George Clayton Johnson

For other people named George Johnson, see George Johnson (disambiguation).

George Clayton Johnson
Johnson in 2006
Born	(1929-07-10)July 10, 1929 Cheyenne, Wyoming, US
Died	December 22, 2015(2015-12-22) (aged 86)
Occupation	Draftsman, telegraph operator, writer
Period	1959–Present
Genre	Science fiction
Notable works	Logan's Run

George Clayton Johnson (July 10, 1929 - December 22, 2015) was an American science fiction writer, most famous for co-writing the novel Logan's Run with William F. Nolan, the basis for the 1976 film. He is also known for his television screenplays for The Twilight Zone (such as "Nothing in the Dark", "Kick the Can", "A Game of Pool", and "A Penny for Your Thoughts"), and the first episode of Star Trek, "The Man Trap". He also wrote the story on which the 1960 and 2001 films Ocean's Eleven were based. His work appeared in numerous anthologies by editors such as Dennis Etchison, Jason V Brock, and Christopher Conlon. He was the proprietor of Cafe Frankenstein, and co-created the comic book series Deepest Dimension Terror Anthology with cartoonist and author Jay Allen Sanford for Revolutionary Comics, which adapted his stories from The Twilight Zone (including unproduced teleplays) and stories by his friends and contemporaries such as Larry Niven, Robert Bloch, and Dennis Etchison.

Early life

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.

Career

In 1959, Johnson wrote the story "I'll Take Care of You" for Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1960, he wrote and served as the basis for the Rat Pack movie Ocean's 11, although most of the details were changed for the film. Johnson joined the Southern California School of Writers that included Theodore Sturgeon, William F. Nolan, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury. Through them he met Rod Serling, to whom he sold his story ("All of Us Are Dying", produced as "The Four of Us Are Dying") and, later, his first teleplay ("A Penny for Your Thoughts"). He wrote the Star Trek episode "The Man Trap".

"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."

—Johnson quoted in The Twilight Zone Companion

The Intruder, 1962 movie directed by Roger Corman. it was based on the novel by Charles Beaumont, a close friend of Johnson; both appear in the movie along with William F. Nolan. Johnson plays a bigoted Southern redneck. Charles Beaumont: The Life of Twilight Zone's Magic Man (As himself. JaSunni Productions, LLC, 2009. Directed by Jason V Brock.) The AckerMonster Chronicles! (As himself. JaSunni Productions, LLC, 2012. Directed by Jason V Brock.) "The Twilight Zone; The Definitive Edition, Vols 1 through 5" (As himself. Published by Image Entertainment, Produced and Directed by Chas Holloway).

Death

Johnson died from cancer on December 22, 2015.

Filmography

Twilight Zone episodes

George Clayton Johnson wrote the following stories for The Twilight Zone series:

• "The Four of Us Are Dying (1960) (story)
• "Execution" (1960) (story)
• "The Prime Mover" (inadvertently credited solely to Charles Beaumont)
• "A Penny for Your Thoughts" (1961) (teleplay)
• "A Game of Pool" (1961) (teleplay)
• "Nothing in the Dark" (1962) (teleplay)
• "Kick the Can" (1962, also featured in the 1983 movie The Twilight Zone: The Movie) (teleplay)
• "Ninety Years Without Slumbering" (1963) (story, as Johnson Smith)

The Lost Twilight Zone episode

In 1959 Johnson wrote the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode In 1960, George Clayton Johnson submitted a story to The Twilight Zone called "Sea Change" which was purchased by Rod Serling. The premise of the story was, "Off the coast of California, there's a man in a boat. Through an accident his hand is cut off. Miraculously, he re-grows a new hand. But what he doesn't realize is that out there in the kelp beds, the hand is re-growing a new man..."

Serling planned to produce "Sea Change" for the 1960 season, but General Mills, a sponsor for The Twilight Zone at the time, rejected it for being too violently graphic. Serling was then forced to call Johnson and ask him to buy the story back (for $500.00), which Johnson did. "Sea Change" was later adapted for Johnson's 1994 comic book series Deepest Dimension Terror Anthology (Revolutionary Comics). The story is currently under option to Chas Holloway who plans to produce it in 2014.

Star Trek episode

• "The Man Trap" (1966, first aired episode of the series)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

• "I'll Take Care of You" (1959) (story)

Bibliography

Fiction collections

All of Us Are Dying and Other Stories (Subterranean Press, 1999).

Anthologies in which Johnson's fiction has appeared

The Ring of Truth (Featured in Drastic Measures Anthology, Blueberry Lane Books, 2010).

External links

• George Clayton Johnson at IMDb
• George Clayton Johnson at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• All of us are dying, but writer George Clayton Johnson is still living it up (scifi.com)
• Archive Interview Part 1 of 10 on YouTube or see playlist
• George Clayton Johnson at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television