Rod Serling Biography (1924-1975)

Full name, Edward Rodman Serling; born December 25, 1924, in Syracuse, NY; died of complications during coronary bypass surgery, June 28, 1975, in Rochester, NY; son of Samuel Lawrence (a wholesale butcher) and Esther (Cooper) Serling; married Carolyn Louise Kramer, July 31, 1948; children: Jodi, Anne.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Birth Details: December 25, 1924; Syracuse, New York, United States
Death Details: June 28, 1975; Rochester, New York, United States

Famous Works

Credits; Television Appearances; Series
Narrator, The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1959-64.
Host, The Liar's Club, syndicated, 1969.
Narrator, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, NBC, 1969-73.
Credits; Other Television Appearances
"The Man in the Funny Suit," Desilu Playhouse, CBS, 1960.
Ichabod and Me (episodic), CBS, 1962.
Lifewatch 6 (special), syndicated, 1969.
Narrator, Appointment with Destiny (special), CBS, 1971.
"Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Murder," Ironside (episodic), NBC, 1972.
Narrator, "Monsters, Mysteries or Myths," Smithsonian Institution Special, CBS, 1974.
Narrator of the specials The Legendary Curse of the Hope Diamond, 1975, and In Search of Ancient Astronauts; and for Jacques Cousteau oceanographic specials and other nature-related programs during the early 1970s, including Deadly Fathoms, 1973, and The Outer Space Connection, 1974. Also appeared in the unaired pilot Witches, Warlocks and Werewolves, 1963, and in A Salute to Television's 25th Anniversary, 1972.
Credits; Television Work; Series
Creator and executive producer, The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1959-64.
Associated with the production of Line of Duty.
Credits; Film Appearances
Narrator, Encounter with the Unknown, Centronics International/Libert, 1973.
Narrator, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (dubbed from the television episode), Twilight Zone--The Movie, Warner Bros., 1983.
Writings;For Television
"Patterns," Kraft Theatre, NBC, 1955.
"The Champion" (based on story by Ring Lardner), Climax, CBS, c.
1955.
"Requiem for a Heavyweight," Playhouse 90, CBS, 1956.
"The Comedian," Playhouse 90, CBS, c. 1957.
"A Town Has Turned to Dust," Playhouse 90, CBS, c. 1959.
(With others) The Twilight Zone (series), CBS, 1959-64.

"It's Mental Work" (based on story by John O'Hara), Bob Hope Presents theChrysler Theatre, NBC, c. 1963.
(With others) Rod Serling's Night Gallery (series), NBC, 1969-73.
Author of The Rack and Old MacDonald Had a Curve; and of scripts producedon the series Studio One, U.S. Steel Hour, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Suspense,and Danger. Also author of the specials A Storm in Summer and A Storm in Winter, both 1970, and contributor to The Oath: The Ad and Lonely Sundays, 1976.
Writings; Screenplays
The Strike, United Artists, 1955.
Patterns (based on his teleplay), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 1956.
Saddle the Wind (based on the story by Thomas Thompson), MGM, 1958.
Requiem for a Heavyweight (based on his teleplay), Columbia, 1962.
The Yellow Canary (based on novel Evil Come, Evil Go by Whit Masterson),Twentieth Century-Fox, 1963.
Seven Days in May (based on novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W.
Bailey II), Paramount, 1964.
Assault on a Queen (based on novel by Jack Finney), Paramount, 1966.
(With Michael Wilson) Planet of the Apes (based on novel Monkey Planet byPierre Boulle), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1968.
(With brother, Robert J. Serling) The President's Plane Is Missing (basedon novel by Robert J. Serling), Commonwealth-United, 1969.
The Man (adapted from the television drama; based on novel by Irving Wallace), Paramount, 1971.
A Time of Predators (based on novel by Joe Gores), Avco-Embassy, 1971.
Encounter with the Unknown, Centronics International/Libert, 1973.
Writings; Plays
Patterns: Four Television Plays with the Author's Personal Commentaries (includes Patterns, The Rack, Requiem for a Heavyweight, and Old MacDonald Hada Curve), Simon and Schuster, 1957.
Patterns: A Drama in Three Acts, Samuel French, 1959.
The Killing Season, produced on Broadway, 1968.
Writings; Other
Stories from the Twilight Zone, Bantam, 1960.
More Stories from the Twilight Zone, Bantam, 1961.
New Stories from the Twilight Zone, Bantam, 1962.
From the Twilight Zone, Doubleday, 1962.
Requiem for a Heavyweight: A Reading Version of the Dramatic Script, Bantam, 1962.
Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, adapted by Walter B. Gibson, Grosset, 1963.
(Editor) Rod Serling's Triple W: Witches, Warlocks, and Werewolves; A Collection, Bantam, 1963.
Twilight Zone Revisited, adapted by Gibson, Grosset, 1964.
The Season to Be Wary (novellas; includes "The Escape Route," "Color Scheme," and "Eyes"), Little, Brown, 1967.
(Editor and author of introduction) Devils and Demons:A Collection, Bantam, 1967.
Night Gallery, Bantam, 1971.
Night Gallery 2, Bantam, 1972.
Rod Serling's Other Worlds, Bantam, 1978.
Also author of radio plays.
Other Works
Adaptations: The Rack (based on Serling's teleplay; adapted by Stewart Stern), MGM, 1956; Incident in an Alley (based on Serling's television drama Line of Duty; adapted by Harold Medford and Owen Harris), United Artists, 1962;Twilight Zone--The Movie (includes "Kick the Can," "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," "It's a Good Life," and "A Quality of Mercy"; directed by Steven Spielberg, George Miller, Joe Dante, and John Landis), Warner Bros., 1983; The Twilight Zone (sound recording series; includes "The Midnight Sun," "The Mighty Casey," and "Walking Distance"), 1992; and The Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's LostClassics (includes "The Theatre" and "Where the Dead Are"; directed by RobertMarkowitz), CBS-TV, 1994.

Further Reference

Books:

Serling, Rod, Patterns: Four Television Plays with the Author's PersonalCommentaries, Simon and Schuster, 1957.
Zicree, Marc Scott, The Twilight Zone Companion, Bantam Books, 1982.

Periodicals:

Western Humanities Review, winter, 1981.

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