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Theatre, Film, and Television Biographies
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William Dudley to Gilbert Ernotte
Harlan Ellison Biography (1934-)
Full name, Harlan Jay Ellison; born May 27, 1934, in Cleveland, OH; son of Louis Laverne (a dentist and jeweler) and Serita (maiden name, Rosenthal) Ellison; married Charlotte B. Stein, February 19, 1956 (divorced, 1960); married Billie Joyce Sanders, November 13, c. 1960 (divorced, c. 1963); married Lory Patrick, January 30, c. 1966 (divorced, c. 1966); married Lori Horwitz, June 5, c. 1976 (divorced, c. 1977); married Susan Anne Toth, 1986. Addresses: Office: Kilimanjaro Corp., 3484 Coy Dr., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.; Agent: Richard Curtis Associates, Inc., 171 East 74th St., New York, NY 10021; and Martin Shapiro, Shapiro-Lichtman, Inc., 8827 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048.; Contact: Harlan Ellison Recording Collection, P.O. Box 55548, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413-0548.
- Nationality
- American
- Gender
- Male
- Occupation
- Writer
- Birth Details
- May 27, 1934
- Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Famous Works
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CREDITS
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Television Work
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Series
- Script supervisor, The Sixth Sense, ABC, c. 1972
- (As Cordwainer Bird) Creator, The Starlost, NBC, 1973
- (With Ben Bova) Creator, Brillo, ABC, 1974
- Creative consultant, The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1984-85
- (With Larry Brody) Creator, The Dark Forces, NBC, 1986
- Conceptual consultant, Babylon 5 (also known as B5), syndicated, beginning in 1994
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Movies
- (Uncredited) Consultant, Babylon 5: The Gathering (also known as B5 and Babylon 5), TNT, 1993
- Conceptual consultant, Babylon 5: In the Beginning (also known asIn the Beginning), TNT and syndicated, 1998
- Conceptual consultant, Babylon 5: Thirdspace (also known as Thirdspace and Thirdspace: A Babylon 5 Adventure), TNT, 1998
- Conceptual consultant, Babylon 5: The River of Souls (also known as The River of Souls), TNT, 1998
- Conceptual consultant, Babylon 5: A Call to Arms (also known as A Call to Arms), TNT, 1999
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Television Director
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Episodic
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The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1984-85
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Cutter's World, 1987-88
- Sometimes credited as Cordwainer Bird, reportedly associated with creative differences during production.
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Television Appearances
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Series
- Host, Sci-Fi Buzz, Sci-Fi Channel, 1993-98
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Episodic
- Voice, Mother Goose and Grimm, CBS, c. 1992
- Voice of Cordwainer Bird, "A Boy and His Cat," Phantom 2040, syndicated, c. 1994
- Voice of Sparky the computer, "Ceremonies of Light and Dark," Babylon5 (also known as B5), syndicated, 1996
- Psi cop, "The Face of the Enemy," Babylon 5 (also known as B5), syndicated, 1997
- Voice of Zooty, "Day of the Dead," Babylon 5 (also known as B5), syndicated, 1998
- Grifter, "The Observer Effect," Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, syndicated, c. 1998
- Also provided voices for Pirates of Darkwater and Space Cases.
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Film Appearances
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Godson, Boxoffice International Pictures, 1971
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Radio Appearances
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Series
- Host, Beyond 2000, National Public Radio, 2000-
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RECORDINGS
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Albums
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Short Story Collections
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Harlan! Harlan Ellison Reads Harlan Ellison, Alternate World Recordings, 1976
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Blood! The Life and Future Times of Jack the Ripper, Alternate World Recordings, 1977
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Harlan Ellison Reads Jeffry Is Five, Harlan Ellison Recording Collection, 1982
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Prince Myshkin, and Hold the Relish, Harlan Ellison Recording Collection, 1982
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Loving Reminiscences of the Dying Gasp of the Pulp Era, Harlan Ellison Recording Collection, 1982
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I'm Looking for Kadak, Harlan Ellison Recording Collection, 1982
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On the Road with Ellison, H. Ellison, 1983
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The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World, Harlan Ellison Recording Collection, 1983
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On the Downhill Side, H. Ellison, 1984
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City of Darkness, c. 1999
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Video Games
- Voice, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, MGM Interactive, 1995
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Other Spoken Word Recordings
- (Contributor) The Titanic Disaster Hearings: The Official Transcript of the 1912 Senatorial Investigation by Tom Kuntz, c. 1999
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WRITINGS
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Screenplays
- (With Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene) The Oscar (based on the novel by Richard Sale), Embassy, 1966
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Harlan Ellison's Movie: An Original Screenplay, Twentieth Century-Fox, published by Mirage Press, 1990
- Also associated with the screenplays for Best by Far;
Blind Voices;
Bug Jack Barron, Universal, c. 1983; The Dream Merchants, Paramount; Khadim, Paramount; Nick the Greek;
None of the Above;
Rumble, American International Pictures; Seven Worlds,Seven Warriors, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group; Stranglehold,Twentieth Century-Fox; Swing Low, Sweet Harriet, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer;and Would You Do It for a Penny?, Playboy Productions.
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Television Episodes
- "Phoenix without Ashes," The Starlost, syndicated, 1973
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Brillo, ABC, 1974
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The Dark Forces, NBC, 1986
- "Paladin of the Lost Hour," The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1986
- "The City on the Edge of Forever," Star Trek, NBC, 1994, publishedby Borderlands Press, 1995
- (With Naren Shankar) "The Human Operators" (based on a story by A. E. vanVogt), The Outer Limits, Showtime and syndicated, c. 2000
- Author of "Memo from Purgatory," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, CBS; "Who Killed 1/2 of Glory Lee?" Burke's Law (also known as Amos Burke--Secret Agent), ABC; "Knife in the Darkness," Cimarron Strip,CBS; "The Pieces of Fate Affair" and "The Sort of Do-It-Yourself Dreadful Affair," The Man from U.N.C.L.E., NBC; "Demon with a Glass Hand" and "Soldier," The Outer Limits, Showtime and syndicated; "Where Do ElephantsGo to Die?" Ripcord, syndicated; "A Gift for a Warrior," Route 66, ABC; and "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs," The Young Lawyers; also wrote episodes of Babylon 5,
Batman,
Circle of Fear,
Dark Room,
Empire,
The Great Adventure,
Logan's Run,
Manhunter,
The Name of the Game,
Rat Patrol, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
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Other Television Scripts
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The Tigers Are Loose (special), NBC, 1974
- Other television scripts include Astra/Ella,
Astral Man,
Bring 'em Back Alive,
The Contender,
Cutter's World,
Dark Destroyer,
Heavy Metal,
Man without Time,
Mystery Show,
The Other Place,
Our Man Flint,
Postmark: JimAdam,
Project 120,
The Sniper,
The Spirit, and Tired Old Man.
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Plays
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The City on the Edge of Forever (based on his television script),published in Six Science Fiction Plays, edited by Roger Elwood, PocketBooks (New York City), 1976
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Short Story Collections
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The Deadly Streets, Ace Books (New York City), 1958
- (Under pseudonym Paul Merchant) Sex Gang, Nightstand, 1959
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A Touch of Infinity, Ace Books, published as Earthman, Go Home, 1964
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Children of the Streets (also published as The Juvies), AceBooks, 1961
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Gentleman Junkie, and Other Stories of the Hung-up Generation, Regency Books (Chicago, IL), 1961
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Ellison Wonderland, Paperback Library, 1962
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Paingod, and Other Delusions (includes "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman"), Pyramid Books, 1965
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I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, Pyramid Books, 1967
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From the Land of Fear, Belmont, 1967
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Love Ain't Nothing but Sex Misspelled, Trident, 1968
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The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World, Avon (New York City), 1969
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Over the Edge: Stories from Somewhere Else, Belmont, 1970
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Alone against Tomorrow: Stories of Alienation in Speculative Fiction, Macmillan (New York City), 1971, abridged editions published as All the Sounds of Fear, Panther (England), 1973, and The Time of the Eye, Panther (England), 1974
- (Coauthor) Partners in Wonder: Science Fiction Collaborations with Fourteen Other Wild Talents, Walker and Co. (New York City), 1971
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De Helden van de Highway (published only in Dutch), 1973
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Approaching Oblivion: Road Signs on the Treadmill toward Tomorrow,Walker and Co., 1974
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Deathbird Stories: A Pantheon of Modern Gods (includes "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs"), Harper (New York City), 1975
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No Doors, No Windows, Pyramid Books, 1975
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Strange Wine: Fifteen New Stories from the Nightside of the World,Harper, 1978
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The Illustrated Harlan Ellison, edited by Byron Preiss, Baronet, 1978
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The Fantasies of Harlan Ellison, Gregg (Boston, MA), 1979
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Shatterday, Houghton (Boston), 1980
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Stalking the Nightmare, Phantasia Press (Huntington Woods, MI), 1982
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An Edge in My Voice, Donning (Norfolk, VA), 2nd edition, 1986
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The Essential Ellison: A Thirty-five Year Retrospective, edited byTerry Dowling, Richard Delap, and Gil Lamont, Nemo Press, 1986
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Angry Candy, Houghton, 1988
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Dreams with Sharp Teeth (includes revised versions of I Have NoMouth, and I Must Scream,
Deathbird Stories, and Shatterday), Book-of-the-Month Club, 1991
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Spider Kiss, Armchair Detective Library, 1991
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Mind Fields: The Art of Jacek Yerka, the Fiction of Harlan Ellison, illustrated by Yerka, Morpheus International (Beverly Hills, CA), 1994
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Slippage, Houghton, 1994, published as Slippage: Precariously Poised, Previously Uncollected Stories, Mark V. Zeising Books, 1997
- (Author of preface and contributor of story) Mel Odom, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream: The Official Strategy Guide, Prima Publishing (Rocklin, CA), 1995
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Jokes without Punchlines, 1995
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Rough Beasts, 1995
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Edgeworks: The Collected Ellison, White Wolf Publishing, Volumes 1-2, 1996, Volumes 3-4, 1997
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"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman: The Classic Story, illustrated by Rick Berry, Underwood Books, 1997
- (Coauthor) The Outer Limits: Armageddon Dreams, Quadrillion Media,2000
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Novels
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Rumble, Pyramid Books, 1958, published as Web of the City,1975
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The Man with Nine Lives [and] A Touch of Infinity (stories), Ace Books, 1960
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The Sound of a Scythe (originally published as The Man with Nine Lives), Ace Books, 1960
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Spider Kiss (also published as Rockabilly), Fawcett (New York City), 1961
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Doomsman (bound with Telepower by Lee Hoffman), Belmont, 1967, published (bound with The Thief of Thoth by Lin Carter), 1972
- (With Edward Bryant) The Starlost 1: Phoenix without Ashes, Fawcett, 1975
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All the Lies That Are My Life, Underwood/Miller (San Francisco, CA), 1980
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Footsteps, illustrated by Ken Snyder, Footsteps (Hobbs, NM), 1989
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Run for the Stars (bound with Echoes of Thunder by Jack Dann and Jack C. Halderman II), Tor Books (New York City), 1991
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Mefisto in Onyx (novelette), Zeising Books, 1993
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Essay Collections
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Memos from Purgatory: Two Journeys of Our Times, Regency Books, 1961
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The Glass Teat: Essays of Opinion on the Subject of Television, Ace Books, 1970
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The Other Glass Teat: Further Essays of Opinion on Television, Pyramid Books, 1975
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The Book of Ellison, edited by Andrew Porter, Algol Press (New York City), 1978
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Sleepless Nights in the Procrustean Bed, edited by Marty Clark, Borgo, 1984
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An Edge in My Voice, Donning, 1985
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Harlan Ellison's Watching, Underwood/Miller, 1989
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The Harlan Ellison Hornbook (autobiographical essays), Penzler Books, 1990
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Editor
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Dangerous Visions: 33 Original Stories, Doubleday (New York City),1967
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Nightshade and Damnations: The Finest Stories of Gerald Kersh, Fawcett, 1968
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Again, Dangerous Visions: 46 Original Stories, Doubleday, 1972
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"Discovery" Series of First Novels
- James Sutherland, Stormtrack, Pyramid Books, 1974
- Marta Randall, Islands, Pyramid Books, 1976
- Terry Carr, The Light at the End of the Universe, Pyramid Books, 1976
- Arthur Byron Cones, Autumn Angels, Pyramid Books, 1976
- Bruce Sterling, Involution Ocean, Pyramid Books, 1977
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Other
- Contributor, Faster than Light, edited by Jack Dann and George Zebrowski, Harper, 1976
- Coeditor and contributor, Medea: Harlan's World (includes "With Virgil Oddum at the East Pole"), Bantam (New York City), 1985
- Author, Demon with a Glass Hand (graphic novel), illustrated by Marshall Rogers, D.C. Comics, 1986
- Author, Night and the Enemy (graphic novel), illustrated by Ken Steacy, Comico, 1987
- Author, Vic and Blood: The Chronicles of a Boy and His Dog (graphic novel; based on his novella "A Boy and His Dog"), illustrated by Richard Corben, St. Martin's (New York City), 1989
- (With Isaac Asimov) Coauthor, I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay(based on the story cycle by Asimov), Warner Books (New York City), 1994
- Author, Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor Special (includes thestory "Chatting with Anubis"), 1995
- Author of books on juvenile delinquency. Past author of columns, including "The Glass Teat" and "Harlan Ellison Hornbook," both in Los Angeles FreePress, "An Edge in My Voice," in Los Angeles Weekly, and "Watching," a syndicated film review column; book critic, Los Angeles Times,1969-82. Work represented in anthologies, including The Best American ShortStories,1993. Contributor of more than 1,000 short stories, essays, and articles to periodicals, including Analog,
Ariel,
Cosmopolitan,
Datamation,
Ellery Queen's Mystery,
Galaxy,
Heavy Metal,
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction,
Omni, and Twilight Zone. Some work appears under various pseudonyms, including Lee Archer, Phil "Cheech" Beldone, Cordwainer Bird, Jay Charby, RobertCourtney, Price Curtis, Wallace Edmondson, Landon Ellis, Sley Harson, Ellis Hart, Al Maddern, Alan Maddern, Paul Merchant, Nabrah Nosille, Bert Parker, Jay Solo, and Derry Tiger. Ellison's works have been translated into more than twenty-five languages, including French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. 1993-82
Further Reference
ADAPTATIONS
- The film A Boy and His Dog, 1999.released by Aquarius Releasing in1975, is based on a novella by Ellison; the 1978 film Jackpot is based on one of his stories; the film Mefisto in Onyx, released by Miramaxin 2001, is based on his novelette. Ellison's television episodes "Demonwith a Glass Hand" and "Soldier," both broadcast on The Outer Limits,have been cited as the inspiration for the film The Terminator, released by Orion in 1984. Several of Ellison's short stories have been adapted for television, including "The Human Factor," an episode of The Outer Limits. The video game I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is based on Ellison's story of the same title.
OTHER SOURCES
Books
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Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Volume 29, Gale,
- Porter, Andrew, editor, The Book of Ellison, 1978. Algol Press,
- Slusser, George Edgar, Harlan Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin, 1977. Borgo,
- Swigart, Leslie Kay, Harlan Ellison: A Bibliographical Checklist,1973. Williams Publishing (Dallas, TX),
Electronic
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Harlan Ellison Web Site, http://www.harlanellison.com/.
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