Author, Screenwriter. He will perhaps be best remembered for penning the novel "I Am Legend" (1954), which became the basis for three motion picture story lines ("The Last Man on Earth", 1964, "The Omega Man", 1971 and "I Am Legend" 2007). Additionally, he wrote the story for the classic episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" from the TV series "The Twilight Zone" which featured William Shatner. Born Richard Burton Matheson, to parents of Norwegian descent, he was raised in Brooklyn where he attended high school and during World War II, he served with the United States Military as an infantryman stationed in Germany. Upon his return home, he attained a degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri and made his initial mark as a science-fiction writer, when his stories "Born of Man and Woman" and "Third from the Sun" (both 1950) were printed in the publication The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His work "The Shrinking Man" (1956) was adapted into what would become a classic film "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957), for which Matheson also contributed to the screenplay. He went onto pen scores of memorable film and television stories among them the episode titled "The Enemy Within" from the series "Star Trek" (1966), "Duel" (1971, one of Steven Spielberg's earliest efforts) and "The Night Stalker" (1973, for which earned Matheson an Edgar Allan Poe Award).
Author, Screenwriter. He will perhaps be best remembered for penning the novel "I Am Legend" (1954), which became the basis for three motion picture story lines ("The Last Man on Earth", 1964, "The Omega Man", 1971 and "I Am Legend" 2007). Additionally, he wrote the story for the classic episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" from the TV series "The Twilight Zone" which featured William Shatner. Born Richard Burton Matheson, to parents of Norwegian descent, he was raised in Brooklyn where he attended high school and during World War II, he served with the United States Military as an infantryman stationed in Germany. Upon his return home, he attained a degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri and made his initial mark as a science-fiction writer, when his stories "Born of Man and Woman" and "Third from the Sun" (both 1950) were printed in the publication The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His work "The Shrinking Man" (1956) was adapted into what would become a classic film "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957), for which Matheson also contributed to the screenplay. He went onto pen scores of memorable film and television stories among them the episode titled "The Enemy Within" from the series "Star Trek" (1966), "Duel" (1971, one of Steven Spielberg's earliest efforts) and "The Night Stalker" (1973, for which earned Matheson an Edgar Allan Poe Award).
Bio by: C.S.
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