Gene Roddenberry in 1976
Gene Roddenberry's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Gene Roddenberry (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American screenwriter and producer of several television series, best known for his work in creating the
Star Trek franchise. Before his television writing career, he was a pilot in the
394th Bomb Squadron ,
5th Bombardment Group of the
Thirteenth Air Force during
World War II . During his time in the military, he flew the
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress ,
[1] and was awarded both the
Air Medal and the
Distinguished Flying Cross .
[2] While working in the
Los Angeles Police Department after the war, he began his television writing career,
[3] but resigned to concentrate on screenwriting.
[4] His first writing award was for an episode of
Have Gun – Will Travel entitled "Helen of Abajinan" which won the
Writers Guild of America award for Best Teleplay in 1958.
[5] In 1964, he registered the idea with the Writers Guild which would define the rest of his career—Star Trek .
[6]
[7]
The majority of the awards and nominations received by Roddenberry throughout his career were related to Star Trek . He was credited for
Star Trek: The Original Series (known at the time simply as Star Trek ) during the nominations for two
Emmy Awards ,
[8]
[9] and won two
Hugo Awards .
[10]
[11] One Hugo was a special award for the series, while another was for "
The Menagerie ", the episode which used footage from the original unaired pilot for Star Trek , "
The Cage ".
[12] In addition, he was awarded the Brotherhood Award by the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for his work in the advancement of
African American characters on television.
[5]
At the 1967
Writers Guild of America Awards , a private feud between Roddenberry and writer
Harlan Ellison entered the public eye, as Ellison had produced the original script for the episode "
The City on the Edge of Forever ". He was told to re-write it due to financial restraints, but could not bring it within budget. Instead, Roddenberry re-wrote the script for the episode, but Ellison retained the credit and subsequently submitted the original script for consideration by the Writers Guild.
[13] This was an unusual step as normally the filmed version of the script is the one that was submitted. Both "The City on the Edge of Forever" and "
The Return of the Archons " were nominated for the
Best Episodic Drama Award , with the latter written and credited to Roddenberry. Ellison won the award for his script.
[13]
[14] Roddenberry submitted the filmed version of "The City on the Edge of Forever" script for the Hugo Awards, winning in 1968,
[15] but the writing remained credited to Ellison.
[16] Roddenberry later claimed to have won a
Nebula Award for the filmed version despite the
Dramatic Presentation category not being created until 1974.
[17]
[18]
[Note 1]
Following the end of Star Trek , he was nominated for Hugo Awards for two television movies,
Genesis II and
The Questor Tapes .
[20]
[21]
[Note 2] In addition to awards, Roddenberry also received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame following a campaign by the fan clubs of Star Trek , which sought to have each fan donate a dollar towards the overall $3500 cost of upkeep.
[24] Following these donations, the Committee in charge of the Walk of Fame voted Roddenberry in. The star was unveiled on September 4, 1985, at the 6600 block, near to the corner of
Hollywood Boulevard and Las Palmas. The induction ceremony was attended by all of the main cast of Star Trek , as well as
Roger C. Carmel , who portrayed
Harry Mudd in The Original Series .
[24] Following Roddenberry's death in 1991,
[25] he was posthumously awarded the
Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award by the
National Space Society and
The George Pal Memorial Award at the
Saturn Awards . He was also awarded the
Exceptional Public Service Medal by
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
[26]
[27]
Military awards
Civilian awards
Key
† Awarded posthumously
See also
Notes
^ Roddenberry and
Gene Coon were recommended for the 1974 Nebula Awards for The Questor Tapes , but did not make the final ballot.
[19]
^ Both of these movies had originally been created as pilots for new series, but Genesis II was dropped by
CBS in favor of a
Planet of the Apes television series and Roddenberry backed out of The Questor Tapes following
NBC 's request for substantial changes.
[22]
[23]
^ Jointly awarded alongside
William Shatner .
[29]
References
^
Alexander (1995) , pp. 62–63.
^
a
b
c
Hamilton (2007) , p. 14.
^
Alexander (1995) , pp. 135–137.
^
Alexander (1995) , p. 151.
^
a
b
c
d
Reginald (1979) , p. 1052.
^
Alexander (1995) , p. 204.
^
Engel (1994) , p. 43.
^
a
b
"19th Primetime Emmys Nominees and Winners" . Television Academy. Archived from
the original on September 1, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2015 .
^
a
b
"20th Primetime Emmys Nominees and Winners" . Television Academy. Archived from
the original on January 18, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015 .
^
a
b
"1967 Hugo Awards" . The Hugo Awards. 26 July 2007. Archived from
the original on February 11, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2015 .
^
a
b
"The Hugo Awards By Category" . World Science Fiction Convention. Archived from
the original on March 2, 1999. Retrieved October 17, 2015 .
^
Cushman & Osborn (2013) , p. 337.
^
a
b
Alexander (1995) , p. 288.
^
a
b
Cushman & Osborn (2013) , p. 442.
^
Cushman & Osborn (2013) , pp. 520–521.
^
"1968 Hugo Awards" . The Hugo Awards. 26 July 2007. Archived from
the original on August 13, 2009. Retrieved October 24, 2015 .
^
Engel (1994) , p. 96.
^
Franson & DeVore (1978) , pp. 9–11.
^
Franson & DeVore (1978) , pp. 74–75.
^
a
b
"1974 Hugo Awards" . The Hugo Awards. 26 July 2007. Archived from
the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2015 .
^
a
b
"1975 Hugo Awards" . The Hugo Awards. 26 July 2007. Archived from
the original on February 11, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2015 .
^
Van Hise (1992) , p. 61.
^
Van Hise (1992) , p. 65.
^
a
b
Alexander (1995) , pp. 493–494.
^
Alexander (1995) , p. 7.
^
a
b
"NSS Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award" . National Space Society. Archived from
the original on May 14, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2015 .
^
a
b
Hall (1997) , p. 215.
^
"1980 Hugo Awards" . The Hugo Awards. 26 July 2007. Archived from
the original on February 11, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2015 .
^
a
b Hightower, Amy.
"Mulgrew, Ryan & Voyager Up For Saturn Awards" . TrekToday .
UGO Networks . Archived from
the original on April 13, 2001. Retrieved October 10, 2015 .
^
"1988 Hugo Awards" . The Hugo Awards. 26 July 2007. Archived from
the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2015 .
^
"Roddenberry, Gene" . StarTrek.com. Archived from
the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2015 .
^
"From the AHA Archives: Gene Roddenberry" . American Humanist Association. Archived from
the original on August 21, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2015 .
^
"Index of Dramatic Nominees" .
Locus .
Locus Online . Archived from
the original on November 10, 2002. Retrieved October 24, 2015 .
Sources
Alexander, David (1995).
Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry . New York: Roc.
ISBN
0-451-45440-5 .
Cushman, Marc & Osborn, Susan (2013). These are the Voyages: TOS, Season One . San Diego: Jacobs Brown Press.
ISBN
978-0-9892381-1-3 .
Engel, Joel (1994).
Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek . New York: Hyperion.
ISBN
0-7868-6004-9 .
Franson, Donald & DeVore, Howard (1978).
A History of the Hugo, Nebula and International Fantasy Awards . Dearborn, MI: Misfit Press.
Hall, Halbert W. (1997). Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index, 1992–1995 . Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
ISBN
978-0-585-37397-3 .
Hamilton, John (2007).
Science Fiction in the Media . Edina, MN: ABDO Publishing Company.
ISBN
978-1-59679-994-3 .
Reginald, Robert (1979). Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature Volume II . Detroit: Gale.
ISBN
978-0-8103-1051-3 .
Van Hise, James (1992).
The Man Who Created Star Trek: Gene Roddenberry . Las Vegas: Pioneer Books.
ISBN
1-55698-318-2 .
External links
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