We regret that George Clayton Johnson will not be able to join us at the 2014 San Diego Comic Fest due to an illness in the family.
The year 1958 was a milestone in George Clayton Johnson’s life as a professional writer. That year the film rights to his first published story, a little thing titled “Ocean’s 11”, were purchased by actor Peter Lawford. The famous “Rat Pack” film—starring Frank Sinatra—that was based on that story was released in 1960 (and remade with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, et al., in 2001).
From 1960 through 1963, George wrote stories and teleplays for several classic episodes of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone. Among these was the classic “Kick the Can” episode, which enjoyed its 50th anniversary last year. Steven Spielberg has named “Kick the Can” as his favorite Twilight Zone episode and remade it for the 1983 Twilight Zone movie.
In 1962 George realized a special dream when the animated film Icarus Montgolfier Wright was released. That film, which was nominated in 1962 for the Academy Award for best short animated film, was based on a story by George’s hero Ray Bradbury, whom he credits with having made him believe that it was possible for him to be a writer. George was thrilled to have the opportunity to co-author the screenplay with Ray. (The wonderful art for the film was done by Joseph Mugnaini who illustrated many of Ray’s books.)
After Twilight Zone, George moved on to Star Trek. He wrote the script for “The Man Trap” (1966), which was the first episode of Star Trek ever aired on television.
George continued to please science-fiction fans with the 1967 release of the novel Logan’s Run, which he co-authored with William Nolan. In 1976 the well-known film version of that novel starring Michael York and Jenny Agutter was released. It has also been reported that there is work in progress on a major Logan’s Run remake or sequel.
In addition to the above, George has written many other stories, scripts, and even comics over the years. And all the while he has attended comic and science-fiction conventions and other fan-friendly events where he is always an honored and much-appreciated presence.