Rod Serling

Edwin Rodman Serling (December 25, 1924 - June 28, 1975) was a screenwriter, most famous for his science fiction TV series, The Twilight Zone. He was born in Syracuse, New York to Samuel and Esther Serling.

Rod Serling served as an Army paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific Theater in World War II and was seriously wounded in combat. He suffered from nightmares and flashbacks for the rest of his life. Serling graduated from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1950.

Though more famous for his groundbreaking and compelling Twilight Zone television series, Serling had later also hosted the weekly series Night Gallery in the 1970s, although he had little creative control. Unlike Twilight Zone, the themes of Night Gallery were of horror and the supernatural. He also narrated documentaries featuring French undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau.

During his lifetime, Rod Serling received six Emmys and his biggest successes in writing include:

• Patterns (1955)
• Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956)
• The Comedian (1957)
• A Town Has Turned to Dust (1958)
• The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964 television series)
• Night Gallery (1970 - 1973 television series)
• Planet of the Apes (1968 co-written with Michael Wilson)

He also wrote the pilot episode for a short-lived Aaron Spelling series called The New People in 1969.

He later taught at Ithaca College.

Serling died due to complications from heart bypass surgery and is interred in the cemetery in Interlaken, New York.

Other filmography

• Encounter with the Unknown (narrator)

External links

• IMDb entry on Serling
• Serling entry in Unitarian Universalist Biographical Dictionary