johnson's work began to regularly appear in magazines such as Playboy, Los Angeles, The Twilight Zone Magazine, Rogue, and Gamma, and he began to write stories and scripts for TV. In 1960, he co-wrote the treatment (with Jack Golden Russell) for the Rat Pack film Ocean's 11, although most of the details were changed for the actual movie. Later, Johnson joined the Southern California School of Writers that included, among others, William F. Nolan, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury.
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